In the 1970s, Amy Medford’s dad was instrumental in bringing refugee Vietnamese families to their Clarkston community.
“I grew up supporting refugee families and communities; it’s what you did in my house,” said Medford, now a married mom of three who lives in the same house where she spent her childhood.
Medford continues that tradition of support as a volunteer with New American Pathways, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that offers a variety of services to help new Americans become contributing community members. One of those services promotes civic engagement by keeping newcomers informed of what’s happening in local government.
“Being a newcomer presents a lot of unique challenges for civic engagement,” said Medford. “Language access is difficult, and especially when you have a lot of different languages, it’s hard.”
Medford addresses those concerns by attending Clarkston government meetings from planning sessions and zoning board hearings then spreading the word through an online site.
“I take notes so they can be translated into different languages,” she said. “Some months, I might be out every night at a meeting. There’s a growing need for people to do the work of getting local community and civic information out there because that’s where the most impact is made.”
Last summer, Medford was part of a project to inform Clarkston residents about changes to zoning codes.
“We put out signs in different languages, hosted an open house and had translators on hand,” she said. “About 85 community members showed up who expressed what they wanted to see happen. People asked questions and could dialog with someone in their own language. It was one of the most successful things we’ve done.”
Medford has also been part of the effort to organize meetings around voting and elections. Before the midterms, sessions were held for Clarkston residents and another for DeKalb voters to explain the process and highlight candidates.
“To be on the council, you have to be a citizen, but to be on advisory committees, you don’t,” she said. “So that opens it up to many refugees who aren’t yet citizens and gets them involved and active.”
Helping residents have their say is Medford’s motivation.
“Our city suffers from a lack of immigrant and refugee voices, yet they represent 70% of our demographic. Getting their voices heard is my passion.”
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