The CRIS Match Grant Program: Not Goodbye, but See You Later
As the federal fiscal year comes to a close this month and a new one begins October 1st, this September brings more painful reminders of the stark reality the CRIS family is facing.
Just a few days ago I attended a farewell luncheon for the remaining staff members of our Match Grant Program. Through this family-focused employment program, the Match Grant team served over 1,100 individuals since 2021, helping hundreds of work-eligible adults find full-time employment and achieve self-sufficiency. While we are fortunate to still have, at least for now, a separate employment-focused program that can help refugees who arrived within the last five years, Match Grant eligibility was limited to brand-new refugee arrivals, and those have essentially come to a halt, with the exception of one Afghan family we received in August.
Our Match Grant team is, in many ways, representative of the whole CRIS staff–they speak ten languages and have collectively served at CRIS 32 years. During the farewell luncheon, each of them shared a reflection on a particular family they had worked with that was memorable to them and their relationships with those they served. They were all very professional, but it was also very personal. The common theme in their stories was how much each of them approached their job with compassion and dedication. Their stories were the proverbial extra mile that I have seen the CRIS staff walk time and time again.
I was so glad to be there to hear their stories–but it was clear how heartbreaking the current situation is. These are such extraordinary, dedicated, and capable people who just want to help others, and they are losing their jobs. There was a strong, strange mix of both sadness and pride in our time together. I tried to share a word of encouragment through tears as we ended our time together: No one can take away all the very good work that was done to help families during their transition to life in the US. Confidence restored to parents navigating a new country, hope sparked in children adjusting to new schools, and lasting relationships formed along the way–this team has made such a difference.
We all agreed at lunch that this was not goodbye, but “see you later.” As we await responses from several grant proposals, I truly hope that new funding will come through soon so we can restore this loss of talent and humanity — the heart of what makes CRIS such a special place.