Refugee-Led Organizations' Crisis Response during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Odessa Gonzales Benson; Irene Routte; Ana Paula Pimentel Walker; Mieko Yoshihama; Allison  Kelly

doi:10.25071/1920-7336.40879

Authors

Odessa Gonzales Benson Social Work, University of Michigan
Irene Routte University of Michigan
Ana Paula Pimentel Walker University of Michigan
Mieko Yoshihama University of Michigan
Allison Kelly University of Michigan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40879

Keywords:

COVID-19, pandemic, crisis response, practice with refugees

Abstract

Scholarship on disaster response and recovery has focused on local communities as crucial in developing and implementing timely, effective, and sustainable supports. Drawing from interviews with refugee leaders conducted during the spring and summer of 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study examines crisis response activities of refugee-led grassroots groups, specifically within Bhutanese and Congolese refugee communities in a midwestern metropolitan area in the US resettlement context. Empirical findings illustrate how refugee-led groups provided case management, outreach, programming, and advocacy efforts to respond to the pandemic. These findings align with literature about community-based and strengths-based approaches to addressing challenges stemming from the pandemic. They also point to local embeddedness and flexibility as organizational characteristics that may have helped facilitate crisis response, thereby warranting reconsideration and re-envisioning of the role of refugee-led grassroots groups in crisis response.

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Author Biographies

Odessa Gonzales Benson, Social Work, University of Michigan

Odessa Gonzalez Benson is an Assistant Professor in Social Work at the University of Michigan. She can be reached at odessagb@umich.edu.

Irene Routte, University of Michigan

Irene Routte is a Doctoral Student in Social Work and Anthropology at the University of Michigan. She can be reached at routte@umich.edu.

Ana Paula Pimentel Walker, University of Michigan

Ana Paula Pimentel Walker is an Assistant Professor in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Michigan. She can be reached at appiment@umich.edu.

Mieko Yoshihama, University of Michigan

Mieko Yoshihama is a Professor in Social Work at the University of Michigan. She can be reached at miekoy@umich.edu.

Allison Kelly, University of Michigan

Allison Kelly is a Master of Social Work student at the University of Michigan. She can be reached at arkelly@umich.edu.

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