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What is
the RPNA?
The RPNA is the Resource Place for New
Americans. Here you will find pages of information collected
from a network of community leaders, social service providers, pro
bono lawyers, volunteers, academics, advocates, and immigrants
across North Texas, sponsored by the University of North
Texas School of Community Service. Our goal is to provide
advocacy and networking assistance to immigrant communities,
refugees, and service providers, with the goal of improving the
lives of the new Americans among us.
What do we
do?
- Connect people to
service providers such as lawyers, accountants, clinics,
classes, community leaders, and politicians who can help
- Provide an open
forum for sharing information among service providers
- Encourage
empowerment in immigrant communities
- Interact with
political leaders to affect social change
- Most importantly-
Give people the tools to actively and pro-actively resolve
conflict in their community
For example,
how do we help?
In the recent past,
RPNA has:
- Provided a lawyer and
translator for a recently immigrated Bangladeshi client in
need of assistance with domestic violence
- Found Afghan,
Cameroon, and Sierra Leone political experts to testify in
asylum cases
- Located translators
of Thai, Laotian, Dinka, Somali, and Arabic for area school
systems
- Identified a pro-bono
lawyer to consult with a recently arrived Afghani woman
injured at work
- Located a health care
agency who could provide diabetes treatment to a Cuban refugee
- Identified an
immigration lawyer to provide a local women’s shelter a free
immigration seminar for its large immigrant population
- Found immigration
experts to give a free Saturday seminar to a group of young
undocumented workers who had been exploited by an immigration
scam
Our purpose
and mission
North Texas is a true international
community, with 35 percent of its population being either first or
second generation immigrants. This diversity brings us tremendous
benefits, but also occasional challenges. Cultural misunderstandings
can take place when customs or cultures clash between those living
in the same community. Some may misunderstand the motives that bring
new Americans to the region, causing distrust, or hostility. The
Resource Place for New Americans is an
innovative network of experts that helps solve and prevent conflicts
born from such misunderstandings or misapprehensions.
Our mission is to provide networking assistance for immigrants and
minorities who have experienced social injustice or discrimination
based on race, sex or language, difficulty in obtaining educational
services, lack of proper legal defense because of language or
cultural differences, removal of children from the home for
unidentifiable reasons, or difficulty in obtaining documentation for
political asylum. We connect people to service providers or experts
who can help.
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