When Angelo Donnabella, his wife and young daughter landed in Colorado after fleeing Venezuela as asylum seekers, the 35-year-old didn’t know if he could pursue an engineering career in a new country.
“It was stressful. It was a big change when you move from your country because you have no choice,” Donnabella said. “It’s a different culture, a different language.”
The certifications, training and even experience required were different. But now, the design technician at Builders FirstSource is well on his way to achieving his career goals, which he largely credits to the program at Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver.
Colorado’s Refugee Services Program is ranked among the highest in the country in employment measures related to immigrants and refugee resettlement state agencies, according to a 2019 report from the federal Administration for Children and Families.
Although Colorado isn’t the best in connecting job seekers to employment nor does it offer the highest wages, the state’s overall rank in all outcome measures is still high, said Kit Taintor, state refugee coordinator.
“We want to make sure not only do they have a job, but that they have a job paying living wages to help support families and that they are able to keep that job,” Taintor said.
The state office works with its partners to improve upon connecting prospective employees to jobs that grant them economic security, especially as costs of living continue to rise. Officials also want to increase the number of jobs employees take that have opportunities to move up or provide training for better jobs in the future.
“A lot of the data show the eagerness to which refugees bring to Colorado when rebuilding their lives,” Taintor said.
Twenty percent of arriving refugees have a bachelor’s degree or higher, Taintor said, and many have specialized skills. Even if the agencies help put someone in a job quickly so they can make money right away, officials want to make sure they’re able to help them enter their career fields and add to Colorado’s workforce in a meaningful way.
That’s where programs like Emily Griffith’s come in.
The college has served 220 refugees and immigrants in its CAREERS program since October 2018, the start of its most recent grant cycle, with the majority from Burma, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Congo, said Tiffany Jaramillo, manager and career navigator for the college’s Refugee and Immigrant Integration program.
Last year, the college had 478 refugees and 955 immigrants enrolled in its English as a Second Language courses, said Ryan Yates, dean of instruction for adult learning and ESL.
The Colorado Refugee Services Program funds the careers program at Emily Griffith. The program started two years ago as a pilot and received a three-year grant extension with support from the Emily Griffith Foundation, Jaramillo said.
The college connects refugees and immigrants with people in the community who can help them with their career goals. It also helps job seekers with resumes and skills building, provides programming to learn about work, refers job seekers to apprenticeship and development programs, assists with onboarding and even helps job seekers advance and grow within their companies. It also helps with obtaining GEDs and pursuing college pathways.
Even though the program started a couple of years ago, Jaramillo said staff members are still connected to former participants like Donnabella, who first started working in a restaurant before getting hired by a firm. While helping him develop his skills and prepare for future engineering exams, they connected him with a new participant in the program who wants to pursue a similar field.
The participants often come from refugee resettlement agencies, and though the program was initially geared for refugees and immigrants who have been in the country for five years or fewer, college officials recognized the need to serve refugees and immigrants who have been here longer, to help with continued job development.
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
Angelo Donnabella stands at his place of work, Builders FirstSource in Littleton, on Sept. 10, 2019.
“Beyond education and experience backgrounds that so many of them bring, so many are extremely positive, hardworking, dedicated and really interested in being connected with a workplace and career pathway and are committed to their success,” Jaramillo said.
The ESL program at Emily Griffith started when the college was founded in 1916 but has developed into a program that bring refugees and immigrants into the communities they are trying to become a part of.
The courses aren’t taking place in churches or small settings, rather in classrooms tailored to the students and their levels, Yates said. With the addition of the CAREERS program, Yates said students are able to access resources to enroll in college, something they weren’t always able to do before.
“It’s not a place to come and study a little bit — it’s the whole package,” Yates said.
Bumoleke Bisimwa, 23, is one student who was able to benefit from the college’s programming for refugees and immigrants after she and her family came to Denver as refugees from Congo, by way of Uganda for six years.
“Being in Denver was challenging and exciting at the same time,” she said. “It’s better here because you have a lot of opportunities and you can be where you want to if you work hard. With a positive mind, you can achieve a lot.”
Bisimwa took English courses and is studying to be a certified nursing assistant. As with all of Emily Griffith’s programs, the courses are hands on, so she’s been able to get experience in the field.
“I really like the experience I had at Emily Griffith,” Bisimwa said. “They make it easier for you.”
