We have written a lot about the problems with refugees, mostly Somalis, in St. Cloud, MN over the last year or so (use our search function for St. Cloud). Now it appears that St. Cloud is no longer a city of secondary migration (refugees resettle elsewhere but then move to where jobs and welfare are better or where family members are located), but is now a direct resettlement site.
This is information provided to the St. Cloud Times by SASSO (St. Cloud Area Somali Salvation Organization). SASSO is an ECBO (Ethnic Community Based Organization). They are like little ACORNS except that they are based around ethnic groups. ECBOs help ‘their ethnic group’ tap into welfare programs and other public services and then also serve as the political activism arm for ‘their community.’ See our ECBO category here.
I told you all about SASSO and community agitation, here, back in April of this year.
From today’s St. Cloud Times:
We [SASSO] were able to resettle about 40 primary refugees to the area. In the housing area, we provide that service for them.
It took from August to September. We provided housing and financial startup.
They were the first group that came directly from refugee camps to St. Cloud. They came from camps in Yemen, from camps in Ethiopia, from camps in Egypt. They were mostly Somalis, and they came from Iraq.
We were working together with the Lutheran Social Service of St. Cloud. They were the anchor agency that brought them here ….
Note that in my previous post this morning it was a Lutheran Social Services subcontractor that got the boot in North Carolina.
Get ready St. Cloud—more refugees on the way from camps!
There will be more refugees coming to this area. We have an estimation of 100 cases.
Readers, read the rest of the group profile at the St. Cloud Times and note who is funding SASSO, a list that includes banks. What is up with that? For more on SASSO be sure to read that post I wrote back in April. I wonder does Rep. Michelle Bachmann fully understand what is going on in her district? Visit her website, here, and note she has just been assigned a seat on the House Intelligence Committee. Great! She can get to work on intelligence in her St. Cloud-centered district!