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History of Bhutanese Community in Utah
The idea of forming a community and getting organized came when there were only a dozen of families in Salt Lake City. The first three families arrived in March 2008 and others every month after that. It was not unusual to feel the need when new life has to be started in a new land far away from home in a completely new world with different culture, tradition, system and the most important, different language, a medium of communication, which most of the members of the community did not speak or understand. We had several informal meetings and discussion in the apartments on the topic for months. We were able to meet with Gerald Brown, the director of the refugee service office and other RSO staffs. We were inspired by his advice, suggestions and the support. After that we had more understanding of the need of the community organization and started working on drafting the by-laws. The working committee was formed on the basis of understanding and voluntarily. By August 2009, we were able to register the organization in the state and got a permit as a charitable organization. In December we held the first general election for five member executive body. This body worked to build the capacity of the organization. The refugee service office announced the capacity building grant for which we submitted the proposal and were approved. We received a grant of $12,000 for the fiscal year 2009-2010 to provide supplemental case management, interpretation, transportation, collected and distributed donations, and other services to the needy families of the community. During this project period we were able to mend our by-laws, apply for the tax exempt status, 501c3, which was approved, build partnership with different service providers, government entities, other community organizations, schools, and colleges. Our work with the grant was recognized by the state refugee office and was awarded the certificate of the best refugee community in Utah and the grant for the year 2010-2011 increased to $ 18,166. General election for the BOD was conducted in January in which five members are elected out of 12 contestants who will be serving for the term of two years.
The credit of all this success that the community has achieved goes to the Refugee Service Office, resettlement agencies like International Rescue Committee, Catholic Community Service, Asian Association of Utah, Department of Work force Services, Volunteers, family mentors, all government and non government service providers in the state, general public and the members of the Bhutanese Community. We look forward to getting continuous support to move towards achieving our mission.
Capacity Building Grant
Refugee Service Office in partnership with Department of Work Force Services, Community College, University Neighborhood Partners, and Westside Leadership Institute has been providing training to the refugee community leaders to build the capacity on management of the organization. With our immense effort and the direction of the Refugee Service Office, we were also able to get a sum of $ 12,000 from the state for the year 2009-2010. Social Service Facilitators are trained and they provide trainings to the targeted families, but the trainings are not limited to the targeted families only. This grant was specifically used for supplemental case management, employment related services, provide transportation to appointments, interpretation, and other services to the needy families of the community which ultimately helped to make the families self sufficient and self reliant, bridging the cap and building the confidence. The project was successfully completed and again for the year 2010-2011, we were approved $ 18,166. Project coordinator, Four Social Service Facilitators, all the Board of Directors, Youths Specialist and other active members are all involved in providing the services to the needy families with in the community. All our work has been recognized and Bhutanese Community in Utah is the best refugee community organization in Utah. We are dedicated to continuing our effort and get more grants in the future.
