World Relief Spokane has relocated its corporate office to Spokane Valley in a move designed to improve and expand employer partnerships for the nonprofit organization's refugee clients, says development director Barbara Comito.

The shift to Spokane Valley was prompted by an increase in demand for refugee employment opportunities, and World Relief Spokane wants Spokane-area businesses to consider hiring migrants as a way to shore up worker shortages here, she says.

"We need to find new employers who are receptive to people who don't have complete English language skills," says Comito.

World Relief Spokane finds that working with hospitality, manufacturing, and wholesale companies is usually a good fit for first-time job opportunities for refugees, she says. 

Tru by Hilton Spokane Valley, the Davenport Hotel Collection, in Spokane, Spokane-based Peirone Produce Co., and HDT Global Inc., which owns Spokane Valley-based Berg Manufacturing Inc., are some of the companies that currently partner with World Relief for employment opportunities.

The nonprofit had 407 active business partners—employers who were engaged and willing to interview World Relief's clients—and helped place 340 people in jobs for an estimated $10.7 million in wages that have contributed to the Spokane economy in fiscal year 2023, says Comito.

Job placements were up 53% in 2023. 

"A big part of refugees becoming self-sufficient is them finding jobs," she says.

In fiscal year 2024, which ends Sept. 30, World Relief Spokane expects to support 700 people, says Comito.

That's up 40% from the number of refugees and other migrants the nonprofit helped resettle in the previous fiscal year, according to World Relief's website.

As of February, World Relief Spokane has reached 52% of the 700 individuals it has budgeted to assist, and has placed refugees and other clients who are eligible to work at 57 different employers in Spokane County, Comito says.

People from 26 countries and 28 nationalities including Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine are receiving support from World Relief Spokane this year, she says.

"Often you have people with higher degrees and doctors, lawyers, nurses, and none of that certification carries (over to the U.S.)," Comito says. "With the initial job, there's a very good chance that it's going to be a low-level, entry-level job."

The nonprofit has been helping refugees and asylum seekers resettle in the Spokane area for more than 30 years. It recently moved its corporate offices to Spokane Valley to help foster new employer relationships in the community.

World Relief is now operating at the Redwood Plaza business center, at 11707 E. Sprague, in Spokane Valley, she says. The nonprofit was previously located at 1522 N. Washington, in Spokane, where it had operated for over 20 years.

There were some misgivings about leaving such a well-known location, however Comito says World Relief leaders understood that they'd have to give up the familiar location in favor of more space and opportunities for clients. 

In a press release issued last August announcing the new home of the nonprofit, executive director Christi Armstrong said, "There has always been a great need in Spokane Valley for employees in manufacturing, production, hospitality, food service, and other industries. Expanding our services enables us to accommodate the needs of our clients while providing exceptional workers to prospective employers."

"The expansion also opens opportunities for clients and their families to experience a smaller city with less traffic, great services, diverse opportunities, affordable housing, and plenty of room to grow," Armstrong said.

At the new space at Redwood Plaza, World Relief's employment workshops offer multiple interpreters to help translate covered topics such as soft and hard skills, teamwork, and how to navigate the U.S. banking system to receive earned income.

A drop-in friendship center also is being renovated at the corporate site that will provide a casual environment for World Relief's clients to practice English and to ask questions of former refugees and other immigrants about living, learning, and working in Spokane.

"The manager (of the friendship center) likes to call it the happy side of World Relief because so much of what we do is pretty heavy," she says. 

Community ambassadors, who are former refugees and immigrants, volunteer at the center and act as liaisons between the nonprofit and migrant communities. 

World Relief Spokane currently has a staff of 57 and works with 216 volunteers, she says.

The new office space also will have a children's play area, a food preparation space, and private conversation space.

Carpita Construction LLC, of Newman Lake, is the contractor for the $150,000 tenant-improvement project for World Relief Spokane, permit information on file with the city of Spokane Valley shows. No architect is listed on permit information.

Renovations to the new space are about 60% complete. Next month, World Relief Spokane will hold an open house and grand opening event at 5 p.m., Wednesday, May 15, at City Covenant Church, located at 512 S. Bernard, where the nonprofit maintains a smaller second office, and an event at 6 p.m. at Redwood Plaza. 

Refugees are people who are forced to leave their homes or countries to escape war, natural disasters, or persecution. Asylum seekers have left their home countries and have applied or intend to apply for asylum status, which allows them to remain in the country they fled to.

"For most of them, going home is not an option," Comito says. 

World Relief Spokane receives referrals from the Washington state Department of Health and Social Services to assist with job searches and placements, which is a requirement to receive benefits through DSHS.

The organization is unable to assist asylum seekers in finding jobs if their asylum case hasn't received court approval, but Comito says World Relief can provide other assistance depending on the circumstances of their arrival in the U.S.

The organization's move to Spokane Valley gives World Relief a chance to expand its job training workshops and other economic and resettlement services.

Getting settled in the U.S. takes time and patience, but there are many benefits in helping refugees and other migrants establish themselves in the community, Comito contends.

"Oftentimes, refugees are filling jobs that Americans don't want," she says. 

Along with economic empowerment and job-readiness programs, World Relief also provides resettlement and placement services and intensive case management.

Resettlement and placement services help new arrivals find housing, transportation, cultural orientation, and other basic needs through the first 90 days here. 

Beyond the first three months, intensive case management is provided for those who need more time to adjust to life in the U.S.

"We really try to lead people toward self-sufficiency, but also recognize that (some) need a little more help," Comito says. "People are struggling with a lot of issues. They're trying to get housing. They're trying to get jobs. They're trying to get signed up for benefits. It's a bit of a whirlwind because you have to do all these things while your grasp of English is probably in the initial stages."

Comito points to information in a February report of the Fiscal Impact of Refugees and Asylees at the Federal, State, and Local Levels from 2005 - 2019, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which states that over 2.1 million refugees and over 800,000 asylees were accepted to the U.S. between 1990 and 2022 and have contributed a net positive fiscal impact of over $123 billion—a greater contribution than the cost in government expenditures.

Employment for migrants living in the U.S. for at least 10 years was similar to the overall U.S. population, with over 40% of refugees and asylees who had been here for less than five years employed full-time compared to 60% for those living in the U.S. 10 or more years, and 57% of the total U.S. population.

"Data shows that (immigrants) aren't a drain on us, but a net positive," Comito says.

World Relief Spokane is an affiliate of Baltimore, Maryland-based World Relief Corp. of National Association of Evangelicals, which does business as World Relief.

The nonprofit opened a branch in Spokane in 1992 and has helped about 12,000 people resettle in the Spokane area in over 32 years of operation, according to its website.

World Relief Spokane is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday, with the exception of Thursdays when its doors are closed to clients.

"Spokane is a very white city, and we need to be welcoming to other cultures so that we can be a more diverse place and we can have a richer culture," Comito says. "We will be better because we have opened our arms and hearts to people from around the world."