Project Overview

This resource guide was created by students at the King Middle School in Portland, Maine, in an “attempt to make the resources of Portland, ME more easily accessible to new refugees and immigrants” (from the introduction). 

Over the course of 8 weeks, students from the English Language Learners program researched and created this field guide to community resources, which served a real need for people who had newly arrived to the Portland area. As a center for Catholic Charities Refugee placement, the city and the school have a large percentage of recent refugees, particularly from East Africa. The school had students with thirty-one native languages. 

Students met with representatives from local organizations and agencies to learn about the resources available to immigrants. Students also visited many of the sites listed in this guide, interviewed people who work with refugees, looked through the phone book, researched resources online and made calls to verify information. Students took digital photographs of many of the entries.

The project was a way for students to practice their English and learn about local resources at the same time. They were consumers of their own product, learning about the city for their own benefit and that of their families. 

The guide includes immigrant owned businesses, businesses that cater to cultural needs, and community centers geared toward immigrant resources. The guide even includes information on public restrooms, with the down-to-earth subtitle, “When you gotta go, you gotta know!” 

Copies of the guide were given to the placement center and were widely distributed to those in the immigrant community.