World Relief Minnesota

The shutdown of State of Minnesota social service programs is scheduled to begin on Friday, July 1. The shutdown will continue until the Minnesota legislature reinstates funding for government services.

The shutdown does impact refugee social services provided by World Relief Minnesota. Read below to learn more about how these programs will be affected and who to contact at World Relief for assistance during this period:

• Immigration Legal Services
• Refugee Employment Services
• Refugee Cash Assistance
• Reception & Placement

Immigration Legal Services
Current World Relief immigration clients with whose cases need urgent attention (for example, clients who receive an I-797C Request for Evidence Letter from US Immigration) should contact Clarissa Robison, at crobison@wr.org or 612-243-2971 and give detailed information about their urgent need. Clients whose cases need urgent attention should also submit any mail or paperwork received from US Immigration to the World Relief office. Copies of letters from US Immigration can be submitted to World Relief either by dropping off a copy at our front desk during business hours (Monday –Thursday 9 am to 5 pm, and Friday 9 am to 12 pm) or by fax (fax #: 612-798-4314, Attn: Clarissa).

World Relief immigration staff will be checking email and voicemail weekly to respond to clients with urgent needs. Current clients are advised that only urgent case needs will receive a response during a shut down, and that World Relief immigration staff will use their discretion to decide which cases are high priority. Current clients with non-urgent needs are requested to wait until after a shut-down to contact the immigration department.

Refugee Employment Services
Current World Relief employment clients with whose cases need urgent attention (for example, clients who have an interview or start of work scheduled should contact Allison Morris, amorris@wr.org or 612-243-2954 and give detailed information about their urgent need. Clients whose cases need urgent attention can also stop by the front office and leave a detailed message with the receptionist during normal business hours.

World Relief employment staff will be checking email and voicemail daily to respond to clients with urgent needs. Current clients are advised that only urgent case needs will receive a response during a shut down, and that World Relief employment staff will use their discretion to decide which cases are high priority. Current clients with non-urgent needs should wait until after a shut-down to contact the employment department.

World Relief will not be taking any new employment cases during a government shut-down. New clients are requested to wait until after the shutdown to contact World Relief for an appointment.

Current clients who currently receive gas and bus card assistance can call and leave a message to schedule a time to pick up and sign for their assistance.
If you have an urgent job interview or start a new job, call Laura, the World Relief MN receptionist at 612-866-0462 and tell her when and where you need to be.

Refugee Cash Assistance
In the event of a state shutdown, the RCA office at World Relief Minnesota will be closed. However, existing RCA clients will still be able to pick up monthly checks from the receptionist on or after July 5. New RCA applications will be accepted in order to set an application date, but no eligibility interviews will be conducted until the RCA office reopens. If you have questions, please contact Laura, the receptionist at World Relief Minnesota at Minnesota@wr.org.

Reception and Placement
Our Reception and Placement program is federally funded allowing us to continue to welcome new refugees into the country during a state shutdown. Our refugees rely heavily on many of the services that will be paralyzed by a state shutdown. Newly arrived refugees will need additional financial, material and community support if social services are not available to them. Do you have time and resources to fill these gaps? If so, please contact Katie Day, kday@wr.org or 612.746.5634.