Estelle Yeung | CIIP 2023 Blog Portfolio
Posted: July 5, 2023
Orientation Week
This year’s orientation was very engaging for me, as I experienced it through the lens of a Peer Mentor and had a more active role in facilitating critical reflection sessions with my group. This challenged me to pay close attention during presentations in order to better frame my reflection questions. I especially appreciated how eager everyone was in my randomized group to be vulnerable with one another, engaging critically with topics like the relationship between Hopkins and Baltimore City, and the privilege we hold as Hopkins students coming into Baltimore for four years.
I especially enjoyed Councilman Zeke Cohen’s presentation, as he encouraged all of us to consider careers in city government. He acknowledged that many of us working in nonprofits this summer are doing so because we align with the missions of these organizations, which are pushing for social change and doing meaningful community work in Baltimore City. However, he argued that each young person going into nonprofit work full-time is one less person working in city government, where decisions are made that directly impact public policies. He explained that this leaves room for other folks, who are not as driven by progressive social change, and who have the capacity to enact harmful policies, to take up those positions in city government. He emphasized the importance of young, progressive people in making meaningful change at the city government level.
As I step into my internship at the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MIMA) this summer, this is a perspective that I will keep in mind. I believe my peer mentor group is the only group not exclusively working in nonprofits, as a few of us are interning in city government. At first, I was wary of my decision to work in city government instead of a nonprofit this summer. I grew concerned whether this experience would align well with my values because of the criticism received by those in elected office and their staff. Because of bureaucracy and limited transparency of government agencies, I had little understanding of what such city agencies actually did to improve the lives of the community members they serve. More often than not, city agencies are criticized for not doing enough to help, which is why nonprofits are so crucial to filling this gap. This week made me realize that city government can, in fact, have a progressive lens and effectively enact social change in the communities they serve.
I look forward to experiencing the ins and outs of city government, which will be a stark departure from my work with Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition, a nonprofit, last summer. I’m eager to learn about the power dynamics between city government agencies and nonprofits as well. Many nonprofits have similar goals and demographics they work with as city agencies, but city agencies have more visibility, resources, and power than nonprofits in critical decision-making spaces. I can’t wait to get to work this summer!
Week 1
My first week at the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs has been eye-opening. I spent most of this week familiarizing myself with MIMA’s existing databases, ongoing projects, and programs available for immigrants. The main program MIMA is currently promoting is BNAAC, the Baltimore New American Access Coalition for immigrant and refugee families. Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, BNAAC connects immigrant and refugee families to social services to mediate the economic impacts of the pandemic. Many immigrant and refugee families were ineligible for unemployment benefits, stimulus checks, and child tax credits during COVID-19, which exacerbated economic disparities. BNAAC was introduced to mediate these disparities through a collaboration with community-based organizations in Baltimore, including Esperanza Center, CASA, Southeast CDC, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS). This program connects new American families to financial assistance, health care coverage, immigration legal services, and more.
I had the opportunity to moderate a BNAAC presentation with CASA and Esperanza Center in French, which I never thought I would find myself doing. I’m a native French speaker, but I always doubted whether this would be helpful professionally. I assumed most immigrants requiring interpretation services were Spanish-speaking, but I was unaware that Baltimore actually has a significant population of francophone African immigrants. I was very happy to learn this week that one of my projects this summer will be supporting French language access through community outreach.
Language access is one of MIMA’s priorities, as many immigrants have limited English proficiency (LEP), posing a systemic barrier to accessing public benefits. MIMA and LIRS held an Immigrant and Refugee Community Resource Fair in Inner Harbor on Saturday, where community organizations serving immigrants presented their missions and spoke with families regarding helpful resources. MIMA handed out flyers in 10+ different languages, including Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Tigrinya, Swahili, Arabic, Pashto, and Haitian Creole. Volunteer interpreters walked around the fair with immigrant families to translate if staff from the organizations did not speak a specific language. I spoke with one of the attendees in French about BNAAC and resources that MIMA provides for new immigrants. Overall, this was an immersive week in listening and learning, and I am excited to continue working on my long-term projects this summer, including French language access.
Week 2
This week, I had three opportunities to attend in-person community events with MIMA. SInce MIMA is not a direct service provider, the main way they serve immigrant communities is through partnership with nonprofits throughout Baltimore City.
On Friday, MIMA facilitated the Baltimore Immigrant Community Fund (BICF) Workgroup meeting at CASA de Maryland. MIMA staff and I arrived early at CASA to set up the space for our 40+ attendees. Attendees were leaders from various community organizations serving immigrants, including Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) and Episcopal Refugee and Immigrant Center Alliance (ERICA). BICF is a collaborative of organizations serving immigrants, in partnership with funders Baltimore Civic Fund, the Blaustein Foundation, and the Straus Foundation. This is a public-private partnership led by MIMA to identify priority areas and propose solutions to issues facing New Americans in Baltimore. This meeting included a brainstorming session in breakout groups to propose solutions in priority areas such as capacity-building and access to resources. Common themes that came up were access to healthcare due to issues with eligibility for insurance and lack of language access. It was really interesting sitting in on this meeting and learning what the priorities of BICF community organizers are.
That same day, I attended a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion event hosted by the Baltimore City Law Department at the War Memorial building across from City Hall. The format of this event was similar to last week’s resource fair, but MIMA tabled alongside other city agencies, rather than nonprofits. This event was attended by city employees to educate them on implicit biases in the workplace.
Overall, I am thoroughly enjoying attending community events at various locations throughout Baltimore City, since this also allows me to get to know different nonprofits, neighborhoods throughout the city, and public transportation options to reach those neighborhoods. I look forward to supporting MIMA’s work at future community events this summer.
Week 3
This week, I presented to the CIIP cohort during “Bites” about immigration, and I learned a lot while researching the history of Baltimore’s immigrant communities. I found it really interesting to look at maps of Baltimore City showing which neighborhoods each immigrant community lived in. For outreach that MIMA conducts, we focus on Spanish-speaking communities and translate resource documents into many different languages. I have often wondered where each immigrant community is predominantly located within the city, and which neighborhoods tend to have speakers of each language. MIMA’s website has an interactive map with some data, but it is not updated and difficult to navigate. I found some answers through my research for the “Bites” presentation. Overall, Baltimore’s immigrant population is concentrated in east and southeast Baltimore. Most immigrants are from Latin America (50%), followed by Asia (17%) and Africa (13%). I also had an interesting conversation with my colleagues about which demographic data is publicly available. I learned that the Department of Planning Policy and Data Analysis Division has a dashboard that uses census tract data to map Baltimore City’s immigrant population. Through this map, I found that the most common languages spoken among those with limited English proficiency in Baltimore City are Spanish, Mandarin, and French. This helped me contextualize the outreach work that I have been involved in with MIMA.
During my “Bites” presentation, I really appreciated everyone’s questions, as they made me think critically about what I have learned in coursework and as an intern at MIMA. My favorite topic that I discussed with interns on Tuesday and Wednesday was about the intersection between immigration and other issues. Social services and language access were key topics that interns brought up, as well as access to healthcare. Many of us have firsthand experiences navigating these resources as children of immigrants or as patient advocates with Hopkins Community Connection, and I enjoyed hearing everyone’s contributions to the discussion.
During my “Bites” presentation, I really appreciated everyone’s questions, as they made me think critically about what I have learned in coursework and as an intern at MIMA. My favorite topic that I discussed with interns on Tuesday and Wednesday was about the intersection between immigration and other issues. Social services and language access were key topics that interns brought up, as well as access to healthcare. Many of us have firsthand experiences navigating these resources as children of immigrants or as patient advocates with Hopkins Community Connection, and I enjoyed hearing everyone’s contributions to the discussion.
Week 4
We have officially wrapped up week four! My goals for the summer remain the same, but reaching the midpoint of my internship has been a way to ground myself and ensure that I make the next four weeks as meaningful as possible. My goals for this internship, broadly, are to immerse myself in local government and engage in community outreach with Baltimore’s immigrant communities. Most importantly, I have learned about how city agencies serve as capacity-builders rather than direct service providers. For MIMA, this looks like collaborating with nonprofits to increase access to public benefits, rather than working with immigrants directly to provide services.
I have especially enjoyed outreach events so far, as these are opportunities for me to get to know my coworkers as we table together. This has also been a great way for me to get to know other nonprofits and city agencies that work with immigrants. As I move forward these next few weeks, I will be continuing volunteer coordination work and identifying more specific projects I can complete. Since I have organized most of the existing data in our volunteer database and created a survey to send to existing volunteers, my next step is to clarify what other projects I can work on. With four weeks left, I want to make sure that I am contributing to MIMA in a positive way while having a fulfilling internship experience. One of the things I am most grateful for is that my supervisor and the MIMA team truly care about getting me involved in projects that interest me personally. Because of my interest in public health, I have been involved in emergency management planning projects for potential asylum seekers. I have also been involved with MIMA’s AAPI workgroup and program outreach for francophone immigrants. This internship so far has been a great way to combine my various interests, including immigrant and refugee health and AAPI advocacy.
Week 5
There are many lessons I have learned this summer that I will carry with me as I pursue my career. Most importantly, language access for social services requires consistent advocacy. Translation and interpretation for languages other than Spanish is also necessary. Most of the time, language access is an afterthought for government agencies, which is why agencies like MIMA consistently push for interpretation and translation in multiple languages. Many people assume that Spanish is the only language requiring interpretation and translation in the US, but there are many languages that are spoken among immigrants in Baltimore who are limited English proficient. For example, last week, a community leader informed us that they encountered Asian limited English proficient immigrants at vaccine clinics who required interpretation.
Translation that is culturally competent and that matches the context in the original message is also important. I attended a webinar earlier today on training community leaders to serve as translators and interpreters, which emphasized the importance of culturally informed translation. Leaning on certified interpreters and bilingual community members, rather than online websites like Google Translate, helps with this. The presenters in this webinar emphasized that the goal is “meaning for meaning” rather than “word for word” translation.
The second significant lesson I have learned is how to have a productive informational interview/coffee chat conversation with folks who have similar interests. At MIMA, most of the meetings I have sat in have been with external community partners or community leaders whom we are meeting formally for the first time. I have learned that a simple 30-minute conversation can be productive for both parties. For example, one project I am working on is establishing one-way communication channels between MIMA and various groups based on shared language, region of origin, or culture. These channels are meant to disseminate relevant resources in multiple languages without the extra messages that would arise from a group chat with everyone in a community. Three of my colleagues and I have been reaching out to community leaders throughout the city to schedule informational interviews to learn more about how each immigrant community could benefit from these messaging channels from MIMA. Through these meetings, I have learned that an informational interview can be a great way to learn from community leaders and gain advice from their experiences. It does not have to be overly formal, and most people are actually responsive to a cold email. I have scheduled a few informational interviews next week, both for my personal career and for projects I am working on for MIMA. This skill will definitely be useful as I seek advice from more experienced professionals in the public health field.
Week 7
MIMA’s work intersects with many other social issues, namely healthcare. New Americans, including immigrants, refugees, and asylees, have limited access to health insurance in the US. Immigrants eligible for Medicaid must have qualified immigration status, lawful permanent residency, refugee status, or asylee status. Even qualified non-citizens must wait five years before they are eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). As a result, clinics like the Esperanza Center have risen to meet the need for accessible health care; Esperanza Center provides free healthcare to uninsured immigrants who do not qualify for Medicaid.
Most of my outreach work with MIMA is for the Baltimore New American Access Coalition (BNAAC) program, which partners with Esperanza Center, CASA de Maryland, Southeast CDC, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. This program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and provides benefit navigators and cash assistance to qualifying immigrant families, addressing social determinants of health through public benefits.
Immigration is intertwined with social determinants of health because of issues related to access and eligibility. Much of MIMA’s work is focused on language access because many immigrants are limited English proficient (LEP), and many service providers only provide services in English. MIMA advocates for interpretation and translation in many different languages in order to provide immigrants with equitable access to public benefits and healthcare.
At community resource fairs and outreach events, MIMA hands out flyers regarding public benefits and a welcome guide for immigrant families. Resources in the welcome guide address the social determinants of health, including housing, employment, education, legal services, and health clinics for those without health insurance. As a capacity builder in the field of immigrant affairs in Baltimore City, MIMA collaborates with Esperanza Center for benefit navigation services. ERICA, another CIIP placement, is also part of the Baltimore Immigrant Community Fund that MIMA runs. Overall, intersectionality is present throughout all of MIMA’s work. I’ve especially seen this play out during outreach when speaking with immigrants about health and legal resources available to them.
Sources:
https://health.maryland.gov/mmcp/Pages/Medicaid-Immigration-Status-Requirements.aspx
https://www.healthcare.gov/immigrants/lawfully-present-immigrants/
https://cc-md.org/programs/esperanza-center/esperanza-center-services/
https://mima.baltimorecity.gov/advancing-resources-baltimore-new-american-access-coalition-bnaac