Description
In the state of Rhode Island, numerous non-profit organizations, businesses and state government departments provide a variety of services to the immigrant population. Among these agencies, each has different levels of communication, collaboration and knowledge of the other organizations operating in Rhode Island. Collaborating with the International Institute of Rhode Island, a non-profit immigration agency located in Providence, my initial goal was the creation of the Rhode Island Immigrant Assistance Database (RIIAD), a simple and informative web page detailing the services, mission statement and address of the agencies that assist immigrants. Of the more than seventy organizations invited to the join the database, only fifteen elected to participate. The great majority elected to ignore the invitation or deny it. In this paper, I present my perceived barriers, successes and difficulties of the project and suggestions for my community partner for future efforts to attempt to create the database. In addition, I gathered information and statistics about the level of communication, collaboration, advocacy and exchange of information among certain social service providers in Rhode Island through an online survey, a formal interview, and informal conversations. Ultimately, I created the foundation for the Rhode Island Immigrant Assistance Database and from my work; interns and full time employees can finish the project.
Publisher
Providence College
Date
Spring 5-6-2011
Type
Article
Format
Text
Language
English
Included in
Cultural History Commons, International Relations Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons, Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons
