What is wrong with this story?
Let me count the ways!
First, remember that you are being constantly told that refugees are becoming self-sufficient in three months. Right! We hear that everywhere, so how come there are impoverished refugees in Erie, PA (besides the fact that Erie has been a long time dumping ground, yes dumping ground!)?
Secondly, once again we see ‘non-profit’ groups awarded grant money to manage a program that really is a federal responsibility to manage (if Congress deems it necessary at all).
When the bill creating the Refugee Act of 1980 was debated in Congress, the promoters (Kennedy, Biden et al) insisted we would not be adding more poverty to America. So much for that lie!
But, here is the worst part and unless you have been a faithful reader for years, you won’t know what they are talking about.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement has a SAVINGS PLAN where your tax dollars are matched dollar for dollar for every one ‘saved’ by the refugee. Read that again carefully!—you (without your knowledge!) are putting your money into a refugee’s savings account! The non-profit agency, like this one in Pennsylvania, gets to manage the money!
Read about the benign-sounding INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNTS, here. Here is a list of the present grantees.
I wonder if this IDA program has ever even been approved by Congress?
Now this from Go Erie:
ERIE, Pa. — A nonprofit group based in Philadelphia is looking to help impoverished refugees in Erie.
Officials with the Women’s Opportunities Resource Center*** were in Erie on Friday, meeting with local refugee advocacy agencies in an attempt to launch a program that will help refugees open a bank account, establish credit and learn basic household budgeting.
The federally funded program, scheduled to start here in early November, will match money saved by local refugees by up to $4,000 for families and up to $2,000 for individuals, said Lynne Cutler, the center’s president.
The center, which has promoted social and economic self-sufficiency primarily for low-income women and their families since 1993, received a $242,310 grant in late September from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, an arm of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cutler said her center was awarded a three-year grant for the savings program, which also will operate in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Lancaster.
The center, in collaboration with the International Institute of Erie, the Greater Erie Community Action Committee, and the Multicultural Community Resource Center, is hoping to have about 60 individuals or families enrolled in the refugee savings program between the end of this year and 2018.
I sure hope someone is auditing these grants!
By the way, there is a Federal Audit Clearinghouse, which we hope to use at some point where federal grant recipients must submit audits if they get over $500,000 in federal bucks. However, the system was hacked this summer and has been down ever since.
And, there must be a big move afoot to push resettlement in Pennsylvania as we noted here last week in Allentown.
***Go here to see a recent Form 990 for Ms. Cutler’s group. The majority of their funding is from government grants.
