Refugees, almost by definition, are a marginalized group of people. They are a people on the move, and they are in a sense home-less. Always the foreigner, they learn to survive as an invisible people – being just different enough from everyone around them to be ignored. Being in such a position almost always leads to exploitation and injustice. Sometimes it is intentional, other times it is simply a result of a system that doesn’t acknowledge their existence. Global Neighborhood seeks to amplify and translate the voices of refugees in order that they may speak for themselves. We seek to advocate on their behalf when injustices threaten to keep them down. Here are a few ways this happens:

Legal Advocacy – Refugees, coming from other countries with other rules, are presented with a huge learning curve when it comes to the law in Spokane.

Global Neighborhood partners with a variety of organizations and individuals around the city to provide basic instruction on legal issues to refugees. Things we take for granted, like not being able to bribe a police officer, are not obvious to people coming from corrupt societies. On occasion, refugees, like every other people group, get into trouble with the law. Most often it proves to be a grave injustice that has spiraled out of control simply because the refugee does not understand the issues or speak English well enough to explain him/herself. In such cases, Global Neighborhood does its best to support refugees in the legal system that they might not be taken advantage of.

Landlord/Tenant Issues – Nearly every refugee lives in a rented apartment. Most landlords are upright citizens, but when this is not the case, Global Neighborhood works with refugees to make sure they understand their rights as renters and to help them stand up for themselves in cases where they are being exploited.

Systemic Change – Legal systems are usually built by those in our society who have influence, money, and connections. Since refugees have none of these things, the laws that are in place often prove to be unjustly weighted against them. In such cases, Global Neighborhood works to stand up for refugees in the political sphere, realizing that not-voting is a vote in favor of the status-quo.

Community Education – Global Neighborhood not only wants to give a voice to refugees so they can defend their rights, but wants to give refugees a chance to share their culture, wisdom, and insight with the people of Spokane. There are amazing people from all over the world living here in our city and very few people know it! Global Neighborhood is working with leaders from Spokane’s refugee communities to put on events where the people of Spokane can see, hear, taste, and experience the beauty of the cultures around them.

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