2014 Community Resident in Action

Each year, University Neighborhood Partners presents the Community Resident in Action (CRIA) award to one west side resident to support their work in the neighborhoods, with a focus on engaging broader resident networks with UNP’s partnership work. From June 2013 to June 2014, I worked with the Karen Community of Utah. The Karen are an indigenous people from Myanmar (also know as Burma).

The goal of my project was to strengthen Karen families by promoting self-sufficiency and independence through providing social services, workshops, creating employment and referring them to the local resources. Being president of the Karen Community of Utah, I was able to accomplish many activities throughout the year.

I worked with the committee to conduct four workshops to address current community needs such as family strengthening and issues with housing, drugs, and alcohol. We provided family empowerment-based education utilizing a “Family Strengthening DVD” approved by the Mayor’s Office. This workshop took place every Saturday for six weeks. The number of attendees varied between 12 and 16 every week. Overall, 14 people completed the training.

Another activity was to help community members obtain learner permits. I provided a driver license class in the Karen language in my house two days a week, and helped the clients with interpretation at the DMV office in Draper. Of the sixteen participants who obtained learner permits, all but two have received a Utah Driver License.

The project also included a total of 60 home visits to help people with general needs. I helped needy families with reading mail, with interpretation at hospitals and schools, referred them to the bishop’s food store, got involved with and resolved domestic violence, referred families to appropriate local resources, and set follow-up for those who are still in need of help due to language barriers.

A third goal was to create a Culture Preservation Group to maintain Karen culture. Three youth were elected to teach other Karen youth about our culture and dance, and will conduct a Karen literacy class from April until September every year. There will be incentives for the three trainers through the CRIA grant to compensate their time and support their activities and creativities. Two big community events, the Karen Wrist-tying Ceremony and the Karen New Year, were celebrated in 2013 and the youth played a major role in helping the events turn out successfully.

A final activity was to create sports teams and gather as many youth as possible for the purpose of health promotion. I was able to form two soccer teams, Sky and Kawthoolei United, for the purpose of reducing drug and alcohol usage. Two youth quit smoking and drinking and three reduced their smoking from five cigarettes to one cigarette per day. The CRIA grant has been utilized to help participants pay their soccer tournament registration fees and refreshments. The teams help the youth focus more on physical activity that can bring them a healthy and happy life, as well as provide them with educational tips about the negative effect of using alcohol and smoking.

I would like to give special thanks to University Neighborhood Partners for their willingness to work with our Karen community and provide assistance, especially the CRIA grant as an incentive for those who are really involved in the community and make a difference, such as the Karen Community of Utah (KCU) committee, youth leaders and other Karen youth who are actively involved in the community. UNP’s support really makes a difference and brings positive results to our community. We hope to continue working with UNP in the future.