Agency for New Americans celebrated 25 years of service in Idaho in 2021. ANA continues to assist new Americans on their tremendous journey of resettlement here in Boise, ID Evolving political climates, economic challenges, and global events have all had an impact on the story of the Agency. ANA remains relentless in the face of adversity to achieve the mission of improving the educational, social and economic well-being of new Americans and the communities in which they live. Learn more about the journey of ANA, from the year the agency formed, through the many challenges the Agency has faced, to where we are standing strong today.
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Mountain State Refugee Resettlement Program (MSRRP) forms as an agreement between Mountain States Group, Episcopal Migration Ministries, & the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho. Lisa Reeves, first program director, and one other team member worked to welcome 25 refugees in the first two years, with clients primarily from Yugoslavia.
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Staff grows from 2 people to 5! Clients served grew immensely from 25 to over 200 clients served. The first Kosovar family resettled to the United States is welcomed into Boise by MSRRP. The Agency begins the Match Grant program.
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MSRRP renames and becomes Agency for New Americans (ANA). Agency moves to current location at 1614 W. Jefferson St. to accommodate the rapid growth of the team and program services. Annual clients received averaged at 150, and staff continues to grow.
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Lisa Reeves steps down as director to move toward other opportunities and is succeeded by Christina Bruce-Bennion. ANA resettles their first clients from outside Europe, Afghanistan and Sudan.
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2001 |
9/11 terrorist attacks change the process of refugee resettlement forever. Immediate stop of incoming refugees throughout 2002; where 153 refugees had arrived in 2001, only 47 total arrived in 2002. Arrivals that did come to the United States had more diversity than seen from the Agency ever before: Somalia, Bantu, Uzbeks, Colombians, and Meshketian Turks.
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2003 |
ANA starts the first refugee microenterprise program in Idaho, which evolved to the META program at Mountain States Group and set the foundation for the Economic Opportunity program at Jannus. ANA also began a Women's Employment Program which resulted in more innovated ways to serve clients' needs.
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Refugee arrivals are back to over 200 for the year for the first time since 2001. Arrivals came from new countries to the Agency: Burma, Bhutan, & Iraq. The economic recession of 2008 resulted in challenges of finding employment and housing for arrivals despite the high levels of professional experience and English capabilities of arrivals.
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Challenges with housing continue to grow, and there is a drop in arrivals. The Agency received a mental health grant that paved new possibilities for connecting with clients.
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The Agency becomes the site for a newly formed "Refugee Corps" volunteer program, made possibly by funding from the mental health grant received in 2014.
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In FY 2016, the Agency received over 200 arrivals from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Congo, Iraq, & Syria. The Agency was also awarded Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant from the Idaho Council on Domestic Violence and Victim Assistance (ICDVVA). Women's Program, Men's Classes, and Youth Programming is developed to provide additional resources and education on human rights and trauma responses. The numbers of arrivals dropped drastically after this year with new rules put into place by the presidential administration.
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Slobodanka Hodzic takes over as director of the program, after working with the Agency as assistant director since 2001. ANA is awarded Community Health Worker Program funding for assistance with navigating complex health care systems.
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ANA receives funding for our Youth Mentorship Program, REACH, where mentors (local Boiseans) are paired with a mentee (refugee youth) and support the educational and career goals of their mentee, building community partnerships and improved social integration.
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The Covid-19 pandemic hits the agency hard. Doors to the office are closed to the public, and the team begins working from home. Arrivals drop due to travel restrictions. Director Slobodanka Hodzic works to keep the agency doors open.
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ANA reopens office doors in July. The team begins to grow once more and numbers of arrivals begin to increase again. The crisis in Afghanistan results in a new status of "parolee", shifting the landscape of resettlement in brand new ways. The Agency celebrates a 25 year anniversary, with more growth of staff and of programs on the horizon. Preferred Communities (PC) program begins at the Agency.
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