An Evaluation of Lifetrack Services to Karen in a Second Wave of Migration to Worthington, Minnesota: Nine Rays of Light Reach the Star of the North

Between October 1998 and June 2010, 2,792 refugees from Burma, mostly via Thai refugee camps, arrived in Minnesota (Minnesota Department of Human Services Resettlement Programs Office, 2010). The highest number of refugees, 667, from Burma came in DHS grant year 2006 (October 2006 through September 2007). In the first three quarters of the current grant year (GY 2009), 595 refugees arrived in Minnesota from Burma (Minnesota Department of Human Services Resettlement Programs Office, 2010). The Seasonally Adjusted Current Unemployment Rate for Minnesota for July 2010 is 6.8 percent with a historical high of 9.1 percent in December of 1982 and a low of 2.5 percent in March of 1999 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). The combination of limited English proficiency plus a highly competitive job market has made finding full-time work difficult for refugees. Innovative employment services for refugees looked beyond St. Paul, the Minnesota city where the majority of refugees from Burma first settle, to small towns where higher paying, full-time jobs are available to people with limited English proficiency. Lifetrack Resources was one of the first employment agencies to place refugees in Worthington, Minnesota. This is a study of the views of seven refugees from Burma on their relocation to Worthington to obtain employment and the role of Lifetrack Resources in assisting with their moves.Funded by a Communiversity Personnel Grant from the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA), University of Minnesota