Our ‘Forever’ Is: A Connected and Vital Region
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Better Together
Beaking down systemic barriers for our immigrant communities
Our Better Together initiative helps achieve our vision of a Dubuque region where everyone can thrive.
This collective impact initiative includes over 90 local representatives from government, nonprofits, businesses, advocacy groups, and, most importantly, immigrant communities. Together, we work to find solutions to systemic challenges for immigrants, such as the gap in trained medical interpreters and access to resources that can help meet basic needs.
Better Together History
Our Immigration Community Assessment was a multi-year research effort that elevated the priorities of immigrant populations in Northeast Iowa, as well as the challenges that they faced.
A key recommendation in the assessment was to form a committee of community members who could work collaboratively to help immigrant populations access resources, engage in civic life, and thrive.
The Committee Members
Better Together partners bring expertise in topics like education, health care, immigration law and workforce development.
Critically, about 30% of the partners come from immigrant and migrant populations, a significantly higher share than the approximately 6% of Dubuque County’s population’s these communities account for overall.
Our Priorities
Helping Employers and Immigrant Workers: Connecting immigrant employees with family-sustaining careers and supporting employers in gaining the cultural competency so they can better hire and retain immigrant workers.
Supporting International College Students: Engaging international college students and providing them with workforce support and a connection to the region.
Training Medical Interpreters: Hosting trainings for local community members in medical interpretation in order to fill a gap in local capacity.
Hiring and Supporting Navigators: Providing support and connections to the navigators in our region who work with immigrants, and encouraging the hiring of more navigators in key local organizations.
Addressing Chronic Absenteeism: Resolving the crisis of chronic absenteeism among local immigrant student populations following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Promoting Immigrant Participation: Improving the participation and experience of immigrant community members in the Better Together Committee.
Our Accomplishments
Trained 25 Spanish- and Marshallese-speaking interpreters and partnered with the Dubuque County Health Department to host an online database of available interpreters
Launched the Immigrant Navigator Resource Group to support local navigators
Helped reduce the chronic absenteeism rate among Pacific Islander students in Dubuque by 28% over two years
Host annual international student welcoming events
Our Stories
