The Learning Institute for Enrichment (LIFE) & Discovery is a Frederick-based nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality of life for Frederick's minority populations through educational programs and events, outreach, advocacy and leadership training.
The nonprofit has carved out space in its downtown Frederick office for two coordinators from Lutheran Social Services and International Rescue Committee to meet weekly with Frederick's Myanmar community to help them find employment, access community resources and other services.
Lutheran Social Services offers resettlement, employment and community outreach to refugees and immigrants at its offices in Takoma Park and Baltimore. International Rescue Committee is a national nonprofit contracted by the federal government to resettle refugees.
On Monday, representatives from all three organizations announced their new partnership during an open house at LIFE & Discovery.
Jennifer Schiller, program coordinator for Lutheran Social Services, said the presence of Lutheran Social Services is to help refugees and immigrants in Frederick plug into services quicker, instead of traveling to the organization's main offices in Takoma Park and Baltimore.
The partnership grew out of several discussions last year between Frederick County Public Schools staff and service providers, Schiller said.
The two organizations are initially focusing on Frederick's growing Myanmar community, though they will welcome other refugees and immigrants, Schiller said. "We would be more than willing to help them," she added.
Phun Thang of Frederick said he has been helping newly arrived refugees from Myanmar (formerly Burma) settle in Frederick for the past four years.
Most of these refugees and newly arrived immigrants —about 90 percent — are Chin from the country's western Chin state, and of various professional and educational backgrounds, Thang said. He estimated that there are about 400 Myanmar living in Frederick.
Thang noted that the biggest need for this community is employment. "If they have jobs, it's OK," he said.
Holly Leon-Lierman, employment coordinator for International Rescue Committee, will work from LIFE & Discovery's office weekly on Mondays to help refugees find employment in local industries such as hospitality, restaurants, warehouses and companies like BP Solar, who have consistently hired many Myanmar since the early 2000s.
Leon-Lierman said in an economic recession, the committee is encouraging English language classes. "That's the competitive advantage," she said.
E-mail Katherine Mullen at kmullen@gazette.net.
To learn more
Representatives from Lutheran Social Services and International Rescue Committee will be available from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays at LIFE & Discovery, 1 W. Second St., Frederick.