HOME BASE: Aurora’s immigrant welcome center is all about connecting

AURORA | When Aurora Public Schools held their graduation ceremonies this year, the district hired more interpreters to account for a growing number of immigrant and refugee students and their families.

“In the past we only provided interpreters at graduations in English and Spanish,” explained Georgia Duran, a spokeswoman for Aurora Public Schools. Duran said that this year district officials felt like they were leaving parents out, and decided to add Burmese, Cantonese, Nepalese, Somali and Vietnamese to that list.

Immigrant children play a game of soccer while they wait for their parents to finish a multicultural neighborhood watch meeting June 25 at the Martin Luther King Library. Aurora has more than 105 different ethnic groups living with the city’s borders and the Colorado Refugee Wellness Center receives most of the 2,500 refugees that are resettled in Colorado each year. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Students from Central America and South Africa play a mathematical card game June 26 during the last day of 5th Block at North Middle School in Aurora. When Aurora Public Schools held their graduation ceremonies this year, the district hired more interpreters to account for a growing population of immigrant students and their families. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

International students roam the halls of North Middle School in Aurora. According to the 2012 U.S. Census American Community Survey, one in five of Aurora’s residents are estimated to have been born in another country most of those speak English less than very well. City officials are working to create the city’s first immigrant welcome center which would help make the transition easier for the city’s refugee and foreign-born population. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Aurora Police Officer Patricia Perea translates during a multicultural neighborhood watch meeting June 25 at the Martin Luther King Library. City officials are working to create the city’s first immigrant welcome center which would help make the transition easier for the refugee and foreign-born population. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Aurora today has more than 105 different ethnic groups living within the city’s borders that each speak their own language. One in five of Aurora’s residents are estimated to have been born in another country, and nearly that number speak English less than very well, according to the 2012 American Community Survey.

Duran is one of many people working with Aurora city officials to create the city’s first immigrant welcome center. The center would house multiple groups that provide immigrant and refugee services in one place, making the transition easier for newly arrived residents.

In addition to APS, the city has been working with the Aurora Human Rights Center, the Buck Foundation, the Colorado Refugee Services Program, and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition to create the facility. The multi-tenant project will likely be housed at the APS centralized admissions office at East 11th Avenue and Peoria Street, said Aurora Assistant City Manager Roberto Venegas. He said that the city plans to have the details of the welcome center finalized by the end of August.

Duran said she has seen the number of APS students who are refugees grow from 144 in 2011 to almost 1,000 in 2014, The Colorado Refugee Wellness Center in north Aurora, where a majority of the city’s multinational population is located, receives most of the 2,500 refugees that are resettled in Colorado each year.

She said APS schools in recent years have taken on the role of providing entire families with food, transportation and mental health resources. “Ideally this will be an extension of what we already do,” she said of the center.

Duran said the APS location will be ideal for welcoming new immigrant and refugee residents. “It’s already a well-known spot and it has high traffic. Even if people are coming as individuals, communities tend to be tightknit. They’re often connected to families. It’s sort of a one-stop shop where families can come, register for schools, and find other assistance and
support.”

The city has hired Radian, Denver Shared Spaces and the Nonprofit Centers Network to flesh out the program’s purpose, and the organizations are looking at whether the APS location will work for the center. The total cost for consulting services is $10,000, said Venegas. Half of that will be paid by the city and half by the stakeholders involved.

In recent years, the city of Aurora has done more to recognize and integrate its international community.

The idea for an immigrant welcome center came out of an Aurora International Roundtable discussion from last summer, where members expressed the need for mental healthcare, jobs, and transportation for immigrant and refugee communities. This year, members of the city’s Human Relations Committee also created an immigrant/refugee task force to address residents’ feelings of being isolated and underrepresented.

Barbara Shannon-Banister, who serves as the executive director of the city’s human relations commission, said the task force held its first meet-and-greet in June and will have its first official meeting July 15. She said that right now the task force is comprised of 26 people. Six of the members are people who work with immigrant and refugee populations and the rest are Aurora residents.

“This is just the beginning,” she said of Aurora’s efforts. “There are some 130 languages spoken in Aurora. We certainly will touch bases with all of the groups to be a part of contributing to wellbeing and success of the immigrant and refugee task force.”

Venegas said the welcome center would not just be a space for service providers but would also serve as a meeting hall for international events.

He said there isn’t a timeline for when the center will be open.

“Several folks in the group want something sooner rather than later,” he said.