Mission

The Mission of St. Anselm's Cross-Cultural Community Center is to help individuals of varying cultures with problems of daily life; to assist families of many backgrounds to fulfill the potential of each of their members; and to work with our multicultural communities to assure that conditions may be created so that all may live peaceful and productive lives.

History of the Center

Founded in 1976, the Center was originally named St. Anselm's Immigrant and Refugee Community Center. It provides much needed aid to new residents in our community who face problems with language, employment, and adjustment to a new culture.

Since the beginning, St. Anselm's has maintained its grass-roots philosophy in efforts to address the areas of assistance among diverse ethnic and cultural communities in Orange County. While the original emphasis was on Southeast Asian refugees-primarily Vietnamese - due to recent political upheavals in the world, the Center is also asked to provide assistance to families and individuals from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Central America.

Without the assistance St. Anselm's provides, many new residents face insurmountable problems that jeopardize their ability to become self-sufficient and contributing members of our community. By opening a door and offering our hand, we provide these new neighbors with an opportunity to enrich their lives as well as our own. This is the traditional American immigrant experience.

Services provided by the Center include:

• Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services
• Refugee Employment Services
• Family Resources/ Social Adjustment Services
• Emergency Transportation Services
• English Instruction
• Citizenship Services
• Opening Doors to Opportunities

Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services

St. Anselm's is a local refugee resettlement agency, a joint affiliate with three national voluntary agencies, which are holding agreements with the U.S. State Department for refugee resettlement. They are Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program (CWS/IRP), Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), and Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM).

Local churches of many denominations are sought to assist the newly arrived refugees with initial resettlement. The Center provides assistance that includes a transitional grant, case management, translation/interpretation, and information and referrals.

The Center also assists with family reunification by processing the necessary documentation with the national voluntary agencies (VOLAGS) and the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS). Immigration counseling, translations, referral services, and assistance in filing applications for Green Cards and for naturalization are also provided to the refugees.

Refugee Employment Services

St. Anselm's provides Refugee Employment Services, which aim at assisting refugee individuals and families to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency, family stability and community integration. Services include:

• Intake and Assessment
• Employment Preparation Workshops
• Job Counseling and Job Search Assistance
• Job Development/Job Placement
• Job Retention/Job Progression Services
• Social and Support Services
• Short-term Skills Training
• On-the-Job Training

Family Resources/ Social Adjustment Services

St. Anselm's assists individuals and families to resolve specific personal or family problems. Assistance ranges from simple daily tasks of obtaining or terminating utility services to difficult issues of domestic violence, brought on by the stress of adjusting to a new country. Services also include individual counseling, referral and information, and educational group workshops.

Emergency Transportation Services

Saint Anselm's provides Emergency Transportation Services for Welfare-to-Work (WTW) participants and their family members. Services include emergency transportation for WTW participants from and to their work sites or training sites, emergency pick-up and drop off of WTW participants' children from and to schools or child-care facilities, and emergency transportation hot-line services, which are available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.

English Instruction

St. Anselm's operates an intensive, employment-related English as a Second Language (VESL) especially designed for non-English speaking refugee students. These classes emphasize employment-related language, cultural orientation, and oral skills development.

In addition to VESL provided for refugees, the Center provides regular ESL training for adults who need to learn and improve their English language skills. Instructors for our VESL and ESL classes are provided by the Garden Grove Unified School District Adult Education Program.

Citizenship Services

St. Anselm's provides citizenship services for elderly refugees and others, which include Citizenship Training, and Naturalization Application Assistance. Citizenship Training prepares participants for the INS naturalization interviews, and Naturalization Application Assistance staff helps clients complete the INS I400 Naturalization Application form.

Opening Doors to Opportunities

The Mission of St. Anselm's Cross-Cultural Community Center is to help individuals of varying cultures with problems of daily life; to assist families of many backgrounds to fulfill the potential of each of their members; and to work with our multicultural communities to assure that conditions may be created so that all may live peaceful and productive lives.

Saint Anselm's Cross-Cultural Center is an efficiently managed non-profit agency. The Center's Board of Directors is a diverse group of Orange County professionals and community leaders who demand cost-effective use of agency resources. As such, contributors are confident that their donations are put to good use, providing the most direct assistance available to its clients. We welcome your support.