The Shelburne Falls Welcome Committee (SFWC) is incredibly thankful for the nearly $7,000 in funding provided by the 100+ Women Who Care, Franklin County. As we shared in our pitch to the group, we had planned to use the funds to help bring two Syrian refugee families to our area, with a back-up plan (if bringing the families were to become impossible) of supporting immigrants in our region. Given the closing of federal government programs to support refugees, we had to suspend the plan to bring refugees to our region. We decided to focus on supporting the education of Franklin County immigrants who plan to work in the health care field.
We determined this priority because there is such a need for health care workers and because supporting the education of those who will work in this field has a multiplier effect—support future health care workers, and they in turn will give so much to our community. We focused specifically on providing support that wasn’t available from other avenues. We supported the following immigrants:
- Seven CNA students, students who were also learning English: uniforms, shoes, test fees.
- Two RN students: uniforms, shoes, equipment, such as stethoscopes and watches.
- A young mother who is waiting for her work permit: a semester of tuition for a nursing program.
This support added up to a bit under our total award; the balance went to cover a small portion of the legal fees for a Palestinian man to apply for asylum.
Here is a note of appreciation from a recipient: “I can’t thank you enough for the help and support I’ve gotten from you. I am truly grateful and I really lack words to describe this. Please help me thank your group for this great help I have received from you all.”