Based on our findings with immigration & acculturation, we have the following recommendations:
1.) Refugees and their families must have some resource guide about living in Greater Hartford. This specific guide would be focused on refugees who are first arriving and are not familiar with life in Greater Hartford or the United States. This resource guide may include the following:
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- An overview of the public transportation options available in Greater Hartford, along with an explanation of how to utilize the public transportation offered.
- A basic overview of how to access government aid programs (such as SNAP, the department of labor, CT/Husky Health, etc.)
- An overview of the process of applying for citizenship and resources of where to learn more information and next steps.
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2.) We recommend creating a website where this information can be clearly listed and be accessible to all refugees in Greater Hartford. The website should be available in different languages (such as Arabic and French) and hosted on a server such as Squarespace, which can be easily accessed on mobile devices.
3.) We also recommend that SAWA hosts events for the community. The goal of these events would be to help refugee families connect with one another and other community members. Given the ongoing pandemic, these could be outdoor activities such as picnics or festivities with games for the children. Other possibilities are to create joyful events that involve ice skating rinks, movie theatres, or bowling.