Refugees find hope in South Carolina's services

Resettlement program aids those seeking new start

A Somali who puts chicken meat in the kitchen cupboard. An Iraqi doctor who takes a menial job. A Burmese trying mightily to learn English.

Bedrija Jazic knows their struggles well.

The Bosnian native directs the Lutheran Family Services refugee resettlement program for the Palmetto State's Department of Social Services and the state of North Carolina.

She also started out as a refugee.

After the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jazic fled Bosnia in 1996 with her husband and 5-year-old daughter to start a new life in the United States.

Jazic was able to work her way up the ladder at Lutheran Family Services, but her husband, who had been a veterinarian in Bosnia, was not certified to practice in the U.S. and accepted a menial job.

Jazic has a staff of six, who make sure refugees receive medical screenings, cash, job and résumé training, housing, transportation and English lessons.

The organization works with a variety of employers, allowing them to match refugees with entry-level jobs in factories, restaurants and the hospitality industry.

They also seek partners with other churches, which sponsor refugees or volunteer to help them.

"The goal is to get them employed within the first 90 days," said Dorothy Addison, who heads the refugee program under the South Carolina DSS.

"We provide services for up to eight months, but within a year, they're supposed to be somewhat self-sufficient.

"But we know that doesn't always happen."

South Carolina has about 150 refugees in the program now, with about 40 percent from Burma and 40 percent from Iraq.

If refugees have a family or friend in some part of South Carolina, they are typically sent there.

About 75 percent come with no ties and stay in the Columbia area. Numbers of refugees fleeing war or persecution have increased steadily since 2006, when the Palmetto State had 123 refugees, with recent federal funding per year about $370,000, according to federal data.

Sometimes residents pose a challenge.

The most notable resistance in South Carolina took place in 2004, when residents of Cayce said they did not want Somali Bantus in their community.

Residents said their schools could not accommodate the refugees' children and that their tribal culture and Muslim faith were too foreign.

"LFS decided not to challenge that," Jazic said. "We did not want to put refugees in a situation where they would not be welcome. Thank goodness there were others who said, 'We can deal with it and work it out.' "

Source: chronicle.augusta.com