Profiles of some good places for Cambodians to live in the United StatesDavid North Nim SokU.S. Department of Health and Human Services Family Support Administration Office of Refugee ResettlementCZA, Inc., 2262 Hall Place, N.W.Washington, D.C.July 1989 |
Prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Family Support Administration, Office of Refugee Resettlement, 370 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20447, under contract # DHHS/PHS 282-87-1012. The contents of this report reflect the findings and opinions of the authors, and not necessarily those of the Government.
Project Officer: Toyo Biddle
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| The Purpose of this Document | 1 |
| How to Use this Document | 8 |
| The Profiles: | 11 |
| Mobile Bay, Alabama | 11 |
| Phoenix, Arizona | 16 |
| Denver, Colorado | 19 |
| Danbury and Hartford, Connecticut | 23 |
| Jacksonville, Florida | 28 |
| St. Petersburg, Florida | 32 |
| Atlanta, Georgia | 35 |
| Chicago, Illinois | 39 |
| Joliet, Illinois | 44 |
| Des Moines, Iowa | 47 |
| Portland, Maine | 50 |
| Lincoln, Nebraska | 54 |
| Rochester, New York | 57 |
| Charlotte, North Carolina | 60 |
| Greensboro, North Carolina | 63 |
| Columbus, Ohio | 66 |
| Portland, Oregon | 70 |
| Providence, Rhode Island | 74 |
| Memphis, Tennessee | 79 |
| Nashville, Tennessee | 82 |
| Dallas, Texas | 86 |
| Salt Lake City, Utah | 91 |
THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT
This report includes short descriptions, or profiles, of some of the more successful Cambodian communities in the United States. They are places where Cambodians were largely self-sufficient, where they had a reasonably easy time getting jobs, and where there were a minimum of problems with crime and big-city crowding.
The information was gathered in one report because the Office of Refugee Resettlement wanted to make it possible for Cambodian refugees to know about their opportunities in the United States. With that in mind data are presented on:
- ○ Job opportunities for refugees
- jobs available to refugees
- average wages for new placements
- average wages for established refugees
- ○ The Cambodian community
- size and stability of the community degrees of self-sufficiency and welfare utilization
- number of Cambodian-owned businesses presence or absence of a temple presence or absence of Mutual Assistance Associations (MAAs)
- number of college students services available to refugees, including health, job placement and education services
- housing costs, extent of refugee home ownership
- ○ The host community
- location, total population and other features unemployment rates for the general population earnings for the general population
Each of these summaries starts with a short statement on the advantages and disadvantages that the location offered to
Most of the data on the host community, however, such as population size, the extent of unemployment and average earnings for resident workers, were taken from standard Federal Government sources.
1. More specifically, population data are from the 1980 U.S. Census, unemployment data are the averages for calendar year 1987, and annual earnings of resident workers are for the year 1987. The last two sets of numbers were obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. While unemployment rates were lower at this writing, in the winter of 1989, than in 1987, the 1987 rates were the last ones available which had been corrected for seasonal variations. The exact unemployment rates quoted for each city are less significant than the comparisons with the national average; all else being equal, settlement in a city with a lower-than-average unemployment rate is better than settlement in one with a higher-than-average rate.
It should be remembered that these data were for the host community, generally, and not specifically for the refugees. In the profile of Charlotte, North Carolina, for instance, the unemployment rate is reported as 3.3 percent – a very low figure, compared to the national average that year of 6.2 percent. The 3.2 percent rate covered all residents of the Charlotte area, not just refugees.The data in this report should be considered carefully. A typical refugee thinking about moving to Charlotte, for instance, should not expect to earn exactly as much as the average wage
Also, the monthly rents shown in the report are estimates based on recent experience. A refugee should not expect to get exactly the same deal as mentioned here. Perhaps he would do better, perhaps worse.
How were the Cambodian communities selected for this report? There were many successful communities in the U.S. and only 22 of them are shown here. The process of selecting communities was careful but there undoubtedly were many fine communities that could have been selected but were overlooked.
The first step in the selection process was to eliminate communities in those States, such as California, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Massachusetts, where high proportions of the Cambodians were on cash assistance. Then the biggest cities, such as New York and Philadelphia, were dropped because Cambodians often lived in unattractive areas of those cities. Next very small communities, those with less than 100 individuals, were eliminated. Then communities that the Cambodians were leaving were eliminated.
Cambodian leaders were asked to nominate places that appeared to be good for their people. These places were then examined, and it was from the Cambodian leaders' suggestions that the profiles that follow were selected. Cities outside the high-welfare states where there were either Cambodian temples or
The specific communities listed in this report should not be regarded as equally good for all Cambodians. Some had higher wages than others (the range in Exhibit One is from a low of $4.16 in Arizona to a high of $6.20 in Maine); some had lower rents than others (though places with high rents often had high wages, and vice versa); some had better educational opportunities than others; some had more social services than others; some had hot climates, some moderate climates and some cold climates. Some with high wages, such as in the meat-packing cities, also reported more dangerous working conditions than others with lower wages.
Refugees, if interested in relocating within the U.S., should think about what their families want and need, and what they are willing to give up in order to meet their needs. For example, perhaps the family is willing to live in a colder climate in exchange for higher wages or what appear to be better schools.
A quick overview of the 22 communities covered in the profiles can be found in Exhibit One which shows the name of the community and state, the approximate size of the Cambodian community, the general unemployment rate for the host community, the average wages paid to newly-hired refugees and a quick
If these profiles do not answer all the questions about a place (which will often be the case) there are names, addresses and phone numbers of people who can give more information. If there are either serious errors in any of these profiles, or if there have been major changes in the community, please write to Ms. Toyo Biddle, Deputy Director, Division of Policy and Analysis, Office of Refugee Resettlement, Family Support Administration, USDHHS, 370 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington D.C., 20447, with the information. Any errors in this report are, however, those of the authors.
HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT
Each of the 22 profiles answers the same basic set of questions about each community; some have additional information about matters of special interest to Cambodian refugees. There are nine sections in each profile, each headed by type in SOLID CAPITAL LETTERS. These are the section headings, and what each section covers:
LOCATION:
The name of the city or area, and the State.
SUMMARY:
The most important facts about the area.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
Information is provided on: the number of Cambodians living in the community; the age of the community; whether or not the population is growing; whether or not there is a Cambodian MAA or a temple; whether or not there are there Cambodian-owned businesses; and the locations where Cambodians live in the general area.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
This section gives a quick description of the area, the size of the city, and an indication of how good its labor market was for refugees. The specific measures used were the rate of unemployment in 1987 (6.2 percent was the U.S. average), and how much money resident workers (not refugees) earned that year. The average for the country was $20,885. Sometimes the climate is mentioned as well.
EMPLOYMENT:
The Employment Section opens with statements about the extent of self-sufficiency in the Cambodian community (in other words, the percentage of families not on welfare), and on the number of families with two or more workers, a very
When other data were available on wages, they are shown. In each profile there is some information on the kinds of jobs refugees had in the community. Statements made in this and subsequent sections of these profiles relate to the situation at the time that the data were gathered in the winter of 1988–1989; since that is the case, they are reported in the past tense.
HOUSING:
This section describes where refugees lived (apartments, individual houses, or mobile homes), how much rent they paid, and the number of refugees who owned their own homes. In communities where a large percentage of refugees were home owners, estimates are presented of the average costs of homes purchased by refugees in the 1988–1989 period, the average down payment, and the average monthly payment for principal, interest, taxes and insurance (PITI).
SCHOOLS:
This section describes, as well as possible, what Cambodians thought about the local schools. Where there were
MEDICAL SERVICES:
Health services for refugees are shown. If hospitals had Cambodian interpreters, for example, that is noted. In only one community was a Cambodian physician reported.
OTHER SERVICES:
In this section, all other services, most notably outreach and social services, are reported.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
The name, agency, address and phone number of someone who can give information about the community, in both Cambodian and English, are listed.
LOCATION: MOBILE BAY AREA, ALABAMA
SUMMARY:
The Cambodians in this area worked hard during most of the year shucking oysters and picking crabs; those who worked rapidly were paid well and the cost of living was low. The community had a Cambodian temple, surrounded by a Cambodian village, a government-funded Cambodian MAA, and a Cambodian owned-seafood factory. Few families, however, had health insurance.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
The Cambodian community in this area was founded in 1975, and was growing slowly. There were about 100 Cambodian families (some 600 individuals) in the Mobile Bay area, with 40 or more families in the bay-side town of Bayou La Batre. Thirty-eight others were a few miles away in Irvington (the site of the temple), and another 14 were in Mobile, some 25 miles to the north.
The community was an unusually strong one, given the presence of the temple, the funded MAA, and the Cambodian-owned factory. The temple, and the associated Khmer Cultural Center, were set up in Irvington by joint action of Cambodians in Louisiana, Florida and Alabama. Surrounding the Wat (the temple) was a collection of newly-built houses and mobile homes occupied by Cambodians. Nearby was Interland Seafood, the oyster-shucking factory owned by local Cambodians. When the seafood was plentiful, more than a dozen Cambodians worked in the plant. The Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, also located in Irvington, was one of the few listed in this report that received government funding. It had a staff of three, two full-time and one half-time, all Cambodians.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
The Mobile Bay area is in the southernmost (and warmest) part of Alabama, by the Gulf of Mexico. Mobile is a major city with a population of 200,000, but Bayou La Batre is much smaller, with 3,000 or so, and Irvington is smaller still. The overall economic statistics for Mobile County, at the time of our study, were not favorable, with a higher unemployment rate, 9.7 percent, than the nation as a whole, and with average earnings for resident workers at $18, 646, about $2,000 less than the national average.
The Cambodians were not spread throughout the county's economy; however, they were deeply involved in just one part of it, processing seafood.
EMPLOYMENT:
More than 80 percent of the refugee families were self-sufficient and more than two-thirds of the families had two or more workers. The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in this State during 1988 was $4.46; this suggests that most newly-hired refugees had hourly wages ranging from $4.01 to $4.91 per hour, (in a range of 10 percent on either side of the $4.46 average) with those with the least skills, the least English and the least U.S. work experience being hired at or near the lower rate. However, as noted below, most seafood workers were not paid on an hourly basis.
Working in seafood packing plants was a specialized activity. No English or vocational training was needed, but the worker had to use his or her hands skillfully and quickly either to open and shuck oysters or to pick the meat out of the crabs.
Those who worked hard could bring home a net paycheck of $300 or $400 a week. Few refugees were on cash assistance because the monthly cash benefit for a family of three was $118, and Food Stamps would bring in another $225, or about as much as a week's work in a seafood plant.
When the weather got cool, and fewer fish and oysters were caught, the refugees could not work in the seafood plants. During the winter months most of those who had worked in the plants received weekly unemployment checks, ranging from $60 and $80 up to the maximum (received by a few) of $145. If a husband and wife both had worked during the season, both received such checks.
HOUSING:
As in much of the rural South, housing was inexpensive. About 40 percent of the Cambodians owned their own houses; another 10 percent owned trailers; and the other half rented. One could get a decent, clean place for as little as
Some families first bought land at about $4,000 an acre and then made a down payment of $2,000 or so on a used mobile home, whose total cost was $8,000 or so. They then paid off the mobile home at $100 to $150 a month and built a house of their own. Others simply saved money and then bought a house. A three-bedroom house with two baths could be purchased for $48,000–55,000; this required a down payment of $5,000 to $10,000 and total monthly payments of $450–550.
SCHOOLS:
The Cambodian children appeared to be accepted by the schools, and the other way around, without some of the special programs described in other areas. There was one Cambodian teacher aide in the Mobile school system. Although not much use was made of it, ESL was provided by the adult programs of the school system. Two Cambodians in the area were attending college.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
There was very little medical insurance for these families, and only a few of them could make use of Medicaid. When families had serious illnesses, or a baby, and did not have the cash to pay for services, they worked out monthly installment plans with the doctors and with the South Alabama University Medical Center in Mobile. Free well-baby services were available to pregnant women at the Mobile County Health Department in the City of Mobile. An effort by the community to create a group health insurance program for the Cambodians was not successful.
OTHER SERVICES:
The Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association provided employment, translation and other social services from its offices in Irvington. Catholic Social Services, with offices in Mobile and later in Bayou La Batre, also provided employment services as well as reception and placement services for refugees from the camps; there was one Cambodian woman working in the Mobile office. In addition, volunteers working with the temple provided orientation and bi-lingual services.
For more information contact: Sour Sanh, President, Cambodian Association of Mobile, PO Box 668, Irvington, AL, 36544; (205) 957–6733.
LOCATION:PHOENIX, ARIZONA
SUMMARY:
A quiet city with a Cambodian temple, there were many jobs and moderate rents; refugee wages, however, were lower than in many other cities.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were 250 or so Cambodian families in the area totaling more than 1,000 individuals. The community was formed during the Cambodian Cluster Project in the early 1980s and had been growing slowly ever since.
The refugee community liked the relative absence of crime, and the ready access to jobs. There were three Cambodian-owned businesses in Phoenix: a grocery, a restaurant and a doughnut shop. There was also an inactive Cambodian MAA and a thriving Cambodian temple.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Phoenix, a booming city of more than 800,000, lies in the middle of the Arizona desert. It is in Maricopa County. Residents have grown accustomed to its dry heat in the summertime; and in winter, its warmth makes it a prime resort area. Many Americans from colder areas have retired in or near Phoenix.
The economic signals for the area were mixed; at 7.7 percent its unemployment rate was above the U.S. average (one of the few cities listed in this report where this is the case). The average earnings of the host community were $20,617, just about the U.S. average at the time.
EMPLOYMENT:
More than 97 percent of the Cambodian refugees in this area were self-sufficient, and 75 percent or so of the
Most Cambodians worked in factories and hotels in Phoenix. They were in furniture, electronics and garment factories. Some of the better-paid jobs in electronics work required English, but most jobs did not. There were several Cambodian engineers working in one of the electronics plants. As time passed and as workers got seniority on the job and learned skills, their wages rose here as elsewhere. Estimates varied on the average wage of refugee workers established in their jobs, but some of the men were said to be making $8.00 an hour, and the women as much as $6.00 an hour; other estimates were lower.
Although starting wages were not high, it was easy for refugees to secure jobs in Phoenix, even for those who could not speak English.
HOUSING:
Monthly rents were said to be in the $300 to $350 range, but most Cambodians did not rent; about half the families owned their own homes. Only two families were in public housing.
SCHOOLS:
Unlike some other communities there were no
MEDICAL SERVICES:
About 80 percent of the Cambodian families had their own medical insurance, secured through their employers. Health insurance usually started after three months on the job.
The Maricopa County Health Department did comprehensive health screening for newly-arrived refugees, and provided other services as well. It had both a Cambodian interpreter on staff as well as a Chinese physician.
OTHER SERVICES:
Refugee services were provided by Catholic Social Services and the Phoenix Refugee Center. The latter was a Vietnamese MAA serving all refugees in the area. Each of these agencies had a Cambodian staff member.
The Catholic agency handled reception and placement of newly-arrived refugees, as well as social adjustment and job services. Employment and vocational counseling were provided by the Refugee Center, which also did outreach and social services.
The temple, with a monk and several nuns, provided community services also.
For more information contact: Justine Phanrasy, Vocational Consultant, Phoenix Refugee Center, 4433 North 19th Ave., Phoenix, Arizona, 85015; (602) 274-3487
LOCATION: DENVER, COLORADO
SUMMARY:
Denver and nearby communities provided Cambodians with a full set of social services, easy access to jobs, and an unusual number of Cambodian-owned businesses. There was a Cambodian temple about 32 miles from Denver. Wages for newly-hired refugees, however, were lower than in most of the other cities covered in this report.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
The Cambodian community in Denver was founded in 1975, and though it was smaller in 1989 than it had been in the past, ithas stabilized in recent years. There were, at the time of the study, about 2,000 Cambodians in the State of Colorado; most of them living in or near Denver. About 100 each lived in Colorado Springs and in the Boulder-Longmont area. There was a Cambodian temple in Longmont, and eight Cambodian-owned businesses were in the Denver area. These included doughnut stores, video-rental agencies, an auto repair shop, a restaurant and a grocery store.
While no Cambodian MAA had government funding in Colorado, the State Department of Social Services reported that four of them had been incorporated in the State: the Colorado Cambodian Fine Arts Preservation Group, the Cambodian Buddhist Association of Colorado, the Colorado Cambodian Relief Association, Inc., and Refugee Center, Inc..
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Denver is the “Mile-high city,” located where the western plains meet the Rocky Mountains. As the capital and largest city in Colorado, it has a population of 500,000. Colorado Springs, with about 230,000 population, lies
Denver, which had been hurt by falling oil prices, displayed mixed economic signals. Its 1987 unemployment rate of 7.8 percent, which dropped subsequently, was more than a point above the national average, while its residents earned $23,985 a year, several thousands dollars over the U.S. average.
EMPLOYMENT:
Between 80 and 85 percent of the Cambodian families were self-sufficient, and about 80 percent of the self-sufficient families had two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in this State during 1988 was $4.43; this suggests that most newly-hired refugees had hourly wages in a range from $3.99 to $4.87 per hour (10 percent more or less than the $4.43 average). Those with the fewest skills, shortest U.S. work experience, and the least English were likely to be hired at or near the lower rate, while those with more skills were likely to be paid at or near the higher rate. The $4.43 average wage is the third lowest reported in these profiles; only those of Dallas and Phoenix were lower.
As in many other areas, most Cambodians in Denver worked in factories, particularly electronics and garment plants. In Boulder, many of the Cambodians worked in the IBM plant, helping to manufacture computers. Refugees in established jobs earned
Jobs, even for people with little or no English, could be found readily, according to one of our sources. Another source suggested that either a little English, or access to a car, or both, made it much easier for a refugee to secure a job locally.
HOUSING:
Denver, unlike some Eastern cities, spreads out and few people live in high-rise apartments. An arriving refugee family should count on paying about $290 per month for an older, two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of the Denver area. Downtown living tended to cost more. Some Cambodians lived in single-family houses, but most were in low-rise garden apartments. About 30 percent owned their own homes; few were living in public or other subsidized housing. The average price paid by Cambodians for homes recently was about $65,000 for a three-bedroom house with down payments of $5,000 to $10,000 and monthly payments of $550.
SCHOOLS:
The Cambodians apparently thought well of the school system which, though it did not offer any bi-lingual programs for Cambodians, had hired two Cambodian teacher aides.
ESL for adults was provided by both the public school systems and the State Refugee Program. It was thought that some 12 to 20 Cambodians were attending college in the area.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
About 80 percent of the working families had their own medical insurance; this usually begins in the Denver area after three months on the job. The Denver General
OTHER SERVICES:
Most refugee services were provided directly by the State government through the Colorado Refugee and Immigrant Services Program (CRISP, see address below). CRISP provided job placement and employment counseling programs, as well as a variety of other referral and general social services. CRISP together with the Denver Police Department had launched an outreach program to the Cambodian and other refugee communities, to encourage refugees to make use of police services.
Among the agencies that had Cambodian speakers on staff, and that have not been mentioned above, were the State Department of Health, and the Denver County Department of Social Services (the welfare agency). CRISP had two Cambodians on its staff, including one who spent part-time in the outlying communities. CRISP also conducted ESL courses for newly-arrived refugees, giving 3 hours of instruction five days a week. After five months, its practice is to graduate the refugees and to encourage them to find employment.
For more information contact: Ms. Sorya Poc, CRISP, Suite 300, 190 E. 9th Ave., Denver, Colorado, 80203; telephone Mondays to Thursdays (303) 863–8214, Fridays (303) 934–2272. (The Friday telephone is for the joint CRISP-Police Department outreach office.)
LOCATION: DANBURY AND HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT
SUMMARY:
There were plenty of entry-level jobs, good wages, good services but high rents for the Cambodian people in these two Connecticut cities. There was a Cambodian temple in Danbury.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were about 600 to 650 Cambodians living in or near Danbury, and another 200 or 300 in Hartford, Connecticut. The communities, which were formed in 1975, were stable in size overall, but there was a certain amount of in- and out-migration. There apparently were no Cambodian MAAs or Cambodian-owned businesses in the area.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Danbury, with about 60,000 population, is in Fairfield County, about 60 miles north of New York City. It is in the western part of the State. Hartford, in Hartford County, is in the center of the State, about an hour's drive east of Danbury. Hartford is the state capital, and is a city of 136,000 population. Danbury has a strong mix of industries as does Hartford.
Other Cambodians lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but the situation was better in Danbury and Hartford.
The basic economic signs for Fairfield and Hartford Counties were very positive. The unemployment rate in each was 3.3 percent, just a little over half the national average; this helped explain the number of job opportunities for Cambodians. The average earnings of resident workers in these counties was $27,832 for Fairfield (a figure inflated by the many executives who commuted to New York City), and $24,679 for Hartford; both
EMPLOYMENT:
Between 80 and 85 percent of the Cambodian families were self-sufficient; and of these families 80 to 85 percent reported two or more wage earners in the family.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in this State during 1988 was $5.94. This suggests that most newly-hired refugees had hourly wages in the $5.35 to $6.53 per hour range, which is within 10 percent of the $5.94 average. Refugees with more skills were hired at the high end of the scale and those with fewer skills at the lower end.
The $5.94 rate for newly-hired refugees is the third highest for the cities reported in this document: only Portland, Maine, and Lincoln, Nebraska, reported higher wages.
Refugees have found it easy to get jobs in Connecticut. There were many entry-level jobs in both factories and in the services. Medical insurance usually could be obtained after a waiting period of three months, but often the gap was only one or two months. Starting wages in the services, such as fastfood places, were sometimes slightly higher than factory wages, but there usually was no medical insurance. There was a steady turnover of jobs within the Cambodian community as people with more skills moved on to better jobs and were replaced by newcomers with lesser skills.
Both men and women worked in electronics assembly plants and for other defense contractors; some women sewed in garment factories, and some men worked for bakeries and as accountants.
Average wage data for refugees with established jobs were hard to obtain; reliable sources suggested that average hourly wages for men were as much as $10.00 per hour, and for women as much as $7.50 an hour.
HOUSING:
Housing was reported to be expensive and hard to find. However, many of the Cambodian families who arrived in the 1970s had managed to buy their own homes. But newcomers must struggle with a tight housing market. (The percentage of home owners was the subject of widely varying estimates.)
For those renting, the cost ranged from $400 to $700 a month. Many families doubled up until they could save enough money to make a down payment on a house; this tactic, however, had caused tensions between the community and city officials in the Hartford area who point out that the practice is often illegal.
SCHOOLS:
The Danbury City Schools had a small bi-lingual program for Cambodian children, and there was a Cambodian staff member in the Danbury Head Start program. There was a Cambodian teacher aide in the Hartford area schools as well.
Vocational education, designed to meet both the immediate needs of unskilled workers and of local employers, was provided by the State-wide network of vocational schools. In Danbury it was the Henry Abbott Technical School, which provided both ESL and skills training. The adult education programs of the public schools, and both Lutheran and Catholic Social Services, provided
There were at least six Cambodian college students in the Hartford area; data were lacking elsewhere in the State.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
As noted above, most Cambodians (except those working in the services) were covered by employer-provided medical insurance. What was unusual in the area was the presence of the privately-funded Khmer Health Advocates, Inc. (see address below). This organization, which worked only with Cambodians, and had Cambodian staff, provided mental health services as well as referrals to other health providers.
OTHER SERVICES:
There was a better-than-average array of services available to Cambodians in this State. A multi-ethnic MAA, with two Cambodian staff members, was the Connecticut Federation of Refugee Assistance Associations, Inc., (whose Hartford address and phone are shown below.) In Danbury there was the Association of Religious Communities or ARC (Sam Deibler, Executive Director, (203) 792–9450); ARC was also unusual in that it devoted much of its efforts to helping secondary migrants who had come to the area; it did not, however, recruit them or help them to move to the area.
Both the Federation and ARC provide job placement, counseling and other social services.
In addition to the Cambodian social service workers identified with the organizations described, there were also Cambodians on the staffs of Lutheran and Catholic refugee services organizations and at a clinic in Bridgeport. Cultural
For more information contact: Ms. Narin Tep, Connecticut Federation of Refugee Assistance Associations, Inc., 274 Park Rd., West Hartford, CT, 06119–2020; (203) 233–8812.
Also: Khmer Health Advocates, Inc. P.O. Box 14703, Barry Square office, Hartford, CT, 06114; (203) 233–0313.
LOCATION: JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
SUMMARY:
Good weather, good jobs, some unusual and favorable housing arrangements, and the presence of one of the nation's few Cambodian physicians, were some of the reasons why Cambodians had chosen to live here. A potential problem was that most Cambodian workers in the area worked for a single employer, and thus the community may be dependent on that employer for its continuing success.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
The Cambodian community here was founded in 1975, and had been growing recently. There were between 800 and 900 Cambodians living in the Jacksonville area. There was a strong, though not-government-funded MAA, as well as four Cambodian-owned grocery stores. There was no Cambodian temple.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Jacksonville is one of Florida's largest cities with a population of 540,000; it is in Duval County in Northern Florida, on the Atlantic Ocean, about 250 miles north of Miami. It is more of a trading center and factory town, and less of a tourist location, than other Florida cities. Its unemployment rate, 5.3 percent, was one point better than the national average. Annual individual earnings for residents were $19,667, about $1,000 less than the national average.
EMPLOYMENT:
More than 90 percent of the Cambodian families were self-sufficient, and approximately 90 percent of those families had two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in Florida during 1988 was $4.58; this suggests that most newly-hired refugees had hourly wages ranging from $4.12 to $5.04 per
Most Cambodian men and women worked in Jacksonville factories. In some of these they did electronic assembly, in some chicken cutting and packaging, but the largest group of workers were in Excel Industries, a truck parts plan which employed about 250 Cambodians, both men and women.
Excel probably represented one of the greatest concentrations in the nation of Cambodian employees under one roof. Excel was planning to add an additional operation when this report was written in the early spring of 1989.
Excel's practice has been to start most of its workers at $5.25 an hour, (well above the average for refugees in Florida) and then moved them up to $5.50 after three months, $5.75 after one year, and $6.00 after 18 months. Most of the Cambodians in the plant earned $6.00 an hour. The firm also provided medical insurance after 60 days on the job. Because it needed to train its workers to do some math and English in the factory, the company provided free on-site English training classes. These met twice a week, for two hours each evening. There were two such classes, each with twelve to fifteen students. Excel was then looking for a math teacher to provide training in arithmetic to its refugees.
Excel also had a full-time personnel department staff member
Though hard data were not available, it appeared that men and women refugees working for other Jacksonville employers earned less than they did at Excel. The estimated average wage for both men and women was $5.50 an hour; this estimate included both Excel and non-Excel workers. Jobs were readily available even if the refugee had little English.
The only negative factor in the employment situation was the strong dependence of the Cambodian community on a single employer, Excel, and its continuing prosperity. A majority of the 400 Cambodians workers in the area worked for Excel.
HOUSING:
The regional office of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) had devised three ways of helping refugees secure affordable housing. LIRS had worked out an arrangement with the local electric utility that it would not require an individual deposit for a refugee family placed by LIRS. This arrangement was made for secondary migrants as well as those arriving directly from Thailand. Similarly, LIRS had persuaded some landlords to offer refugee families the first month's rent free. Further this unit of LIRS, like many church organizations, had access to donated furniture.
As for rental costs, an efficiency (one room with facilities) could be obtained for $225 a month; a two-bedroom apartment for $385 a month, and a three-bedroom house for $425–450
SCHOOLS:
There were two or three Cambodian teacher aides in the Duval County school system. About 25 Cambodians in the area were attending college. ESL classes for adults were provided in the evenings in some of the public schools.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
Jacksonville was the home of one of America's few Cambodian physicians, Dr. Taing Tak Hong, who was also President of the Cambodian Association of Jacksonville.
Most Cambodians, perhaps 90 percent, had employer-related medical insurance.
OTHER SERVICES:
The principal provider of refugee services was LIRS, which had Cambodian staff (see address below). It provided employment services and ESL as well as initial reception and placement services for newly-arriving refugees. Vocational training was available from either Florida Community College of Jacksonville, or the City's Employment and Training Office.
For more information contact: Mr. Ek Soth, President, Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc., 2949 Loran Drive, East, Jacksonville, Florida, 32216; (904) 731–8591. (This is also the address of the Cambodian Association of Jacksonville.)
Also: Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service, 134 E. Church St., Jacksonville, Florida, 32202; (904) 632–0027.
LOCATION: ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
SUMMARY:
A pleasant climate and plentiful jobs for Cambodians were part of the scene in this city on Florida's Gulf Coast; refugee wages were, however, below the national average.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
Although estimates did not agree, there appeared to be at least 1,000 Cambodians in the St. Petersburg area. This total included Cambodians living nearby in Clearwater, Largo, Sarasota and Bradenton.
The community, founded in 1979, and recently stable in size, has a non-funded MAA and was seeking to restore the Cambodian temple it had a few years ago. There were four Cambodian-owned businesses in the area, a landscaping firm, a mobile car-washing business, and a couple of cleaning services.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
St. Petersburg is best known to Americans as a retirement community, where senior citizens from northern States settle in their later years. A city of 236,000 population, St. Petersburg is in Pinellas County, and is on the west, or Gulf of Mexico, side of the State. The basic economic picture for the population as a whole was mixed: unemployment was 4.1 percent, two points below the national average. The average resident's earnings was $17,715, about $3,000 below the national average. Since St. Petersburg is a winter-time resort, jobs (particularly in the hotels and restaurants) have been traditionally easier to get in the winter than in the summer.
EMPLOYMENT:
The degree of self-sufficiency in the Cambodian community was about 85 percent; about 70 percent of the families
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in this State during 1988 was $4.58. This suggests that most newly-hired refugees had hourly wages in the range of 10 percent on either side of the average, or between $4.12 to $5.04 per hour. As elsewhere, those with the least skills, the least English and the least U.S. work experience were being hired at or near the lower rate, and those with more skills at higher rates.
Most of the Cambodians living in St. Petersburg worked in factories, although a few of the men worked in farming and in the resort hotels. Some worked in the fish processing plants. Women's jobs were likely to be in sewing, electronic assembly or in food processing. Data on wage rates for refugees with longterm jobs were incomplete; the most common wage for men was said to be around $5.00 an hour, but some of the more skilled men earned $7.50 an hour and up. Wages for women were largely in the $4.50 to 5.00 range. Jobs were said to be plentiful, even for refugees with little English, with the winter being the best time to apply.
HOUSING:
The best strategy for securing an inexpensive apartment was to look for one early in the summer when the rents were the lowest (because of the seasonal swings of the resort business). Most apartments cost at least $300, though some could be rented for as little as $200. About 35 percent of the Cambodians in the area owned their own homes.
SCHOOLS:
The local Cambodian community appeared to be
MEDICAL SERVICES:
Medical insurance could be secured from some employers after only one month of work but most required a three-month waiting period. It was estimated that 85 percent of the families had medical insurance. The local Cambodians often used Thai physicians in the area; there were also three Vietnamese doctors in the area.
OTHER SERVICES:
Employment services were provided by the local Catholic Social Services and by the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (see addresses below).
Health services were provided by the Pinellas County Health Department, and vocational training by St. Petersburg Vocational-Technical Institute. Both the Catholic agency and the Health Department had Cambodians on their staffs.
For more information contact Mr. Komar Svay, Catholic Social Services, 6533 9th Ave. N, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33701; (813) 345–0953.
Also: Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, 5371 68th St. N, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33709; (813) 545–4778.
LOCATION: ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
SUMMARY:
One of the largest Cambodian communities in the east was in the Greater Atlanta area of north Georgia. Jobs in factories were readily available, even to those with little English. Several organizations provided services to Cambodians and there was a Cambodian temple in the area; rents, however, were high for the south.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were about 3,000 Cambodians in the area around Atlanta. The community, founded in 1975, was formerly larger, but some people had left for California and Massachusetts.
The largest group of Cambodians were in Fulton County which includes the City of Atlanta, while other large groups were in Clayton County (south of the city) and in DeKalb County (pronounced de-cab) east of the city.
Cambodian board members and staff played important roles in the Georgia Mutual Assistance Association Consortium, a government-funded organization (see address below). There was a Cambodian temple in Lithonia, in DeKalb County, where there were three monks. The temple provided orientation services for newly-arrived Cambodians. There was a Cambodian-owned restaurant and two grocery stores.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
The Atlanta Metropolitan Area, with a population close to 2,000,000, is one of the largest and most internationally-oriented cities in the American South. It is also one of the most prosperous ones, with a variety of industrial, commercial and governmental activity. The weather is
Atlanta's prosperity showed in its unemployment rate, 4.6 percent for the Metropolitan Area, considerably less than the national average, and in its average earnings for residents of $22,400, which was a little above the U.S. average.
EMPLOYMENT:
The Cambodians in the Atlanta area were largely self-sufficient, with no more than 10 percent on cash assistance. In about 80 percent of the families there were two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in Georgia during 1988 was $5.33; this suggests that most newly-hired refugees had hourly wages of $4.80 to $5.86 per hour (the range of 10 percent on either side of the $5.33 average). Those with few skills were likely to be hired at the bottom of this range, and those with more at the top of the range.
The $5.33 rate is the highest reported wage rate, in this document, for newly-hired refugees in the south.
Cambodian men were likely to work in factories, including electronics and poultry packing plants; other men worked in hotels and as janitors, and a few men, as well as women, worked in banks. The women also worked in the poultry plants, in kitchens preparing meals for the planes leaving the busy airport, and in electronics assembly. As was the case elsewhere, the work in the poultry plants is hard and demanding and could be dangerous, but refugees with no English could get jobs there fairly easily.
Wages for experienced refugee workers, after some time in Atlanta, could rise beyond the entry rates reported above. For example, a group of male and female refugees from Laos who had come to the Atlanta area under the Planned Secondary Resettlement program were reported, in 1988, to be earning $6.23 an hour. Well-established Cambodian workers had average wages in roughly the same range.
Jobs were readily available for Cambodian refugees, even for those who spoke no English.
HOUSING:
Most Cambodians (65 percent or so) in the area lived in low-rise or garden apartments, while most others lived in townhouses. About 5 percent of the Cambodian families owned their own homes.
Housing cost more in Atlanta than in the other southern cities listed in this report. Rentals for two-bedroom apartments ran around $400 to $450 a month, and $450 to $525 for three-bedroom apartments, with rates tending to be lower, the greater the distance from downtown Atlanta. Only a handful of Cambodian families lived in public or subsidized housing.
SCHOOLS:
From what we could gather, the community was content with the school systems. There are three Cambodian-speaking teacher aides in the Atlanta schools, and two in the DeKalb County schools.
ESL for adults was potentially available from each of the county school systems. Several evening ESL programs had been discontinued, however, for lack of interest on the part of the
MEDICAL SERVICES:
An estimated 80 to 90 percent of the Cambodian families had private medical insurance, usually obtained through their employers. The waiting period of the start of such insurance varies from one to three months.
Many Cambodians with private health insurance used one of the numerous Vietnamese medical clinics, or other facilities where there were Asian physicians. While there were two Cambodian staff members with the Fulton County Health Department, there were none at Grady Memorial Hospital, the big facility which takes care of Fulton County people on Medicaid.
OTHER SERVICES:
There were a number of voluntary agencies helping refugees as they first settled in the Atlanta area, including Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS), Catholic Social Services, International Rescue Committee, and World Relief.
LIRS provided job placement and counseling services, and some on-the-job training. Social adjustment, translation and referral services were provided by Georgia Mutual Assistance Association Consortium. Among other agencies with Cambodian-speaking staff members were: Save the Children, and the DeKalb and Fulton County Departments of Family and Children's Services.
For more information call Ravuth Sa, Georgia Mutual Assistance Association Consortium, 535 N. Central Ave., Hapeville, Ga., 30354; (404) 763–4240 or 763–4241.
LOCATION: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
SUMMARY:
Chicago had a large Cambodian community, plenty of jobs, and one of the strongest Cambodian MAAs in the nation. Cambodians there had access to a variety of refugee services as well as a Buddhist temple. Chicago, however, had some of the disadvantages of other major cities, such as urban congestion and a troubled school system.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were approximately 5,000 Cambodians in the area, at the time of this study; given the number of widows, there were probably more adult women than adult men. There were about 800 families. The community was founded in 1976; it had been growing slowly in recent years.
Most of the Cambodians lived in the Uptown section of the city, a smaller group lived in nearby Albany Park (also in the city) a slightly higher-rent neighborhood.
The Cambodian Association of Illinois was the principal provider of services to Cambodian refugees; it had been very successful in its fund raising, and had grants from more than a dozen different sources, including the State Refugee Coordinator's Office, for various programs; the Illinois Secretary of State's Office, for adult literacy programs; the State Board of Education, for drop-out-prevention; the City Bar Association, for legal assistance; and a number of corporations and foundations. It was a provisional member of the United Way, the basic U.S. local fund-raising program in the private sector; it has also raised funds within the Cambodian community for the agency's general operations.
There were an unusual number of Cambodian-owned business, 14 in all; these included grocery stores, restaurants, jewelry stores and several video stores. There were five monks and nuns serving the Cambodian community at the local temple.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Chicago, the Windy City, is in Cook County and is on Lake Michigan in Northern Illinois. A city of 3,000,000, it is one of the largest in the United States, and has the attractions and the problems of such places. It is also colder than States like Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.
Chicago lost some population between 1970 and 1980 as some of its traditional industries, such as the stockyards, moved away. Its economic signs were mixed, a 7.0 percent unemployment rate, above the national average, and an annual income of $24,372, also well above the national average.
EMPLOYMENT:
Most of the Cambodians were self-sufficient; the MAA estimated that 75 percent supported themselves. About 65 to 70 percent of the families had two or more workers.
Any Cambodian in Chicago who wanted to work could get a job; the lack of the ability to speak English was not a barrier. The MAA estimated that 985 Cambodian women hold jobs in the area, as did 950 men. (That there were more women working than men also reflected the number of widows in the Cambodian population.)
During July through September, 1988, the MAA placed dozens of refugees in jobs with wages averaging $5.44 an hour. Presumably, most of these jobs paid between 10 percent more or less than that figure, or in the $4.90 to $5.98 range. Workers
As time passes, and workers gain seniority, their wages usually rise. Although good data were not available on wages of all Cambodians in the city (as opposed to newly-placed ones) it was thought that the average wage would be more than $6.00 an hour for men, and a little less for women.
Chicago is a big city with many factories. Most Cambodians worked in factories, particularly in electronics assembly. Some men worked as janitors, and some women worked in day care centers; there were also some secretarial jobs for women, and social work jobs for both men and women.
HOUSING:
Rents were higher than in most other middlewestern cities. A one-bedroom apartment in a low-income building in Uptown would cost about $300 to $325 a month; a two-bedroom apartment in a similar building would be $375 to $425 a month. Some Cambodians paid as much as $600 a month for apartments.
Neither homeownership nor use of public housing were common in the Cambodian community; about 12 percent of the Cambodians owned their own homes.
SCHOOLS:
The public schools in Chicago were often criticized by refugees and others as they were in other large cities. Some Cambodians complained about low standards in the schools. The city school system, however, had hired more than a dozen Cambodians to serve as teacher aides and as community representatives.
ESL was provided by some of the voluntary agencies, by the public schools, and by Truman Community College and the MAA. The MAA knew of 103 Cambodian college students.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
Most Cambodian families in Chicago, perhaps 90 percent of those who are working, had private medical insurance. The waiting time before coverage is one to three months on the job.
Cambodians who needed hospital care, and lack insurance, tend to go to Illinois Masonic Hospital, which accepts Medicaid patients, or to the Cook County Hospital. Two Cambodians were employed as interpreters in the City of Chicago and Cook County Health Departments. Travelers' and Immigrants' Aid, a volag, had a refugee mental health grant and a Cambodian staff member on the project.
OTHER SERVICES:
There were many services available to Cambodians, and at least 30 Cambodians were employed full-time in providing those services. The MAA had 14 Cambodians working for it; there were a dozen or so Cambodian employees in the school system; and others worked for the welfare department, the health departments, the jails, and the voluntary resettlement agencies.
The voluntary agencies, such as World Relief, Travelers' and Immigrants' Aid, and the Catholic and Lutheran agencies, offered reception and placement services for newly-arrived refugees. Most of the employment and social services were provided by the MAA which also provided the other services mentioned earlier. On-the-Job-Training (OJT) programs for refugees were handled by
For more information contact: Mr. Kompha Seth, Executive Director, Cambodian Association of Illinois, 1105 W. Lawrence, Suite 201–208, Chicago, Illinois, 60640; (312) 878–7090 and 789–3106
LOCATION: JOLIET, ILLINOIS
SUMMARY:
Plenty of jobs, reasonable rents and a small city atmosphere were among the attractions of Joliet; it had, however, a rather small Cambodian community compared to others in this report.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were approximately 300 Cambodians in Joliet in 50 families. The community, which was founded in 1980, used to be larger, but lost some families to the lures of public assistance and the California weather.
Joliet is about an hour's drive from Chicago, where there was a Cambodian temple and a very large Cambodian community described in the previous profile. Cambodians said that they like Joliet because the schools were good and that crime was less common than in some other places. There was a non-funded Cambodian MAA in the area.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Joliet is a city of 78,000 in the northern part of Illinois; it is in Will County. It is about 40 miles west of Chicago. The economic signals for the host community were not the best. Unemployment, at 7.8 percent, was a little higher than the national average, and average earnings for residents of Will County were $20,289, a little below the national average. Joliet had many different kinds of factories, which was where most of the Cambodians worked.
EMPLOYMENT:
Nearly 75 percent of the Cambodian families were self-sufficient; of the self-sufficient families about 90 percent had two or more workers. The average hourly wage for
Joliet's wages were lower on average than those paid in nearby Chicago, but Joliet's rents were lower, too.
The pattern in Joliet's Cambodian community was factory employment, including work in electronic assembly plants, and printing and bag manufacturing establishments. Starting wages were usually $4.50 to $5.00 an hour for men, and a bit less for women. As some of the Cambodians secured more skills, and more time on the job, wages had risen, and many of the men received $7.00 an hour. Overtime work was often available.
Generally Cambodians seeking jobs could find them.
HOUSING:
Rents were generally reasonable in Joliet. Families could get decent apartments in the $300 to $375 range. About 15 percent of the families were in public or subsidized housing (notably the Evergreen Terrace complex). Twelve of the 50 Cambodian families owned their own hones.
SCHOOLS:
Classes were smaller in Joliet than in large cities such as Chicago and the Cambodian parents liked the schools, though there were no special programs for Cambodian children. In an unusual arrangement, the Joliet Township High
ESL for adults was provided by the school system. There were no known Cambodian college students in this small community.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
The Adult Refugee Program made a rule for itself that when it seeks jobs for Cambodian (and other) refugees, it always makes sure that at least one member of the family has medical insurance covering all members of the family. Once medical insurance is obtained the program tries to get a better job for the other workers in the family.
As a result of this policy, about 75 percent of the Cambodian families had employer-provided health insurance. There was a Cambodian interpreter working full-time for the Will County Health Department.
OTHER SERVICES:
Outreach, employment, referral and interpreting services were provided by the Adult Refugee Program of Joliet Township High School; there was a Cambodian case worker employed full-time in that program. Initial resettlement and placement services for new refugees were handled by the local branch of Catholic Social Services.
For more information contact: Mr. Mam Hean, Executive Director, Cambodian Assistance Association of Joliet, 1114 E. Washington Street, Joliet, Ill, 60433; (815) 727–6994 or 727–6995.
LOCATION: DES MOINES, IOWA
SUMMARY:
This was a small, highly self-sufficient Cambodian community, where jobs were numerous and rents reasonable. There was a Cambodian temple. A disadvantage of the area was that many of the refugees worked in the grim conditions of the meat-packing plants.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were about 75 Cambodian families, consisting of some 400 individuals, in the State of Iowa. Most lived in or near Des Moines. The community was founded in 1979 and had been stable in size in recent years.
There was a small Cambodian temple in Polk City, near Des Moines, and one Cambodian had opened a real estate business. The community had an active but unfunded MAA, the Ankorwat Friendship Association (see address below).
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Iowa is a largely flat, farming State. Des Moines, a city of 190,000 is the state capital and the largest city. It is in Polk County and it is located right in the middle of the State.
Des Moines' principal activities are trade, government and manufacturing. The economic signals were mixed; the unemployment rate of 4.4 percent was almost two points below the national average, but the average level of earnings of its resident workers, $19,706, was also below the national average.
EMPLOYMENT:
More than 92 percent of the Cambodian families were self-sufficient; in about two-thirds of the families there were two or more workers.
Refugees placed in jobs in November 1988, earned $5.30 an
Cambodians found it easy to get jobs in this area, even with little or no English. In addition to work in the meat-packing plants, many men worked in other factories and a group of eight women worked for the U.S. Post Office.
HOUSING:
Housing was reasonable (as it often is in small cities in the middlewest). In Iowa a refugee family could often rent a modest two-bedroom apartment for $230 – $250 per month, plus utilities. (It does get cold in the winter.)
Most of the refugees in the Des Moines area lived in apartments or single-family houses. In some of the smaller towns in the State, Cambodians working in meat plants lived in mobile homes. About 20 percent of the families owned their own homes. Two Cambodian families lived in public housing operated by the Oakland Housing Authority.
SCHOOLS:
The Cambodian community spoke well of the local school system, because it has high standards (Iowans are proud of the fact that their State always ranks high in the nationwide scholastic aptitude test (SAT) scores). The Des Moines schools employed a Cambodian teacher aide.
ESL was offered by both the Des Moines Community College and the local public school system. About five Cambodians were enrolled in college.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
It was estimated that 85 percent of the Cambodian families had their own medical insurance, secured through their employers. It was usually three-months, and sometimes six-months, before the insurance went into effect.
Many Cambodians patronized the Thai and Vietnamese physicians practicing in the area.
OTHER SERVICES:
The Iowa system of refugee resettlement was designed to encourage early employment, and the State, through the Bureau of Refugee Programs, has always operated its refugee programs directly, rather than through contractors.
Direct job placements and employment counseling were handled by the two Cambodian staff members of the Refugee Bureau. Short-term vocational training, in such subjects as electronic assembly, were provided by various area community colleges.
Reception and placement of newly-arrived refugees was provided by the State, the Catholic social service agencies in Des Moines and Davenport, a city in Eastern Iowa, and by Lutheran Social Services statewide. (Iowa was the only State that assumed reception and placement functions.)
For more information contact: Mr. Ven Mom, Bureau of Refugee Programs, 1200 University Ave., Suite D, Des Moines, Iowa, 50314; (515) 281–8225 or 281–7099
Also: Mr. Vanna Keo, President, Ankorwat Friendship Association, 1718 Des Moines St., Des Moines, Iowa, 50316; (515) 263–9275.)
LOCATION: PORTLAND, MAINE
SUMMARY:
Wages for newly-placed refugees, $6.20 an hour, were higher here than in any other city covered in this report. Jobs were easy to secure and there were strong social service programs for Cambodians. The Cambodians in Maine were the largest Southeast Asian population in that State, and they had both a funded MAA and a new temple. The only drawback was the winter cold.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were approximately 1,000 Cambodians in Maine, most of them in Portland. The Portland community was founded in 1975 and had a stable population. There was a newly-established Cambodian temple, a government-funded MAA (the only one in the State), and three Cambodian-owned businesses (two grocery stores and a restaurant). There were smaller Cambodian communities in other Maine cities, such as Saco, Biddeford, Sanford and Augusta.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Portland, a city of 62,000 and Maine's largest city, is in Cumberland County. An old seaport, as the name suggests, it has renewed itself in the last few years, and is a tourist attraction in the summer and a year-round factory town. Although Maine is a northern State, the presence of the nearby sea moderates the winters along the coast.
Maine is a caring State and one without many ethnic minorities; because of these factors, its small Cambodian community had received more supportive governmental attentions than larger Cambodian communities did elsewhere.
The Portland area had a very low unemployment rate, 2.5 percent, less than half that of the nation as a whole. Average
EMPLOYMENT:
Cambodians were 85 percent self-sufficient, and in 70 percent of the families there were two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in this State during 1988 was $6.20, the highest hourly rate reported for any State covered by this report. The $6.20 rate suggests that most newly-hired refugees had hourly wages ranging from $5.58 to $6.82 an hour, (i.e. 10 percent on either side of the average). Here, as elsewhere, refugees with many skills were likely to be paid at the top of the range, and those with few skills, or little U.S. work experience, at the bottom.
Most Cambodians in Maine worked in factories, the men in electronic assembly, meat and seafood packaging, and the women in the same places as well as in sewing plants. Nine Cambodians in the Portland area had jobs in social service agencies where they worked with other refugees, an unusually high proportion of the population,
The low unemployment rate caused the high wages, and many Cambodians (including some who have been in their jobs for years) earn as much as $8.00 an hour. On average the men were paid $7.00 an hour and the women $6.68.
Cambodians coming to the Portland area find it is easy to obtain jobs.
HOUSING:
Rental rates were higher than in some other places, but so were wages. It cost Cambodian families an average
Cambodians who bought their own homes, usually three-bedroom houses, paid about $70,000 for them, with a $10,000 down payment and $550 per month in payments.
SCHOOLS:
The community's reaction to the local schools was mixed. On one hand, Portland's public schools had hired four Cambodians as teacher aides; on the other hand, there was a sense that the children were progressing slowly in the school system, and that many who did graduate from high school had not been accepted into colleges. There were, however, five college students in the Cambodian community.
ESL was provided by the Adult Learning Center of Portland, and vocational training by the Portland Vocational-Technical Center.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
Most employers provided medical insurance after a waiting period of six weeks to three months; one employer in the electronics business, provided medical insurance from the very first day of work. It was estimated that 75 percent of the Cambodian families had health insurance.
One of the largest hospitals in the area, the Maine Medical Center in Portland, employed some Cambodians who are sometimes used as interpreters; similarly there was a Cambodian employed in the State's public health program.
OTHER SERVICES:
The principal providers of services to refugees in the Portland area were the MAA (see address below) and the Refugee Resettlement Program of the Catholic social services agency (Diocesan Human Relations Services, Inc.).
The Refugee Resettlement program provided initial reception and placement services as well as employment and other social services for newly-arriving refugees. The MAA provided outreach, interpretation and referral services as well as employment programs. There were three Cambodians doing this work for the MAA and two for the Catholic agency.
For more information contact: Mr. Savuth Meas, Executive Director, Union Cambodian Association Inc., of Portland, PO Box 4061 A, Portland, Maine, 04101; (207) 774–1205
LOCATION: LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
SUMMARY:
A small but steadily growing Cambodian community was attracted to this quiet, small city, and the availability of jobs and services in it. The only drawback was the cold winter.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were 187 Cambodians in Lincoln, included in 43 families. The community was founded in 1976. The Khmer Association was a strong MAA (see address below), but given the small size of the community there was no government funding. The MAA raised money, sponsored refugees and provided services. There was also the Kampuchean Community Organization, and a Cambodian-owned cleaning firm. There was no Cambodian temple within an easy drive of this area.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Lincoln is the capital of the State of Nebraska and the second largest city in the State. It is located in Lancaster County, in the middle of farm country, about 60 miles west of Omaha. It has a population of about 175,000. Its principal activities are State government, retail trade and manufacturing.
The basic economic signs were mixed; unemployment at 3.5 percent was well below the national average, but average earnings for residents, at $17,226, were about $3,000 below the national average.
Lincoln is one of the middlewestern communities in which there were very few minorities; as a result the needs of the Cambodians are not overlooked as they might have been in a big city. Further, both the then Mayor and the previous Mayor had
EMPLOYMENT:
Forty of the forty-three Cambodian families, or 93 percent, were self-sufficient, 86 percent of the families had two or more workers.
Many Cambodians held good jobs in Lincoln. While most worked in factories or supermarkets, others held jobs as manager, supervisor, head chef, and as an employee of the City of Lincoln.
Since the community was a small one, and the Refugee Center kept good data, precise earnings data were available on a large percentage of the Cambodian refugees, those placed in jobs by the Center. Its records show that Cambodian men were being paid $6.55 an hour, and Cambodian women $5.65 an hour. This produced an average of $6.10 an hour for both groups, one of the highest average hourly wages reported in this document.
The job market was good, and newly-arrived refugees usually had a job offer within 30 days of arrival. Skilled positions and training for such positions were available.
HOUSING:
Lincoln landlords are said to have been flexible in their relations with refugees; rents were about $400 a month. The Cambodians were scattered around the city. The Khmer Association helped people find housing. Six of the families owned their own homes and four others were in public housing.
SCHOOLS:
The community liked the school system, which it regarded as having good standards. Given the size of the community there were no bi-lingual teacher aides. There were
ESL and vocational education were provided by South East Community College. Skills training was available from the University of Nebraska and the Lincoln School of Commerce.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
One of the advantages of Lincoln was the speed with which new workers secured medical insurance. About a quarter of the Cambodian refugees obtained insurance on the first day and another half, after 30 days on the job. The others came into medical insurance after 60 or 90 days. In many other communities everyone waited 90 days. “Open Door” health clinics and the Lincoln General Hospital were available for low-income patients and several doctors volunteered their services to the Cambodians. There were, however, no Asian physicians in the area.
OTHER SERVICES:
For a small refugee community, there were a variety of services available. The principal agency was the Refugee Center Inc. (see address below). It found jobs for refugees, and provided support and referral services. The Khmer Association sponsored cultural activities and provided emergency services.
For more information contact: Ms. Amanda Srieng, Refugee Center, Inc., Suite 201, 825 M Street, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68508; (402) 474–3733
Also: The Khmer Association, PO Box 2350, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68502; (402) 488–2839
LOCATION: ROCHESTER, NEW YORK
SUMMARY:
There were good jobs available in this Upstate New York city, good services, and a funded Cambodian MAA. The drawbacks were a tight housing situation and cold winters.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were about 75 to 80 Cambodian families comprising some 350 to 400 individuals in Rochester. The community was founded in 1975. Although its size decreased earlier in the 1980s, it had stablized in recent years.
There was a funded Cambodian MAA which provided services to refugees. There was also a Cambodian-owned grocery store. Cambodians liked Rochester because of the large number of jobs, and the relative lack of crime. Rochester had a Buddhist temple, established by the local Lao community, which was used by the Cambodians as well.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Rochester, a city of 250,000, is near Lake Ontario and is some 250 miles north and west of New York City. It is in Monroe County. Rochester is a manufacturing and high-tech center, the home of such firms as Xerox, Kodak, and Bausch & Lomb.
The economic signs for the host community were good; unemployment, at 3.9 percent, was two points lower than the national average, and the average earnings for host area workers was $23,507, well above the national average.
EMPLOYMENT:
About three-quarters of the families were self-sufficient and two-thirds of them had two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in this
Most Cambodians in the Rochester area worked in factories. Both men and women worked in electronic assembly plants, while many of the women were in garment plants. Jobs were said to be easy to obtain, because of the low unemployment rate, even for those who spoke little or no English.
Starting wages for most Rochester jobs were in the $4.50 to $4.75 range, somewhat below the State's average. Over time the average hourly wage rose to about $6.50 for men, and to $5.75 for women.
HOUSING:
Apartment rentals for a family with children were about $350 to $400 a month. Some 37 percent of the families owned their own homes; there were few Cambodians in public housing. There were complaints in the community about the cost of housing.
SCHOOLS:
The community appeared to be content with the school system, in which there were two Cambodian teacher aides, one working with children and the other in the ESL program for adults at the West Side Learning Center. There were about 18 or 20 Cambodians attending college in the area.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
About 90 percent of the employed families had their own medical insurance, secured through their employers.
OTHER SERVICES:
There was a strong collection of social services available to Cambodian refugees provided by several agencies. There were eight to ten Cambodians working in refugee-serving jobs, a large number for a community of 400 people, compared to situations elsewhere.
The Cambodian MAA (see address below) had a Cambodian staff of two, and provided social adjustment, outreach and some employment services. The Catholic Family Center, through the Interchurch Refugee/Entrant Assistance Program, primarily helped refugees find jobs. It also did some social adjustment work. Vocational training was available from the city schools.
For more information contact: Mr. Chenh Sith Hour, Executive Director, Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, 2 Riverside St., Rochester, NY, 14613; (716) 254–7809
LOCATION: CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
SUMMARY:
Moderate rents, pleasant climate, plentiful jobs and a Cambodian temple – all were found in Charlotte.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
This was a medium-sized Cambodian community, with 130 families and 536 individuals. Founded in 1975, the community had grown recently, because of arrivals from Thailand and secondary migration. The Cambodians in Charlotte had opened a temple, and there were two monks and four nuns serving the community.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Charlotte, a fast-growing city of more than 330,000, is half-way between the sea and the mountains in North Carolina, a State with a mild climate. (There is only a little snow in the winter.) The largest city in the State, Charlotte is in Mecklenburg County.
The host community's basic economic signs were good; the county had an unemployment rate of 3.3 percent, well below the national average, and an average earnings level of $21,697, about $1,000 over the national average – a promising combination.
EMPLOYMENT:
A high proportion of the Cambodian families, 92 percent, were self-sufficient. About 72 percent of the families had two or more workers.
The agency that finds jobs for refugees reported in 1988 that the average hourly pay in those new jobs was $4.89. Using the 10 percent spread from the average, our benchmark, this produces a range of hourly wages from $4.40 to $5.38, with entry-level
Over time, wages usually rise, and it was estimated that the average pay for Cambodian men who had worked in the Charlotte area for several years was over $7.00 an hour, and a little less for the women.
Men worked in textile, electronics and other factories. Women did the same, though many had jobs in garment factories. The jobs were less unpleasant than the meat-packing work reported for some other places. Jobs were fairly easy to obtain; and several companies hired refugees who spoke no English.
HOUSING:
The average rent in Charlotte was $250 a month. Cambodians are not settled in a particular neighborhood, and lived in a range of free-standing houses, town houses, duplexes and garden apartments. About 23 percent of the families owned their own homes.
Those who had bought their own homes recently had paid $75,000 for three-bedroom houses, with down payments of $20,000 or so and monthly payments of $675.
SCHOOLS:
The Cambodian community reported that it liked the school system because there was little violence, an ESL program for new refugees, and a Cambodian teacher aide. They sensed, in comparison to places where they had lived previously, that the children learned English more quickly and were better behaved.
ESL was provided by the refugee unit of Catholic Social Services and by International House. Central Piedmont Community
MEDICAL SERVICES:
It was estimated that 78 percent of the Cambodian families had their own medical insurance; most employers provided this insurance within three months of starting the job.
Health screening for new arrivals was done by the Mecklenburg County Health Department, which had a Cambodian staff member. The Charlotte Memorial Hospital accepted Medicaid recipients.
OTHER SERVICES:
The principal provider of services to refugees was Catholic Social Services, which had several refugees on its staff, including two Cambodians. It handled reception and placement services for newly-arrived refugees, employment counseling and placement, and outreach services.
Another organization, operating without government funds, which provided orientation and other services to the community was the one that operated the temple, and is listed below.
For more information contact: Ven Doung Chaing, President, Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc., 219 Owen Blvd., Charlotte, N.C., 28313; (704) 596–6628.
LOCATION: GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
SUMMARY:
Plentiful jobs, a clean and quiet city, and a Cambodian temple attracted Cambodians to Greensboro.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
The Greensboro Cambodian community was formed in 1975. While there had been rises and falls in its population, it had been stabilized recently with at least 60 Cambodian families, totalling about 250 individuals. The Cambodian MAA (the Khmer Aid Group of Greensboro, or KAGG) which once had some Government funding subsequently remained active in the community as a voluntary organization. There was, in addition to the temple, one Cambodian-owned grocery store and one Cambodian-owned restaurant.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Greensboro is a fast-growing city of 160,000 in the eastern part of the State. Located in Guilford County, and surrounded by a farming area, Greensboro is a manufacturing town, heavily involved in textiles and furniture.
The economic signs were positive; its unemployment rate, 3.6 percent, was well below the national average, and the average earnings of resident workers, $19,385 was just below the national average.
EMPLOYMENT:
All the Cambodian families, except one, were self-supporting; the overwhelming majority of families had two or more workers. Most Cambodians worked in factories where people, even without speaking English, could get jobs easily.
According to a prior survey of entry-level wages done for
HOUSING:
Housing costs were modest. The average monthly rentals were reported at $190 to $250. Many Cambodians lived in pleasant, if not new, single-family houses on lots. During the ORR survey one extended family, with six or seven workers, reported a gross family income of more than $6,000 a month while paying less than $300 a month in rent for a somewhat crowded single-family house on a plot of land. About 40 percent of the Cambodian families owned their own homes.
SCHOOLS:
The Cambodians in Greensboro, particularly those who migrated there from New York City, liked the school system. They liked its high standards and that the discipline problems they remembered from New York did not exist. They also liked the fact that the children were learning English quickly. Five Cambodians in the area were attending college.
KAGG and several local churches provided ESL training.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
About 95 percent of the Cambodian families had medical insurance which was obtained through their employers. The waiting period in Greensboro is usually 90 days.
North Carolina had a retroactive Medicaid program, and if a family not on Medicaid incurred a large hospital bill it was possible to make the family eligible for Medicaid after the fact.
OTHER SERVICES:
Greensboro is one of a handful of cities
Other services for Cambodian refugees in the area were provided by the Lutheran Agency, and by the MAA and the temple (which share an address printed below).
The Lutheran agency, in addition to PSR, provided initial reception and placement services to incoming refugees, provided job placement, referral to vocational training, and a variety of other social and outreach services. KAGG and the temple were involved in social adjustment and language services.
For more information contact: Mr. Vansy Sam, President, Greensboro Buddhist Center, 2715 Liberty Rd., Greensboro, N.C., 27406; (919) 272–6279 This is also the address and phone for the Khmer Aid Group of Greensboro.
Also: Lutheran Family Services, 131 Manley Avenue, Greensboro, N.C., 27407; (919) 855–0390.
LOCATION: COLUMBUS, OHIO
SUMMARY:
Columbus had one of the most active Cambodian MAAs in the country, providing an unusual range of social services, and there was a Cambodian temple, but only a little more than half of the families were self-sufficient.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were about two thousand Cambodians in the Columbus area. The community was founded in 1975 and grew during the Cambodian Cluster Project; its size has remained stable in recent years. The community was served by three Cambodian-owned groceries and three restaurants and it supported a Cambodian temple. The Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (or CMAA, see address below) had several grants and provided an unusual range of services.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Columbus, a farming and manufacturing city in the middlewest, has 565,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of Ohio. Its economic signals were good but not remarkable; its unemployment rate, 4.9 percent, was better than the national average, but not as good as some cities listed in this report. On average its resident workers earned $20,597 a year, which was a little less than the national average.
EMPLOYMENT:
Although no one had exact statistics, it appeared that a slight majority of the Cambodian families were self-sufficient; the rest were on cash assistance. No other community in this document reported as much welfare-utilization as did Columbus. Fewer than half the families had two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in this State was $4.86 during 1988. This suggests that most newly-hired refugees were paid between $4.37 and $5.35 per hour, (i.e. in the range of 10 percent more or less than the average). Workers with more skills were more likely to be high in this range than those with fewer skills.
About-one third of the Cambodian men in Columbus worked in meat-packing plants and were reasonably well-paid, but it was demanding and sometimes dangerous work. Others worked in a variety of factories. Cambodian women were also engaged in factory work with the biggest single group working in garment plants.
It was relatively easy for refugees to secure entry-level positions, even in cases where they spoke no English.
Average wages for all refugees (not just newly-arriving ones) were estimated at $6.50 per hour for the men and $5.50 for the women.
Since farmland surrounds Columbus, some Cambodians were engaged in seasonal farm work, such as the picking of strawberries in the spring and apples in the fall. At one point a number of Cambodians secured extra cash income by collecting worms at night for sale as fishing bait.
HOUSING:
An arriving refugee family probably will pay in the neighborhood of $250 to $300 for a modest two-bedroom apartment, and $300 to $350 for a modest three-bedroom apartment. About one fifth of the Cambodian families owned their own homes;
Cambodians who bought their own homes, typically three-bedroom units, paid around $40,000 for older houses with $3,000 to $5,000 down payments and $450 in monthly payments. Some had bought new houses for $60,000 or so, with comparably higher monthly and down payments.
SCHOOLS:
The Cambodians seemed to like the local school system which had three Cambodian teacher aides. ESL was provided by the Adult Education Division of the Columbus Public Schools; by CMAA during the day, and the Catholic Diocese of Columbus during evening hours. There were about 30 Cambodians attending colleges in the area.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
About 80 percent of the employed families, or a little over 40 percent of the Cambodian population, had employer-related medical insurance policies. There usually was a three-month wait before insurance coverage began.
There were several organizations in the area which paid special attention to the health needs of the Cambodians. CMAA had a short-term grant at the time from the Ohio Commission on Minority Health to train refugee case workers in health care and health education, and to provide translation and emergency medical services.
The Hilltop Health Center, which provided primary and preventive health care, was aware of the special concerns of
OTHER SERVICES:
The principal provider of refugee services in the area (covering Cambodian as well as non-Cambodian refugees) was the CMAA. It had a Cambodian executive director, Vuthy Keo, and two other Cambodian as well as several non-Cambodian staff members.
CMAA, in addition to its health and ESL programs, provided the following:
- ○ reception and placement services to refugees coming in from the camps; (this was done on a subcontract basis with Church World Service – few MAAs had such subcontracts)
- ○ employment placement and counseling services;
- ○ general social, referral and interpreter services; (part of this activity was funded by the City of Columbus; again this is unusual; MAAs typically do not have city funds)
- ○ assistance to refugees seeking affordable housing;
- ○ assistance to refugees seeking vocational training.
The Migration and Refugee Resettlement program of the Catholic Diocese of Columbus also provided a number of services to newly-arriving and more established refugees The Buddhist Temple provided both cultural and religious services.
For more information contact: Mr. Vuthy Keo, Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA), 648 South Ohio Ave., Columbus, Ohio, 43205; or call (614) 252–3337.
LOCATION: PORTLAND, OREGON
SUMMARY:
Portland, Oregon, had a large Cambodian community, a strong Cambodian-run social service organization with many services, a Cambodian temple, and many jobs.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were about 750 Cambodian families of about 3,000 individuals in the Greater Portland area. About 85 percent of them were in the immediate Portland area. The community was established in 1975 and while there was both in-and out-migration, on balance the population had increased slowly.
The principal refugee-serving agency in the area (one of the largest in the nation) was the International Refugee Center of Oregon (IRCO) whose Executive Director, Nady Tan, is a Cambodian. There was a Cambodian temple in nearby Beaverton.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Portland, Oregon, is in Multnomah County, near the Pacific Coast. A city of 370,000, it is the largest city in the State, and is a manufacturing and trading center. It has a moderate climate and there is a lot of rainfall.
Portland's economic signs were about average for the U.S.; its unemployment rate, 6.3 percent, was slightly above the national average, as was the average earnings for resident workers, $21,104.
EMPLOYMENT:
About 70 percent of the Cambodian families were self-sufficient, and about 45 percent of the families had two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in the State was $4.82 during 1988; given a range of 10 percent on either side of this average, this suggests that most newly-hired refugees had hourly wages between $4.34 to $5.30 per hour. As was the case in other cities, Cambodian refugees with many skills were hired at the top of this range, and those with few skills at the bottom.
Most Portland area Cambodians worked in factories; many worked in electronic assembly plants. Some of the men worked as janitors and in other building maintenance jobs, and some of the women worked in hotels and in sewing factories. Five women were employed as computer programmers. Experienced Cambodian male and female workers earned about $6.00 an hour on average, with the men earning a little more than the women.
Entry-level jobs for refugees were plentiful in Portland. In addition, there was an unusual collection of employment services provided by IRCO. There was, for instance, the Refugee Early Employment Program (REEP), which focussed on obtaining the right first job for refugees soon after their arrival. In a highly coordinated program an individual refugee's previous education, prior work experience, manual skills, and interests were evaluated, and then an employment plan was created for that particular refugee, and written up in his or her own language. Sometimes the plan resulted in immediate employment, and sometimes in training. If vocational training was needed, IRCO either supplied or arranged for it, using various local
IRCO had a pre-employment training program which operated for four to six weeks, and served only newly-arrived refugees. It gave them a sound introduction to how Americans worked, and what employers expect of their workers. IRCO also had a pre-industrial skills training program which served newly-arrived refugees and others needing it. The program taught workers about tools and machines used in factories.
HOUSING:
Most Cambodians in Portland were renters. A few owned their homes, and a few lived in public housing. A modest two-bedroom apartment could be had for $300 a month, but many refugees paid $400 for apartments.
SCHOOLS:
The Cambodians apparently liked the local public school system which had two Cambodian teacher aides, but no formal bi-lingual instruction program.
Vocational ESL (VESL) for adults was provided by IRCO and by the community colleges. There were about 75 Cambodians attending colleges in the area.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
The health systems in the area appeared to pay more attention to refugee health needs than some systems elsewhere in the country. For example, within the Multnomah County Health Department there were Cambodians working as medical case managers/interpreters, who saw to it that Cambodians received the care they needed. The University of Oregon Medical School provided medical care for low-income families including refugees. The Multnomah County Hospital operated on a sliding
OTHER SERVICES:
Reception and placement services for newly-arrived refugees were provided by three church-affiliated entities, a Catholic agency, a Lutheran one and another which works with Church World Service. Usually these agencies had one or more Cambodian staff members. There were also Cambodian staff who worked for the Adult and Family Services, Portland West Branch; this is the agency managing the welfare program.
IRCO had secured grants from the Ford Foundation and the Fred Meyer Charitable Trust to provide technical assistance and a loan fund program to refugee-owned businesses. IRCO also had an International Language Bank offering interpretation, translation, information and referral in 25 languages, including Cambodian and English.
For more information contact: Mr. Nady Tan, Executive Director, International Refugee Center of Oregon, 1336 E. Burnside St., Portland, Oregon, 97214; (503) 234–1541
LOCATION: PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
SUMMARY:
This was one of the largest Cambodian communities in the eastern United States. It had particularly strong community organizations, a major Cambodian temple, and there were plenty of jobs. Housing, however, was tight.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
It was estimated that as many as 1,400 Cambodian families, totalling about 8,000 individuals, lived in Rhode Island, most of them in Providence. The community was founded in 1975, and was growing in size. Cambodians were the largest of several refugee populations in the area. A Cambodian executive was in charge of the local consortium of MAAs (see address below).
The Cambodian temple in Providence, which had a number of monks and nuns, was recognized as the center of Cambodian Buddhism in the United States; it was from here that monks were recruited to serve in other parts of the nation.
Cambodians were prominent in business and in social service. There were about twelve Cambodian-owned businesses, including six restaurants at last count, three groceries, an auto repair shop, a jewelry shop and a social club. More than twenty Cambodians were employed as full-time, refugee-serving social workers in various Providence area agencies.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Providence, a seaport, is one of America's oldest cities. A city of 160,000, it is the capital of Rhode Island. In addition to State government, and the provision of services, Providence is a manufacturing town, with an emphasis
The economic signals for Providence were mixed. The unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, was two points below the American average, and the average salary for resident workers was $19,115, some $1,500 under the American average.
EMPLOYMENT:
More than 80 percent of the Cambodian families in the area were self-sufficient, and of these, about 85 percent had two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in this State during 1988 was $5.85; this suggests that most newly-hired refugees were paid between $5.26 and $6.43 per hour (in a range of 10 percent on either side of the average), with those having the least skills, the least English and the least U.S. work experience being paid at or near the lower rate.
Given the low rate of unemployment, it was easy for refugees to get jobs in Providence, even without good English skills. Most refugees worked in manufacturing plants, in textiles, jewelry, electronic assembly and garments. While the work was often demanding (and required particularly good eyes and hand skills in jewelry and electronics) it was not dangerous.
The agency which placed refugees in jobs knew that refugees were good workers and that there was a strong demand for them; therefore, the agency insisted that employers pay new workers at least $5.00 and hour, and that medical benefits be available.
HOUSING:
Rentals were higher than in the middlewestern cities, but less than in some other eastern locations. A one-bedroom apartment rented for about $350 a month, and two-bedroom apartment for about $450.
Most of the Cambodian families rented apartments or single-family homes. Sometimes they lived together in neighborhoods, with everyone on the street being Cambodian. Forty of the families owned their own homes, and two families lived in public housing.
SCHOOLS:
The Cambodian community appeared to like the school system, which had hired six Cambodian teacher aides.
Providence had a particularly strong ESL program. Genesis School, for example, provided both transportation to ESL classes, and, when needed, day care for the children of those attending. Tutors had been recruited from Brown University to provide ESL for house-bound people. Other providers of ESL included the public school system, Community College of Rhode Island, and several churches and other organizations. With such a variety of providers, one needing ESL could pick and choose among times and places of instruction.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
More than 80 percent of the working families had their own health insurance which was routinely available after three months employment, and sometimes after only
Several of the health providers, such as Rhode Island Hospital and Women's and Infants Hospital, have made special arrangements for Cambodians. St. Joseph's Hospital, which is in downtown Providence near where many Cambodians live, had four Cambodians on its patient-contact staff. Similarly, the Providence City Health Department also had four Cambodian staff members.
There was also the Southeast Asian Support Center, at St. Joseph's, which specialized in providing mental health services. It was scheduled to expand its program to provide additional services to troubled adolescents and children.
OTHER SERVICES:
Reception and placement services for refugees coming from the camps were provided by the International Institute and the Catholic social service agency, each of which had a Cambodian staff member. Both agencies also provided other services to Cambodians.
The multi-ethnic organization which provided many services to refugees was the Socio-Economic Development Center for Southeast Asians (SEDC) which has a Cambodian Executive Director, Sovanna Sip. In addition to providing ESL and job placement services, SEDC took care of a wide variety of social, translation and referral services. SEDC had secured funds from several nongovernment sources, such as the United Way and the Rhode Island Foundation.
The New England Farmworker's Council provided short-term
In cities where there were large concentrations of Cambodians, as in Providence (and Portland, Oregon, Columbus, Ohio and Dallas, Texas) a refugee was more likely to be able to secure a wider range of specialized services than in places where there were fewer Cambodians.
For more information contact: Mr. Sovanna Sip, Executive Director, Socio-Economic Development Center for Southeast Asians of Rhode Island, 620 Potters Ave., Providence, R.I., 02907; (401) 941–8422 or 941–8430.
LOCATION: MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
SUMMARY:
A moderate climate, plenty of jobs, inexpensive housing and many social services had attracted some Cambodians to Memphis; refugee wages, however, were below the national average.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were about 90 Cambodian families with 500 or so members living in the Memphis area. The community, which was founded in 1979, was formerly larger, but it had stabilized in recent years.
There was an active but unfunded Cambodian MAA, (see name and address below) and two Cambodian-owned restaurants in the area. Although there was no temple or resident monk, arrangements have been made for the Nashville monks to visit Memphis from time to time.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Memphis, a city of 650,000, is on the eastern side of the Mississippi River. Warm to hot in the summer and moderate in the winter, Memphis is a manufacturing and trading center. Memphis is located in Shelby County.
Memphis's economic signals were very much like the nation as a whole, with 5.5 percent unemployment (a bit less than the average) and $20,130 in average earnings, again a little below the average.
EMPLOYMENT:
The Cambodian community was more than 90 percent self-sufficient, and in more than three-quarters of the families there were two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in this State during 1988 was $4.48. This suggests that most newly-hired
Cambodian men worked in food processing plants, in other factories, and as carpenters; Cambodian women sewed garments, worked in factories and helped in food processing as well. Jobs were plentiful and little or no English was required. The average length of time between the arrival of a refugee and his or her first day of work was about 32 days.
The estimated average wages of all Cambodian men in the area, not just the newly-hired, was $5.00 an hour; women were paid a little less.
HOUSING:
Most refugee families paid $175 a month for a modest one-bedroom apartment, or $250 to $265 for a two-bedroom one. About ten families owned their own homes, and another four were in public housing.
SCHOOLS:
The Cambodian community appeared to like the school system which it believed had good standards. There were four Cambodian staff members (serving as instructor, counselor, and/or teacher aide) in the Memphis Schools' bilingual program, two at the elementary level, one at a middle school, and one at a high school.
ESL was provided by the public school systems and by the local campus of the University of Tennessee. In addition, some local churches provided night classes. There were about a dozen Cambodian college students.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
The Memphis-Shelby County Health Department provided comprehensive health screening for newly-arriving refugees.
Paying for medical care was more of a problem for Cambodians in Memphis than in many other places as only about one-third of the families had private medical insurance. A number of arrangements had been made to handle this problem, such as payments on a sliding scale.
Associated Catholic Charities, which works closely with the MAA, had made referral arrangements with the Memphis Regional Medical Center, which is located near the Catholic office. In addition, some Cambodians made use of the Wellington Clinic, and its Vietnamese physician.
OTHER SERVICES:
The principal provider of refugee services in Memphis was Associated Catholic Charities, which had a Cambodian case worker on its staff (see address below). The Catholic agency provided direct job placement services as well as outreach, social and general services. The MAA often used the Catholic agency's offices for meetings, social functions, and as a site for religious celebrations conducted by visiting monks.
For more information contact: Mr. Heng Hory, President, Cambodian Assistance Association of Memphis, 1624 Hartland St., Memphis, Tennessee, 38108; (901) 682–3997.
Also: The Refugee Resettlement Program of Associated Catholic Charities, 69 N. Cleveland, Memphis, Tennessee, 38104; (901) 722–4767.
LOCATION: NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
SUMMARY:
Plentiful jobs, a funded MAA, and a brand new Cambodian temple were some of the attractions of this city in the hills of Tennessee; on the other hand, wages were low and there had been criticism of the education provided to Cambodian children.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were about 100 Cambodian families in Nashville, consisting of perhaps 500 individuals. The community was founded in 1978, and it had been growing slowly in recent years.
The community was well organized enough to have persuaded the State government to fund the MAA, and to have opened a new temple with a Cambodian monk.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Nashville and surrounding Davidson County have been merged into the Nashville Metro area which has a population of 455,000. It is a major entertainment center and the country-and-western music capital of the country. It is also the capital of the State of Tennessee.
It is a low-wage, low-unemployment town, with an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent, well below the U.S. average, and average yearly earnings for the population generally at $20,297, somewhat below the national average.
EMPLOYMENT:
Refugee self-sufficiency was high; with only about 13 percent of the families on cash assistance. Approximately two-thirds of the families had two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in Tennessee during 1988 was $4.48; this suggests a range of wages
Locally the Cambodians were not doing as well as these state-wide figures indicated. The largest single local employer of Cambodians was the Opryland Hotel, a large, luxury hotel named after the country-and-western radio show, Grand Old Opry. While the hotel was concerned enough about its Cambodian employees to provide them transportation to and from work, wages started at little above the minimum wage ($3.35 an hour) and most of the Cambodians, because of their lack of English skills, continue to work in the “back-of-the-house” as dishwashers and kitchen helpers.
Other Cambodians worked in electronics assembly, in other factories, and, for many of the women, in a greenhouse where African Violets were grown.
Good data were not available on the average wage of established Cambodian workers outside the Hotel; estimates were that some women earned as much as $4.75 per hour, and some men, $5.50 per hour.
HOUSING:
As was often the case, if wages were low, rents were, too. Decent apartments could be obtained for $275 to $300 a month, but many Cambodians were living in less attractive ones at lower rent, preferring to save money for a down payment on a house. Only two Cambodian families lived in public housing;
SCHOOLS:
Some in the local Cambodian community seemed content with the school system, which had hired two Cambodian teacher aides. Others pointed out that the schools provided so little ESL to six-year-old Cambodian children that half of them had to repeat first grade.
An unusual effort to cope with this problem had been developed by the Director of the International House of the YMCA, Mr. Shozo Kawaguchi. He created a program designed to encourage pre-school Cambodian children to learn English and to enjoy and understand the American educational TV program for little children “Sesame Street.” Mr. Kawaguchi's program for the children was called “Ernie, Bert and Me”. It has been well received.
ESL for adults was provided by the Metro Educational system, while vocational training was available at the Nashville Area Vocational-Technical School.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
The overwhelming majority of Cambodians in Nashville had secured private medical insurance through their employers. When they needed a doctor, they often chose one of the Vietnamese or Filipino physicians in the area.
OTHER SERVICES:
The Cambodian MAA provided social adjustment, outreach and employment services while the local office of Catholic Charities handled the resettlement of newly-arrived refugees and also offered employment services. The MAA had a full-time staff member who is Cambodian, as did the Metro
For more information contact Sambath Huy, Nashville Cambodian Association, 1913 21st Ave., Nashville, TN, 37212; (615) 292–8393.
LOCATION: DALLAS, TEXAS
SUMMARY:
Easy access to jobs and a wide variety of integrated social services were available in East Dallas, but housing remained a problem, and wages were low.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were about 400 Cambodian families in the Dallas area, consisting of about 1,500 individuals. The community was founded in 1975; in recent years its size had remained stable.
Most of the community lived in the somewhat run-down neighborhood of East Dallas which was also the location of an unusually rich collection of social service agencies, all with Cambodian staffs. There was no funded Cambodian MAA in the community and only a single Cambodian-owned business, a grocery store. The nearest Cambodian temple was in Duncanville, some 15 miles away. Dallas was also one of the few cities in the country that had a fully credentialed police officer who is a Cambodian.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Dallas is a city of contrasts. It is the rich city of the “Dallas” television show and the home of many poor immigrants. The city of 900,000 is in Dallas County in north central Texas. It has a moderate climate, not as hot as New Orleans and Phoenix, but not as cold as Kansas City.
The overall economic signs for Dallas were about average for the country. Unemployment, at 6.3 percent was slightly above the U.S. average, while the average earnings for resident workers, at $24,278, was about $3,000 above the national average. Should oil and beef prices rise, Dallas' level of prosperity would increase.
EMPLOYMENT:
Although precise data were not available, it appeared that the large majority of Cambodian families in Dallas were self-sufficient, Texas cash assistance payment levels being among the smallest in the nation. Most of the self-sufficient families had two or more workers.
Texas-wide, the average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees placed in jobs by government-funded agencies during 1988, was $4.39. Some refugees secured jobs in other ways, and they may not have been paid as much as $4.39 on average.
Cambodians worked in Dallas factories, with both men and women doing electronics assembly, while some men worked in hotels and as janitors. Many women worked in garment factories.
Our sources had conflicting views about the availability of jobs for Cambodians in Dallas; those with a little English would have no trouble finding jobs, but it would be more difficult for those who spoke no English.
Wages, as elsewhere, tended to rise with the passage of time, as skills grew and as refugees found better jobs. But in Dallas wages rose from a modest base. Estimates were that established Cambodian male workers were earning $4.50 to $5.00 or a little more, and women were making $4.00 an hour. Those without spoken English earned less.
Work, in the Dallas area, while often hard, was not as demanding as that in the meat-packing plants. Employment services are described later.
HOUSING:
Housing was not very attractive in the area around
Meanwhile, about 10 percent of the Cambodians had purchased their own homes, and another 3 percent were in public housing. Most lived in apartments with rents ranging from $280 to $300 month, but some paid much more.
SCHOOLS:
There were reports that the Cambodians were not very happy with the Dallas school system, which they regarded as having low standards. There were two Cambodian teacher aides in the system. It was estimated that as many as fifty Cambodians were attending college in the area.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
The health system had reached out to the Cambodian community in a number of ways. First, about 80 percent of the Cambodians had employer-related health insurance. Second,
OTHER SERVICES:
Cambodians in Dallas had access to a remarkable number of services as they did in few other cities. Chicago, Illinois, and Portland, Oregon, have extensive programs as well.
The Multicultural Community Center, which served all refugees, is a good place to start a description of these services. MCC provided information and referral services, as well as interpretation and case management.
Elsewhere in the MCC building there were other service providers. Job placement was done by the an arm of Catholic Social Services, which had on its staff a job developer and an employment skills educator. ESL was conducted as an outreach program of El Centro Community College; it had a bilingual Cambodian assigned to help the students. There was the Model Outreach for Refugee Employment (MORE) program which concentrated on two groups with special employment problems: refugee women and teenagers who have not held paid jobs at any time in their lives. Its case workers, including a Cambodian, helped women find jobs and trained women and teenagers in what American employers
Elsewhere in Dallas other providers were active as well. The voluntary agencies, such as Catholic Social Services, Church World Service, International Rescue Committee and others, supplied resettlement and placement services to newly-hired refugees. The Catholic agency, which also had Cambodian staff, also did direct job placement.
For more information contact: Mr. Chhang Youk, MORE Project, PO Box 64549, Dallas, Texas, 75206; (214) 828–4898.
Also: Mr. Tom Kemp, Dallas Multicultural Alliance, Inc., P.O. Box 643901, Dallas, Texas, 75206; (214) 828–9891.
LOCATION: SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
SUMMARY:
Good schools, plenty of jobs, inexpensive housing and a variety of services were available to Cambodians in Salt Lake City; wages, however, were on the low side.
THE REFUGEE COMMUNITY:
There were about 300 Cambodian families in Utah, consisting of 1,200 to 1,300 individuals. The Utah Community, founded in 1975, used to be larger than it was in late 1988, but in recent years its size had stabilized.
About 250 families were in Salt Lake City. There were 10 to 15 families in each of three other Utah cities: Provo, Ogden and Logan. In Salt Lake City there were five Cambodian-owned businesses: two restaurants, two groceries and a pawn shop. Cambodians often used the Lao temple in Riverton, near Salt Lake City, or the Thai temple in Ogden. There was no Cambodian temple in Utah at the time of the study.
THE HOST COMMUNITY:
Utah is a desert State, and Salt Lake City (near America's largest inland salt lake) is the largest city, and capital, of the State. Salt Lake City, with a population of 160,000, is known as a conservative, low-crime location. Provo and Ogden, both in the 65,000 to 75,000 population range, are each about 45 miles from Salt Lake City. Logan, with some 30,000 people is 90 miles north of Salt Lake City, near the Idaho border. Salt Lake City has factories and a substantial tourist industry.
Salt Lake City's economic signals were mixed. It had 5.5 percent unemployment, a little less than the national average,
EMPLOYMENT:
Approximately 85 percent of the families were self-sufficient and three-fourths of the families had two or more workers.
The average hourly wage for newly-employed refugees in this State during 1988 was $4.45; this suggests that most newly-hired refugees had hourly wages ranging from $4.00 to $4.90 per hour, (in other words within 10 percent of the average) with the better qualified workers earning more than the less qualified ones.
Cambodians worked in factories, hotels, and helped the Marriott Corporation prepare meals to be served on airplane flights. Many worked in electronic assembly plants.
Average hourly wages for refugee men who had been in the area for a while were in the $5.00-and-up range, and for women about $4.00 to $4.50. It was easy for Cambodians, even with little or no English, to secure work in the area. Many employers wanted their refugee employees to work overtime, and paid them to do so.
HOUSING:
Renting or buying a house was inexpensive. A family could lease a three-bedroom apartment for as little as $280 a month. A single-family house could be had for $400 a month. A refugee with $1,000 for a down payment could buy a house, and then pay $400 a month on the mortgage. About 60 percent of the Cambodian families had become homeowners.
SCHOOLS:
The Cambodian community appeared to like the well-disciplined
ESL for adults was provided by the public schools, the community college and by the University of Utah. There were about 40 Cambodian college students.
MEDICAL SERVICES:
About 80 percent of the Cambodian families had employer-provided health insurance. The waiting time for health insurance ranged from one to three months.
The Salt Lake County Health Department provided comprehensive health screening services for refugees arriving from the camps. The New Hope Multi-Cultural Center, the principal provider of refugee services in the area, ran a free clinic for refugees.
OTHER SERVICES:
The New Hope Center had a board of directors consisting of Cambodian and other refugees and Americans, with many of the Americans being active in the Mormon Church, the dominant church in the State. The New Hope Center's large building was given to them by the Mormon Church.
In addition to ESL and health services, New Hope provided job placement and employment counseling services. Its part-time Cambodian case worker provided referral and translation services.
Cambodian case workers were also employed by: Tolstoy Foundation, which provided reception and placement services for newly-arrived refugees; the Utah State Job Service; the Community
Efforts were then underway in Salt Lake City to bring a Cambodian monk to the area and to revive the Cambodian temple which was then dormant.
For more information contact: Mr. Phay Phanh, Department of Social Services, 55 N. Redwood Rd., Station A, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84116; (801) 533–4403.
Courtesy of Special Collections and Archives. The UC Irvine Libraries, Main Library 5th Floor, PO Box 19557, Irvine, CA 92623-9557; https://special.lib.uci.edu
http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb52900697&brand=oac4
Title: Profiles of some good places for Cambodians to live in the United States
By: North, David S, Author, Sok, Nim, Author, United States. Office of Refugee Resettlement, Author
Date: 1989
Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives. The UC Irvine Libraries, Main Library 5th Floor, PO Box 19557, Irvine, CA 92623-9557; https://special.lib.uci.edu
Copyright Note:
Material in public domain. No restrictions on use