Austria's rural programs are integrating migrants — but can the gains last?

Intercultural city workers act as bridges between public institutions and the Arab, Moldovan/Romanian, and Russian-speaking, and Vietnamese communities. They accompany clients to government offices, where their presence makes officials more open to working them, and also to healthcare visits. The workers conduct field visits, communicate via social media, and form relationships with prominent community members. They foster inclusion by helping immigrant communities learn the social norms while also informing public institutions about the social needs of the communities.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is set to start issuing parishioner ID cards in a program modeled off a similar one in Texas. The ID cards include a name, address, and birth date and are meant for undocumented immigrants to feel safer around law enforcement.

Historically there has been stigma and pushback to bilingual and immigrant programs, but some counties are starting to embrace diversity as key to economic development. Greater diversity spurs innovation, entrepreneurship, and population growth in rural areas, recognition of these benefits has eased the stigma and encouraged more immigrant programs.

A nonprofit organization, the Internationals Network for Public Schools, delivers a first-class education to the children of illegal immigrants, helping to break the cycle of poverty and provide them a path to advance in life.

Black immigrant women are serving as informal "health connectors" in their communities, using shared language and cultural understanding to help immigrants navigate the U.S. health care system. These unpaid navigators guide people through insurance applications, connect them to doctors, host community events and distribute multilingual information to break down barriers to health care.

The Philos Action League dispatches Christian volunteers to offer support and solidarity to Jewish communities when antisemitic attacks occur. The organization has more than 2,000 volunteers who have responded to 128 incidents since 2021.

Catholic Charities helps immigrants and refugees access housing and transition to life in a new country. Housing is the first step in the resettlement process, but Catholic Charities also helps immigrants find jobs, get their children in school and integrate into the community. In 2007, Fort Wayne welcomed 3,500 Burmese refugees. By 2016 the number had grown to more than 6,000 and counting.

Because of coordinated partnerships between local governments, state health departments, and nonprofit groups, more and more farmworkers are receiving COVID-19 vaccinations. Through the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Farmworker Health program and its partners, nearly 14,000 doses were administered to the farmworker community over two months. Advocates also have to dispel rumors and myths about the vaccines, but they are working to combat that misinformation and make it easier for them to get vaccinated.

By establishing online platforms to make anonymous reports of anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, two Canadian organizations elicited hundreds of stories that help victims to process their experiences. The first platform, Elimin8hate, was the creation of a filmmaker who understands the therapeutic value of storytelling as means of coping with trauma. Her Vancouver group's alliance with a Toronto organization attracted funding to train discussion leaders who will lead anti-racism discussions in government and businesses.

Integrační centra jsou v Česku často podfinancovaná, nejsou dostupná všem potřebným a zaměřují se především na tlumočení. Brno přišlo se změnou. Tamní magistrát do své struktury přímo zakomponoval supinu interkulturních pracovníků, která pomáhá s integrací cizinců. Její členové vytváří pomyslný most mezi veřejnými institucemi a zástupci cizineckých komunit. Pracují jak v terénu v rámci komunit, tak prostřednictví sociálních sítí. Podporují začlenění imigrantů do společnosti tím, že jim pomáhají osvojit si místní sociální normy, a zároveň informují instituce o jejich potřebách.