Building bridges to success for immigrants

Joe Myer, Executive Director
Denise Freeman, Housing Counseling Director
National Council on Agricultural Life and Labor Research

Challenge: Securing an affordable home is challenging for low-income people, particularly for immigrants, who can be exploited by unscrupulous landlords. Lack of English proficiency and information are barriers to accessing assistance. Unfamiliarity with the U.S. banking system hinders immigrants' ability to obtain loans and can prevent them from prospering.



In Delaware, a household must earn $21.09 an hour to afford the median $1,096 rent on a market rate two-bedroom apartment. The average renter earns $5.73 per hour. That equation becomes even more challenging for the state's many non-English speaking citizens. Many of the state's foreign-born people live below the poverty line. Children in immigrant families are more likely to live in crowded conditions than children in native families.

The National Council on Agricultural Life and Labor Research (NCALL) is a Delaware-based nonprofit working to promote affordable housing, community improvement and sustainable development, primarily in rural areas. We recognized that small groups of our population with limited English were struggling to access some of the most basic services. We wanted to find a way to create a bridge for these underserved residents and provide them with opportunities for homeownership, community engagement and economic stability.

Immigrants are often hidden within their communities and their linguistic and cultural differences can silence them. Difficulties in accessing services and seeking medical care means some families go months without assistance or could be misdiagnosed due to language barriers.

Unfamiliarity with U.S. banking systems can encourage families to keep money under the mattress or in the informal "savings circles" prevalent in other countries. Whether they are documented or not, many immigrants find it extremely difficult to obtain driving permits and in rural Delaware public transportation is often not an option. Immigrant status, cultural barriers and a tendency to isolate within family boundaries can prevent engagement in the broader community, limiting economic opportunities. Undocumented immigrants often assume they have no rights and those who cannot speak English are easy targets for discrimination. Unscrupulous landlords may threaten immigrant tenants with deportation, increasing their hurdles to obtaining safe, affordable housing.

When NCALL's financial coaches and pre-purchase housing counselors began looking for ways to increase community outreach, they narrowed down the possibilities to a group not often readily identified: the emerging immigrant population. Two financial coaches were assigned to provide financial literacy to a few small English as a Second Language (ESL) workshops in the area, primarily held in local schools, churches and poultry plants. Later, the coaches met one-on-one with the participants who expressed interest in receiving financial coaching services.

Among the challenges we face are that some immigrants have difficulty speaking and learning English, especially if they are not literate in their native languages. Fortunately, our financial coaches can provide services that other ESL instructors cannot: communication in the immigrant's native Spanish or Haitian Creole language, free one-on-one coaching and access to housing services and banking programs. Families seeking to buy homes are offered tools and coaching for preparation and then transferred to a certified housing counselor to become mortgage ready.

After we launched this effort in 2015, word spread to other organizations about our services. Our coaches have held dozens of financial literacy classes with hundreds of immigrant participants at 10 sites. One of our coaches also coordinates a number of savings circles (an alternative financial system practiced worldwide) which is linked to a local credit union, jump-starting their access to establishing credit.

When assessing populations not well served by NCALL's housing services, we've learned that if another program is reaching that group, such as ESL classes, it is best to partner with that service. Together, we can better serve that population and expand our ability to meet the needs of our community.

One of the most valuable things our coaches offer is an ability to understand the struggles of those they seek to serve. We learned early on that this was key. Our American values and goals are not necessarily the same as our immigrant clients. Once this is acknowledged and respected, these families feel safe and confident in sharing their challenges and achievements. Our dedicated financial coaches tailor the financial literacy courses to meet the needs of the families they serve. They travel to sites throughout the southern half of the state to hold workshops and meet with families, sometimes after normal business hours to facilitate those with jobs. Our site coordinators have witnessed the real connections between the coaches and these families and look forward to building more of these bridges.