Projects and Accomplishments Connected with the Community Assessment

With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Iowa, it became important for the research being done from the community assessment to be directly and immediately useful to the on-the-ground efforts to respond to this crisis. To recognize some of this work, and to offer additional transparency for the reader, below is a list of some of the projects and accomplishments that have been conducted in connection with this community assessment.

A coalition of dedicated community partners launched a messaging campaign during the Covid-19 pandemic highlighting the service of diverse community members to the region and listing local and national resources. The campaign can be seen at www.allofusdubuque.com.

As part of the City of Dubuque’s Equity Immersion Committee and Covid COFA Working Group, local organizations helped with coordinating medical and vaccine information development and distribution for immigrant populations.

Numerous local partners and individual volunteers helped to distribute masks and other medical gear during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Local and regional organizations worked together to pursue federal grants focused on workforce and translation services in support of immigrant groups.

Catholic Charities, the Multicultural Family Center, and the Community Foundation partnered to move towards the development of a website for helping to inform and recruit local community members to serve as guardians for unaccompanied minors. More information can be found under Develop a Guardianship Website in the Legal Assistance section.

Through a partnership between the Dubuque Community School District (DCSD), Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC), and the Community Foundation, with additional support from Catholic Charities, an Ixil-speaking Guatemalan woman was hired to serve as a part-time mentor and teacher’s assistant to Guatemalan students at Hempstead High School. This was the first Ixil-speaking individual regularly working with students at DCSD. More information can be found here: https://dbqfoundation.org/news/bridging-needs-generosity

Local partners including the Community Foundation, Catholic Charities, the City of Dubuque, Dubuque for Refugee Children, Presentation Lantern Center, Resources Unite, and Tri-State VIATS came together to respond to housing challenges facing immigrants. These challenges include evictions of immigrant families and policy changes from local landlords that restrict the ability of immigrants to obtain housing.

With the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, food insecurity became a major concern for many local immigrant communities. In partnership with immigrant community members and local organizations like the City of Dubuque, DCSD, Latino Empowerment and Development (LEAD), Presentation Lantern Center, Project Rooted, Resources Unite, and Tri-State VIATS, among others, the community worked to coordinate regular, culturally appropriate food deliveries to families in need.

A partnership between the VNA, the City of Dubuque, the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program, and the Community Foundation funded a Marshallese Connector position at the VNA aimed at helping Marshallese community members navigate local systems during the pandemic. This position has since become a long-term, grant-funded position.

The Marshallese Health Fund was launched by a concerned local physician, Dr. Mark Janes, to support Marshallese families during the pandemic, many of whom were facing mounting medical bills with little or no insurance. The Fund is now hosted at the Community Foundation and is administered in coordination with committed nonprofit partners in Dubuque. More information can be found here: https://dbqfoundation.org/giving-center/dubuque-marshallese-health-fund

The Community Foundation, Monsoon, and the Carnegie-Stout Public Library partnered to host a Marshallese Reading Day for local families aimed at encouraging reading and connecting families to the library.

The Community Foundation and other partners provided support for the establishment of Kora Im An Kol (KIAK), a Marshallese Women’s Group serving the Marshallese community.

An advisory team under the direction of Northeast Iowa Community College helped to develop a new pilot program to train and compensate individuals from underserved populations (including immigrant groups) for connecting members of their community to job training opportunities. Additional information can be found under Adopt a Natural Helper Program in the Workforce and Employment section, available here.

To learn more about the methodology used for this community assessment, click here.

To learn more about some of the immigrant communities that participated in this community assessment, click here.

To return to the Introduction to the Immigration Community Assessment, click here.

To return to the Immigration Community Assessment Welcome Page, click here.