The International Center of the Heartland is strengthening our community’s wellbeing and economic vitality by helping newcomers with the maze of issues they face when they arrive. United Way and partner organizations aim to make our metro area stronger by helping refugees and immigrants become self-sufficient more quickly.

Each week, Omaha's newcomers arrive from Canada, China, Columbia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Sudan, Togo, United Kingdom, Vietnam and 25 additional countries.

The INTERNATIONAL CENTER seeks to strengthen our community’s wellbeing and economic vitality by helping newcomers with the maze of issues they face when they arrive. The center’s partners will share their expertise in the fields of health, civics, social service and education, to name a few.

• Priority – to create a more efficient use of social service dollars and encourage a collaboration of available case management services.
• Goal – help immigrants integrate into our community, become full participants in the civic, cultural and economic fabric of the Omaha metro area.

The center (now open at 42nd & Center) can help them in the quest to find a safe place to call home, and the opportunity to use their skills and education to contribute to our community - financially and culturally - as new citizens of the United States of America.

Meet just one of the families that now calls Omaha "home."

PROJECT BRIDGE

35+ Partner Organizations are On Board
In addition to United Way of the Midlands’ financial investment, nearly three dozen organizations are on the International Center team. More than $300,000 in in-kind services have already been committed. Partners include:

*Lutheran Family Services (here's a link to more ICH information)
Catholic Charities
OneWorld Community Health Center
Legal Aid of Nebraska
A.I.M. Institute
Douglas County Health Department
Metropolitan Community College
Girl Scouts Great Plains Council
YMCA
YWCA Omaha                      _{* Lead agency}

How will the International Center Make a Difference?
The International Center of the Heartland will provide advice on health, employment, education and civic matters, and instruction on small business creation. The goal is to help newcomers become productive, healthy, and self-sufficient members of our community.

"Immigration will be the primary source for filling anticipated shortages in skilled labor over the next 20 years."
Federal Reserve Bank

To help the metro Omaha business community remain competitive and progressive in the local and global economies, the International Center will offer cross-cultural training and provide opportunities for newcomers and potential employers to meet. It will also help foreign-born professionals apply their training and experience to position in local companies and institutions.

NEWCOMER FACTS:

• One in nine U.S. residents is foreign-born.
• As of 2006, immigrants accounted for half of all new U.S. workers. In 30 years, the share will rise to 60%.
• Immigrants are 50% more likely to have a graduate degree than Americans.
• Nebraska ranks 7th nationally for growth in percentage growth of immigrants and refugees.
• Omaha’s newcomers are from 45+ countries in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
• The Census Bureau considers Nebraska a "new growth state in a high growth region" for immigration.

Omaha's "Top 10 Countries"
1-Mexico
2-Lithuania
3-Nepal
4-Sudan
5-Japan
6-Vietnam
7-India
8-Togo
9-South Africa
10-Russia

_{(New Legal Permanent Residents in Omaha metro area, 2003-2005. www.dhs.gov)}