Resettlement...How Are You Helping?

'Sponsorship Week' has come to an end and TLP wanted to thank all of you for helping us make it so successful.  The conference call on Tuesday was our most attended call yet, with well over 50 Netrooters participating across the country!

In keeping with the theme of this week, I will use this blog to reiterate some of the wonderful ideas we have heard and to review how each of us can help TLP's sponsorship efforts.

As more of you join Netroots, The List Project Team hopes that you will email us so that we can make introductions between you and those Iraqis in your area.  While there may not be resettled Iraqis in your state, there is still plenty that you can do for those in surrounding states.  Many of the areas in which Iraqis need help can be done right from your home, including: writing letters to local/state leaders, calling companies in your area and asking for donations (or pharmacy gift cards, a free pay-as-you-go card, etc.), inviting your friends and family to join Netroots and helping us build the 'cushion' of community support.  TLP has sample letters, so please email us and we will send them to you!

In the coming weeks, TLP will be adding to our 'Resource' section and we hope that you will take some time to go through the section and use it for your events, discussions or school meetings.  Some Netroots members have offered to put together guides on expectations, cultural difference and on navigating the resettlement system (working with VOLAGs, etc.), these will also be added to our 'Resource' section in time.  Please listen to the taped version of the conference call (available on the main page of Netroots) and check out the conference call agenda (a PDF file in TLP's latest forum post).

TIPS for Sponsorship!  We heard some ideas from Netroots members about how they were helping to welcome families and we thought these would be great TIPS for your Chapter, these included: calling state companies to provide fuel assistance (to help manage their bills in the winter months); calling rental agents and asking them to consult with their client about giving a discount to a recently resettled family; calling prospective employers and asking for an informational interview (so that an Iraqi can hear more about fields of interest and about what these companies are looking for); calling a local taxi company and offering to pay for emergency rides if the family in your area needs it; and assisting in essential matters, such as opening bank accounts, applying for a drivers license, getting a phone, connecting to the internet, etc.  Please connect with other members and help each other make Netroots a success. Let TLP know how your Chapter has been helping those in your area!

Don't forget...the Netroots Challenge has begun! Netroots members and TLP challenges your Chapter to raise more that $500 before Thanksgiving.  The money raised will be given directly to a family in need through our emergency resettlement fund or it can be donated to one of the families in your area.  The person what has raised the most money will win a flipcam and two runners-up will receive a free TLP t-shirt and bracelet.  Please join us this holiday season in raising funds to welcome recently resettled Iraqis.

Hello Again!

As many of you know, next week is 'Sponsorship Week' and we want all Netrooters to get the most out of it!  We want to take the week to answer questions that you might have on your role, on the responsibilities of a sponsor, discuss sponsorship and fundraising ideas and, finally, to get you connected with the recently resettled Iraqis in your area.  We hope that you all have taken some time to check out the map and will email us so that we can make introductions!

We are creating a PowerPoint presentation, which includes the agenda for the conference call. Please email ann@thelistproject.org if you would like to receive one (it will also be uploaded into a Forum post)

Many of you have already hit the ground running and are actively assisting some List Project Iraqi families in your area, and we are excited about the prospects for more of you to get on board.  This might be the first time that you've thought about helping a refugee, much less one from Iraq, but rest assured that you are not alone in recognizing this moral imperative.

In our call on Tuesday, you can take your first steps in this important direction if you haven't yet done so.  In the meantime, please make sure that you have done the following before the call:

1.  Add yourself to the map

2.  Join a group or create one if there isn't one nearby (don't worry, creating a group does not mean you have taken on a whole new burden)

3.  Locate the closest Iraqi to you on the map

4.  Talk to a few of your friends and family members to see if they're interested in helping out, and invite them onto Netroots and into your group

5.  Read through the Toolkit's "Sponsorship" track, especially the 'Top Five' ideas section

Please help us find those who will be committed to helping someone make a life here in the U.S.A. and join us next week so that we can all work together to make a difference.  They need your help now more than ever.

Mapping Our Efforts

Almost daily, we receive emails from Americans across the country who have discovered the plight of Iraqis who are refugees as a consequence of helping the United States. These Americans tell us that this issue is one of the first in the war that they understand clearly enough to want to help. From Seattle to Tulsa to Miami, these inspiring Americans are signing up on Netroots, which is a groundbreaking grassroots effort that allows people to take ownership on this issue. Dozens of chapters have been created in its first several weeks, and we are nearing the thousand-member marker. Members are spreading awareness to their friends about the crisis, raising funds to help Iraqis who have successfully made it here, and mobilizing their congregations and other networks to help resettled Iraqis find support and meaningful employment.

Today we are announcing the addition of a new feature to Netroots, which we believe has great potential: the Netroots Map. This map will allow members (and non-members, too!) to do the following:

• Locate other Netroots members in your city or town so that you can join forces. Each blue pin represents a member: click on it and you can find their profile information and a link to their Netroots page so that you can communicate with them.
  
• Locate a Netroots chapter nearby by searching for a yellow pin. If you don't see one close to you, create one and start recruiting your friends and colleagues who you think might be interested in pitching in on this vital cause.
• Locate an Iraqi refugee nearby by searching for a red pin. Many of you want to directly assist an Iraqi ally who has made the long journey to refuge here in the U.S. We have finally devised a secure system that assigns a number to each Iraqi family that we helped reach the U.S. If you find one nearby that you are interested in helping, please send us a message here, providing us with your phone number and the # of the Iraqi you've located. (Note, we have not included the street addresses or names of the Iraqis on this map in order to ensure their privacy). Netroots chapters who are sponsoring Iraqis in their vicinity can also build an Amazon wishlist and link it to that Iraqis pin.
  

We hope this provides a worthwhile tool for Americans who are admirably stepping up to help our Iraqi allies!

How can YOU make a difference this holiday season?

As the holiday season approaches, TLP has started to think about ways that each of us can give to those in need. One of our dedicated Netrooters, Matthew Watts, has recently posted a blog about the ways in which we could give.  One of Matthew's great ideas was to create a Netroots Challenge--this would be a Challenge where each of us would give up our frivolous spending for a week or two weeks.  We all love our specialty coffees or magazines, but setting aside the small amount of money we spend on these things can be used to help a recently resettled Iraqi refugee.

What about buying a gift card at a pharmacy or food store in the area of an Iraqi from our List so that they can start this holiday season on the right foot?  Each of us has the power to make a difference (small or large) in the lives of others.  Please work with us to welcome our new friends.

Check out Matthew's blog and let's get going!

News Highlights

Hello Everyone!

Ann from TLP here with some noteworthy news and topics to keep an eye on...

Allegations of Corruption Cripples the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization: A recent article in the Washington Post focuses on the allegations of embezzlement and mismanagement against the Iraqi Red Crescent.  The organization oversees the largest humanitarian operation in Iraq, employs thousands and has an annual budget of $60 million (much of which is funded by the Government of Iraq).

Refugees and IDPs:  Although long overdue, recent news from the U.S. regarding the 2009 goal of admitting 17,000 Iraqi refugees for resettlement is welcomed.  While TLP is please that more refugees are going to be resettled, we wonder why the 1500 on our list haven't made it.  As Kirk points out, "After all, the goal was never to get an arbitrary increase in the number of general Iraqis admitted, but rather to get a targeted resettlement of those who have risked their lives to help the U.S."

Repatriation: The DOD issued a report last week that states that states that the security environment in Iraq is improving; however, these trends are "fragile, reversible, and uneven".  Even under such conditions, according to IRIN, the Iraqi embassy in Jordan is organizing the repatriation of dozens of willing Iraqi families.  NGOs and UN agencies continue to advise against repatriation, mainly because of the unstable security situation in the country.  According to the Iraqi ambassador, this is the first official repatriation since the US-led invasion in 2003.  The Iraqis returning, according to IRIN, have been offered financial incentives and have been told that they will be able to get any property seized (since 2003) back.