{"id":883,"date":"2024-03-06T20:47:56","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T20:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esustage.wpengine.com\/kansas-city\/?page_id=883"},"modified":"2024-03-06T20:47:56","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T20:47:56","slug":"julie-robinson-honored-for-above-and-beyond-work-with-refugee-immigrant-communities","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.esuus.org\/colonial-nc-new\/julie-robinson-honored-for-above-and-beyond-work-with-refugee-immigrant-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Julie Robinson Honored for \u2018Above and Beyond\u2019 Work With Refugee, Immigrant Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Julie Robinson Honored for \u2018Above and Beyond\u2019 Work With Refugee, Immigrant Communities <\/div>\n \n \n
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The English-Speaking Union of Kansas City congratulates long-time ESU member, Julie Robinson, for her commitment and support of immigrant communities as part of her position with the Kansas City Public Library as Manager of Refugee and Immigrant Services Empowerment.<\/span><\/p>\n

In April 2023, the Library\u2019s Julie Robinson looked on proudly as 198 people became U.S. citizens during the latest in a series of naturalization ceremonies at the downtown Central Library. For a few moments amid a day-long celebration of World Refugee Day at the Library\u2019s North-East Branch on June 17, the spotlight belonged to Robinson. Lauding her \u201congoing commitment to serving and supporting marginalized communities including refugees, immigrants and indigenous peoples,\u201d the local Baraza African Cultures Center accorded her its Community Service Award. <\/span><\/p>\n

The two events underscored Robinson\u2019s long devotion to the city\u2019s refugee and immigrant populations and the impact of her work as manager of the Library\u2019s Refugee & Immigrant Services & Empowerment (RISE) outreach. <\/span><\/p>\n

She has served in the position for nearly nine years. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe goes above and beyond, and it comes not from an obligation or to seek the limelight,\u201d says Andrea Smith, the Baraza Center\u2019s COO and chief education officer, who presented the Community Service Award. \u201cIt\u2019s very much wanting to do the right thing, coming from the heart. That\u2019s part of who Julie is.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson was gratified by the recognition. \u201cIt was World Refugee Day, and just about every agency I work with was there,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen the heads of places like JVS (the Jewish Vocational Service) and Della Lamb (Community Services) come up and say \u2018you so deserve this,\u2019 it really means a lot. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t do it by myself, trust me.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The Kansas City Public Library became one of the first public libraries in the U.S. to devote a full-time manager to serving refugee and immigrant populations when it appointed Robinson to oversee RISE in September 2014. She was manager of the Library\u2019s westside Irene H. Ruiz Branch before that and has spent more than 20 years overall with KCPL, dating to early 2003. <\/span><\/p>\n

RISE offers a range of services including English Language Learning (ELL) courses and preparation for naturalization. RISE also supports the English-Speaking Union’s English in Action program which is a one-on-one program to improve immigrants’ communication skills. With Robinson\u2019s assistance, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri has made the Library a frequent location for naturalization ceremonies; 12 have been held at the Central Library since 2016, with the next scheduled for November 2023. <\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson also has spearheaded World Refugee Day activities at the North-East Branch the past three years, working with a variety of partners including the Baraza African Cultures Center. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen World Refugee Day kind of went through a transition in who was heading it, a lot of committee members were emailing each other and saying, \u2018Hey, shouldn\u2019t we be meeting and planning this thing?\u2019\u201d Smith recalls. \u201cJulie really took the reins and said, \u2018We\u2019re doing this. We have a location at the Library. Let\u2019s make this happen.\u2019 Nobody asked her to do it. She saw the need, and she stepped up. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where it would have been if she hadn\u2019t done that.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The Baraza Center made her its first Community Service Award recipient in four years. \u201cWe really needed to recognize everything she has done and let other people see it, too,\u201d Smith says. <\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson also serves as co-chair of Welcoming KC, a local government, business, and nonprofit partnership working through the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce to make the city more inclusive. It has set its sights on making Kansas City a certified welcoming city, a formal designation by the national nonprofit Welcoming America for cities and counties that have created policies and programs demonstrating a commitment to immigrant inclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

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