Programs and Services
BCNH has been fortunate to liaison multiple grants from federal, state, and local sources to the needs of the clientele communities. The current annual operation budget of the corporation is about $600,000 and this means a lot, but less to meet the growing needs of the New Americans. BCNH shall maintain its legacy to offer the following services in a culturally and linguistically appropriate demeanors.
Case Management:
Case Management project is funded by New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Every week, BCNH receives 50-60 individuals seeking support and assistance. Case workers assess and identify their specific needs and offer appropriate services including referral on case by case basis. The program includes ride to appointments, case management, home visits, crisis intervention, and educating New Americans on post-resettlement needs for medical, employment, and family issues. This program provides an outlet for our clients to socialize and integrate meaningfully into a community of communities.
The program also assists refugees and asylees aged 60 and older. It includes home visits, referrals and coordination to health care appointments and assistance with housing needs, English classes, and preparation for naturalization tests.
The program provides ongoing referrals and daily case management for over 1250 individuals annually. Presently, BCNH holds 400 family caseloads.
Key Program Personnel: Deepak Das, Concord
Ghanashyam Sharma, Concord
Chura Acharya, Manchester
Employment Services:
Employment Support Services is funded by New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. Employment Assistance Program offers career readiness, job instructions, employment placement, and employment retention. As a part of the Employment Assistance Program, some100 plus New Americans get job every year.
Crafting resumes, one on one job counseling,assistance on job applications, job interviews preparations, group sessions, employment orientations are the key elements of this programs.Building network and partnership with local employers, providing cultural brokering, coordinating job fairs with staffing agencies, and follow-ups scripts the success for the program. Besides, we support employers and employee for job retention.
Key Contact Personnel: Rajesh Chauwan
Civic Engagement:
Civic Engagement project is funded by New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services and Eastern Bank. Teachers educate adult students about American History, Civics, and English learning in culturally appropriate method. This is one of the critical programs for local integration and naturalization. Teachers support student improve their verbal and written communication skills.
Total of 300 students registered so far, out of which 250 students graduated from this program. Currently, 30 students continue to attend and reaping benefits. Classes are scheduled three days a week.
BCNH has been a highly-wanted service hub for United States Citizenship and Immigration Support assistance. More than 3000 New Americans have been benefited with application assistance, transportation, and interpretation support. Currently we are operating three Civic Education classes per week including weekends. These classes help individuals improve their English, prepare for job readiness, and prepare permanent residents who are planning to take the English and Citizenship tests to become naturalized citizens.
Key Program Personnel: Chura Sharma Manchester
Ghana Sharma Concord
Nutrition Education Program:
BCNH partners with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension to bring nutrition education to New Americans families with an emphasis on obesity reduction. Nutrition education, food resource management, physical activity, food safety education, including instruction about purchasing and preparing healthy meals, are the key aspects of this program.
The goal of this program is to motivate and empower clients to choose healthy and smart eating at home. This program provides nutrition education for limited-income seniors, adults, and families with children through in-home training. 275 individuals received an individualized orientation and 40 different lessons.
Program Staff: Bishna Khadka
Fundor: University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
Current End Date: 9/30/2018
Mental Health Outreach Services:
Living with a mental health related impairment is an unanticipated scenario for anyone. It is harder for New Americans when resource navigation is complicated by language barriers, lack of system knowledge, and challenges building a support network. Limited peer support and lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate resources negatively impact New American communities.
Frustration, stress, anxiety, and depression are greater among New Americans across the age spectrum. The need for mental health workers who can assist new Americans in a culturally appropriate manner has become not only necessary, but critical given statistics published by CDC in its Mental Health Report in 2012 indicating that the suicide rate in resettled Bhutanese in the US is the highest in the world.
Starting in 2014 and in collaboration with the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester and other partners, MHOS has a caseload of 20 . Service referrals and one-on-one peer counseling compliment the services BCNH provides. Riverbend Community Mental Health in Concord, the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness-New Hampshire, NAMI-NH are our key partners in this effort.
Refugees have experienced violence and deprivation that can surface after resettlement as emergent mental health problems. We conduct culturally appropriate outreach and education and provide informational sessions to the individuals and families surviving mental health challenges. We refer individuals with mental health risks for professional help to mental health service providers.
Program Staff: Anpi Poudyal and Amar Poudel
Fundor: Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester
Current End Date: None
New American Youth Engagement Project NAYEP:
This program is designed exclusively for New American youth with the objective of improving the quality of youth lives by engaging them in meaningful activities. This helps reduce youth dislocation, prevent their involvement in risky behavior, reduce long-term economic burden on city resources, and help develop a skillful workforce. This year’s cycle began with 45 participants, and last year 30 students graduated from this program.
This project includes organizing events, seasonal sports, discussion of career prospects, assistance in college preparation, and academic and tutorial activities during non-school hours. This project focuses on giving teenagers and young adults the chance to build skills, exercise leadership, form relationships with caring adults, and help their communities.
Program Staff: Suraj Budathoki
Fundor: The Clowes Fund, Indianapolis, Indiana
Current end date: 5/30/2018
Diversity Collaboration:
Diversity Collaboration project is funded by Office of Refugee Resettlement. Diversity collaboration is a unity in diversity and united we stand stronger approach designed and implemented under Building Community in New Hampshire – BCNH. Diversity Collaboration is a bridging liaison between the Ethnic Communities and the local agencies in the state of New Hampshire. The Refugee and Immigrant communities such as the Bhutanese, Congolese, Burmese, Syrian, and Iraqi communities to mention a few share important commonalities that make this approach essential for the effective growth of newly formed Ethnic Community Based Organizations.
Over comers Support Services of New Hampshire, the Rohingyan Association of Greater Nashua and many other Ethnic organizations in New Hampshire are working in collaboration with BCNH. This collaboration shares several general refugees’ integration challenges, including limited English proficiency, unfamiliarity with American social service, welfare, and employment systems, poverty from arriving with few, if any,financial resources, limited literacy and chronic health conditions resulting from marginal living conditions within overseas refugee camps and urban refugee environments. Beyond those general integration challenges, refugees coming from the foreign communities are often challenged by elevated levels of psychological distress.
The refugee communities have been experiencing significant levels of trauma, which can impact their ability to easily navigate the social service programs available to them. Despite these elevated levels of distress and the challenges created by overall integration stress, the Building Community in New Hampshire has developed a highly successful ECBO model, that has effectively assisted over 1400 New Americans in New Hampshire.
All New American Communities report a need to engage their youth in positive programming.Youth are often influenced by the mental health of their parents. The youth from these communities have limited opportunities to engage in their communities outside of school. BCNH has created a strong and effective youth engagement program with its leadership council, which has provided services to over 200 youths to date.
The Ethnic Community Self-Help project will support a newly formed multiethnic collaboration of ECBOs that are aligned around a common goal of linking newly arrived refugees to community resources and promoting and strengthening all the New American Communities in New Hampshire.
Key Program Personnel : Suraj Budathoki Manchester
: Clement Kigugu Concord
: Mohammad Mustak Arif Nashua
Bhutanese Elderly Women Assistance Program:
Bhutanese Elderly Women Assistance Program is funded by Mary Gale Foundation. The grant is particularly for Bhutanese living in Manchester area. BCNH under this program has been providing various kinds of supports and services to the elderly population from the Bhutanese Community in New Hampshire. Resources navigation, Transportation, Communication bridging via interpretation, Case Management support, recreational outing, and emotional support are some of the daily actions of this program.
Elderly women from the New American Bhutanese Community in the new world have been prone to emotional disturbances, mental distress, anxiety, and depression. This program in Bhutanese Community is helpful to support these elderly female population.
Key Program Personnel : Amar Poudyal