Chelsea hires a new advocate - Chelsea City Hall

Chelsea hires a new advocate - The Boston Globehttp://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/30/chelsea_hires_a_new_...Page 1 of 28/31/09THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTINGChelsea hires a new advocateBy John Laidler, Globe Correspondent | August 30, 2009Chelsea has found a way to build bonds between police and newly arrived immigrants.Through a partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital, the Police Department recently hired anadvocate to work directly with foreign-born newcomers and to help police better serve them.A key goal is to ease the fear and distrust refugees and immigrants - particularly those from war-torn countries- often feel about police.The broader role of the initiative is to ensure the new arrivals feel welcome in the city.“In order to promote public safety throughout the entire community, we have to make sure we reach out toeveryone,’’ said City Manager Jay Ash. “The newcomer advocate will allow us to better reach out tonewcomers throughout the community.’’Mass. General, which operates the MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center, is funding the cost of the newcomeradvocate, Carrie Nedzipovik. It will also provide other assistance, including helping with officer training andspecial events.Police Chief Brian Kyes is hoping that the advocate will help newly settled residents “get to know police andhis officers to gain more understanding of the cultures from which those residents come. He said the advocatecan also steer the newcomers to needed assistance.“What we’ve found is that many newcomers who come to America are afraid of authority figures because ofexperiences in their own country,’’ said Nedzipovik. “A big part of this job is to allow refugees and immigrantsto feel more comfortable with officers in reporting crimes.’’As part of that effort, she plans to organize “personal safety workshops’’ at which refugees and immigrants canmeet officers and learn more about American laws.Familiarizing newcomers with available resources in the community is also an important part of her work,Nedzipovik said, noting that many refugees and immigrants are struggling financially and are in need ofservices ranging from rental assistance to job placement.She said another part of her role will be working directly with officers, “informing them of new populationscoming into the city’’ and possibly introducing them to the groups’ community leaders.Chelsea has a rich tradition as an immigrant city, and Kyes estimated that at least 70 percent of the city’spopulation today is Latino. Nedzipovik said the principal focus of her work, however, will be working withrefugees and immigrants who have just settled in the city within the last year or two, rather than those who arewell-established.She said the primary new foreign-born group arriving in Chelsea now is Iraqis who are being placed byresettlement agencies, estimating there are about 15 Iraqi families now residing in Chelsea. Sarah Oo, directorof community health improvement at MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center, noted her center is also seeing newlyarrived families from Somalia, Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Nepal.Mass. General awarded about $70,000 for the initiative, part of $18.6 million the hospital is required to spendon community projects as a condition of the regulatory approval it received to construct a new building at its

Chelsea hires a new advocate - The Boston Globehttp://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/30/chelsea_hires_a_new_...Page 2 of 28/31/09main campus in Boston, according to Oo.Oo said $1.5 million in all will be spent in Chelsea. The hospital in 2007awarded $750,000 of that to support acity after-school program for five years. The police initiative was among three other projects later awarded$330,000 from the remainder of the Chelsea allotment.The Police Department will be able to apply for additional funds after the current award expires in three years.Oo said Mass General sees the program as an attempt to make those newcomers feel at ease about police, toshow them “that police are actually helpful people in their lives.’’She said the initiative complements other collaborative efforts between MGH and Chelsea police, includingone in which MGH social workers respond to the scene of emergencies involving children, providing support tothem.A Chelsea resident, Nedzipovik brings to the job a Rotary Club-sponsored master’s degree in conflictresolution she received last December from the University of Bradford in England.She also has experience working with immigrants and refugees. That has included volunteering at a Kosovarrefugee camp in Macedonia, coordinating literacy programs for immigrants and refugees in Burlington, Vt., andworking for World Education, a nonprofit that coordinates informal education programs in the United States,Asia, and Africa.“It’s been wonderful so far,’’ she said of the new job, noting that it has helped her feel more connected to herhome city and given her the satisfaction of giving back to it. She said the city’s rich array of cultures isinspiring.“It’s just incredible walking down the street, the amount of diversity,’’ she said. “And it’s changing every day.’’© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company