By Kathy Henderson

Spurred by volunteers seeking more opportunities to welcome refugees to the Twin Cities, the International Institute of Minnesota’s Immigration and Refugee Services last May launched a pilot mentoring program.

The initiative began with a refugee family of seven.

Now, the nonprofit Institute is gearing up to dramatically increase the pilot program called Side by Side.

At a breakfast meeting on Oct. 4, institute officials unveiled plans to beef up their volunteer corps by tapping into community and faith-based groups to expand the Step by Step program.

The institute expects to “resettle 750 people over the next 12 months,” up from the 303 resettled refugees recorded in its 2023 annual report.

Leading the recruiting push for more volunteers are Micaela “Micki” Schuman, senior program director, Immigration and Refugee Services, and Sarah Burbage, volunteer coordinator, Refugee Services.

“We’ve had a mentor program at the International Institute for many years,” Schuman said. “In expanding to develop the Step by Step Co-Sponsoring program, we considered feedback from our volunteers, researched similar national models, looked at how they measured success and then adapted their programs and outcomes to create Step by Step.

“Our pilot program showed success in both building connecting relationships and achieving self-sufficiency,” she said.

Volunteers with Step by Step will have a mentoring and friendship role, not “doing for” but “doing with” is how Burbage describes it, “teaching them to understand U.S. culture and how to function in the community, supporting the family in the goals that the family sets for themselves.”

Here are some details on how the program will work:

Step by step overview

• A group of six to eight volunteers from a civic or faith-based organization will be matched by the International Institute of Minnesota (IIMN) with a refugee family. A team coming from one organization usually already has friendships with each other, often are familiar working with each other and are aware of each other’s strengths, abilities and interests.
• The Step by Step volunteer commitment is for six months with at least one visit per week.
• The sponsoring group will also make a financial donation to IIMN to support the program and the family. The financial donation will vary depending upon family size and other aspects that IIMN will discuss individually with each potential volunteer group.
• The volunteer assistance will include housing set up (cost and preparation) in an apartment with basic furnishings secured by the IIMN. Other assistance would include airport pick up; a warm, culturally-appropriate meal on the family’s first day; and ongoing mentoring by introducing and accompanying the family on many of its daily living needs in becoming orientated to  America.  
• The Institute will provide mandated in-person volunteer orientation and training and ongoing support through IIMN’s volunteer coordinator and overall IIMN case management and staff expertise.

Lessons learned

During the pilot program, the Institute found that language differences were successfully managed by using Google translation apps and text message translations, along with flash cards.

Having six to eight volunteers involved did not overwhelm the family because Step by Step was set up with two lead volunteers as their main contact, and then other volunteers were introduced as their special interest or expertise was needed.

Institute leaders also found that the ability of the volunteers to have fun times with the family (summertime splash pads, picnics, parks) was a key difference from the role of professional case managers or staff who typically can’t schedule family fun activities into their work day.

Step-by-Step details are available on the IIMN website at iimn.org/news/side-by-side/ or by contacting volunteer coordinator Burbage at [email protected] or 651-377-8677.

The International Institute opened in St. Paul in 1919. By 1921, it was serving people from 13 countries and its staff of four caseworkers spoke German, Italian, Norwegian and Polish.

In 2019, the “Ramsey County History” publication provided a look back at its history and resettlement efforts over the years. “The Centennial of the International Institute of Minnesota” by Krista Finstad Hanson is available online at https://rchs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/RCHS_Spring-2019_Hanson.pdf.

Kathy Henderson lives in St. Paul and is a freelance writer for the Bugle.