Serving refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers, the Alliance for African Assistance began in 1989 in San Diego, with Alliance CEO Walter Lam, a refugee, with dedicated support from churches and centers of faith. He said the Alliance’s purpose is providing social, cultural, and educational support and guidance to all refugees in their resettlement process.
“The Alliance is a resettlement organization headquartered in San Diego by refugees for refugees,” said Lam. “From this humble beginning in San Diego, we now have offices overseas in Rome, Italy, Nairobi, Kenya, and in Uganda. In Atiak, Uganda we just built a large 200 bed hospital to provide closer access to care and bring services closer to refugees in that area.”
Lam said the Alliance is extremely busy right now. In the past six months, it brought in 1,127 Afghanistan refuges in San Diego, and nationwide 76,000 with its centers across the nation.
“We expect more, as our organizations overseas have been keeping around 35,000 refugees briefly until we can get them moved to the U.S.,” said Lam. “This is more people than we usually resettle in one year. You know the housing prices in San Diego. There are no apartments available out there for these people. They have been moving from one hotel to another, so we are looking for opportunities to find them a permanent home.”
Lam said he understands the crises in Ukraine and at the San Ysidro-Tijuana border, but that the Alliance is always ready for the influx of refugees.
“That is what we signed up for,” he said. “We are bringing 100,000 Ukrainians nationwide. We will probably take in about 5,000 here in San Diego County.”
Lam said the Alliance has many programs that help refugees resettle their lives in the U.S., but one program recently funded allows the Alliance to not only help them find permanent homes, and jobs, but the ability to start their own business through its Micro-Enterprise Development Program for refugees who qualify.
Lam said the programs offers loans that range from $1,000 to $15,000 depending on what kind of business, and though the program has been “off and on” during the pandemic, that the program has already funded many people start businesses in bakery & sweets, clothing alterations, auto sales, catering services, clothing boutiques, barbershops, photography, videography, landscaping, childcare and more. He said the program is also funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Alliance Micro-Enterprise Development Director Erick Asero said the basic premise of this program is helping people with their self-esteem and pride.
“You have people coming here from Afghanistan and many of them are very educated. Many held professional positions,” said Asero. “They settle here in San Diego and throughout the U.S., and we help them with that because they can support themselves and their families. But many times, they are not doing the same work they were doing at home. Their self-esteem and pride are impacted to the point that some may say there are some mental health challenges.”
Asero said giving people the opportunity to assess their skills and someone to coach them through the journey of starting a business can help them achieve self-fulfillment again while generating more income to support their families.
“I provide training for them before, during, and after they start a business,” he said. “We start with the basics. Customer service, bookkeeping, inventory management, cash management, taxes, and most important in my respect, how to use your local chamber of commerce to maximize the exposure of their enterprise.”
Asero said his largest challenge is establishing a level of trust, so he needs to do more, and do it quicker than anyone else has done for refugees in the past. New to the team at Alliance, he said he came in with the understanding that he would “come in running” to help refugees participate in the program.
“I am looking in helping those who have come through the Alliance, used our services, and I am also doing extensive marketing throughout the county, in particular El Cajon,” he said. “This service cannot only make a financial impact in someone’s life, but it can be emotionally and mentally rewarding and help someone achieve their self-actualization to the point where they had achieved it when they were back home. For example, you have a woman who was a teacher in Afghanistan, and now that she is in the U.S., she is working in the service industry. Help me help that person achieve the highest level of success and self-esteem that they can. I will do everything in my power to make sure they achieve that.”
Lam said the Alliance is always in need of cash donations to provide refugees its programs, clothing, furniture, used cars.
“We need the things that these people need to be successful,” he said. “Transportation is important. They come here, get a driver’s license, but then it is difficult for many to get a car.
Visit www.alliance-for-africa.org for more information.
