By Angie Chuang, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

Her senior year in high school, Katie Shevchenko set out to find a job. Any retail or restaurant job would be fine, as long as it wasn’t at a fast-food chain.

An immigrant fluent in English and Russian, Shevchenko, 19, didn’t think she’d have trouble. But after job applications were met with silence, she knew she needed help.

She joined the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization’s youth work force program, learning everything from how to write a resume to how to use Microsoft Excel to make spreadsheets.

Her new skills enabled her to get a job — competing against outside candidates — working for the program in its new home, the IRCO Employment Skills Training Center. Now she helps others like herself.

"When you start out looking for a job, especially when you are new to Portland or don’t speak English well, you need connections," she said. "Here, they get connections."

The center, close to IRCO’s headquarters in Northeast Portland, will host an invitation-only grand opening Thursday. The addition to IRCO’s growing network of satellite sites — including the Asian Family Center and the Senior Center — will allow the nonprofit to offer vocational training as well as increase youth programs.

Organizers expect the center to serve nearly 800 immigrants and refugees a year. Sokhom Tauch, IRCO executive director, said the organization’s main building is maxed out with pre-employment training.

"The first part of self-sufficiency for refugees and immigrants is job placement," Tauch said. "But vocational training is the most important pillar because it allows them to not only get a job but skills and a better hourly rate."

IRCO paid $600,000 for the building last fall and began running programs out of it a couple of months later.

The building was once a large house, and the portion used for vocational training still has the original kitchen and bathroom. That will be helpful for training in-home caregivers and, in the future, certified nursing assistants in conjunction with other agencies.

With the aging population, "it became clear that there is a need for professional caregivers," said Lisa Buffington, IRCO’s training services unit manager. The area will be equipped with hospital beds, a lift and wheelchairs to give trainees hands-on experience.

"It feels as if you’re going into someone’s home, which is exactly what a caregiver does," she said. "They can practice getting people in and out of the bathtub or preparing a simple meal."

Jenny Bremner, IRCO’s manager of youth work force programs, said having people such as Shevchenko work in the center is one way to make young immigrants and refugees feel like they belong.

"We want them to feel comfortable when they walk in the door, seeing other young people at the front desk," Bremner said.

A month ago, Shevchenko trained David Douglas High School graduate Olga Yakovenko for a part-time receptionist job at the center. Yakovenko is doing the job while attending Portland Community College as part of her IRCO training.

Shevchenko also recently taught a college and employment preparatory class to peers, taking them on a tour of Portland State University and teaching them how to look for jobs on the Internet.

"I was learning with these students," Shevchenko said, "and then I was teaching them."

The City of Portland hired 68 people ages 16 to 20 to work in its Summer Youth Employment Program beginning July 5. Earning Oregon’s minimum wage of $7.50 an hour, the youth — many of whom attend outer East Portland high schools — will work 27 hours weekly for eight weeks while assigned to various city offices, including police and fire departments and Portland Parks & Recreation.

While Portland Public Schools (PPS) is the youth employment program’s vendor, PPS subcontracted to the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO). A nonprofit located in outer Northeast Portland, IRCO assists refugees and immigrants in adjusting to American society.

IRCO recruited the applicants for the Summer Youth Employment Program, held orientations and selected 68 youth out of the 200 applications that poured in. Only 68 youth employment slots were budgeted this year by the city, two less than Portland funded last year.

The employment program focuses on providing on-the-job learning opportunities for minority, immigrant and refugee youth.

“It’s open enrollment, but a lot of the youth are African, Russian, Asian Pacific Islanders and, this year, a lot of Latinos,” said Jenny Crawford, IRCO Program Manager. “There’s a huge demand for it.”

The goal of the program is to help motivate young people toward rewarding careers. IRCO also provides additional career guidance to other young clients, a total of 1,200 accessing its various youth services provided at the outer Northeast Portland center.

“They say, ‘I want a job,’ and we say, ‘You know what? You have to finish school first,’ ” Crawford said. “We tutor them to get a real job, not just a fast food job.”

When problems arise in the employment program, for example, if a young hire unwittingly dresses inappropriately for work, IRCO will advise the youth accordingly. In the refugee community IRCO serves, some young people grapple with more hardships than others.

“We’re seeing kids in the country for six and seven years now and still facing economic, cultural and other barriers,” Crawford said, “and some of the kids born in this country are still dealing with language barriers because their parents don’t speak English.”

Adjustment to a new country often involves behavioral dilemmas, especially when emigrating from a country that encourages cultural values differing significantly from those of mainstream America.

“I see a lot of issues with our African kids,” Crawford observed. “There are different religious and gender views. Sometimes, for instance, the girls are not allowed to attend gym class.”

And, sometimes, a single refugee mother with eight or nine children arrives here alone because her husband was killed or still resides in her native country.

“Many of our kids move around a lot,” Crawford said.

Despite the obstacles youth face when their families move to the United States, many do find stability, opportunity and good jobs, with the help of agencies like IRCO and programs like Portland’s summer youth employment.

“These kids are incredibly resilient,” Crawford said. “They’ve been through things I can’t even imagine.”

The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) is pleased to announce that they are the recipients of the Department of Labor’s 2003 Exemplary Public Interest Contribution Award (EPIC).

IRCO was chosen for this award based on IRCO’s “commendable contributions to equal employment opportunity by assisting federal contractors in hiring and retention of all individuals regardless of race, gender, national origin, disability or veteran status.”

Mr. Sokhom Tauch, IRCO’s Executive Director accepted the EPIC award on behalf of IRCO at the Department of Labor awards ceremony held Thursday, February 19, 2004 in Washington D.C.

To learn more about the event, please visit the Department of Labor’s website by clicking on the logo below.

On June 20th, 2008 IRCO held it’s first fundraiser.  Jazz For Peace™ was a warm and friendly evening concert featuring Rick DellaRatta, a New York  jazz pianist and vocalist and his Jazz For Peace™ trio at the World Trade Center auditorium.  About 200 people were in attendance.  The event raised over $15,000.

Rick DellaRatta made an instrument donation in IRCO’s honor to the David Douglas High School, where IRCO runs several youth programs.  Here Cherie-Ann May, band director for DDHS, accepts the saxophone from Rick with Sokhom Tauch, the Executive Director of IRCO, looking on.