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Caseworkers
ESL Instructors
Employment Specialist
Interpreter Coordinator
Director
Accountant
Bilingual Caseworkers
Caseworkers serve as the crucial link between newcomers
and American society, serving as both linguistic and cultural
interpreters for refugee clients and service providers. They provide
translation for refugees during appointments to deal with documentation
issues, public assistance, housing, medical, educational, employment,
legal and other needs. They provide guidance on a wide variety
of cross-cultural issues which affect refugees and the local communities.
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Abu Munye, Caseworker
Abu has been a caseworker with CMAA since October, 1999.
Like other caseworkers, he assists with interpretation and cultural orientation, helping
refugees to access education, employment, housing and social services with the goal of helping
them become self-sufficient. He was one of the first refugees to take part in the local IDA program,
and now recruits others to join the program. He also assists service providers and other community groups to better understand refugee cultures and acculturation issues.
Prior to joining CMAA, Abu spent two years as an Outreach Worker and Interpreter with Migration and
Refugee Services in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, conducting casework and case management for newly arrived
refugees. Before becoming a refugee himself, Abu was a middle school teacher in Somalia. He attended the
College of Teacher Training there. In 1998, he completed computer programming course work at Baton Rouge
Community College. He currently attends computer classes at Columbus State Community College.
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Ismet Yousuf, Caseworker
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Ismet serves as CMAA's primary contact to the Iraqi and Kurdish refugees in Columbus,
providing linguistic and cultural orientation and interpretation for a wide range of resettlement
issues. Prior to his coming to CMAA, Ismet worked with Interfaith Refugee Service Organization in
Columbus as the Kurdish case manager. Ismet first gained experience working with refugees when he
himself became one in the course of events surrounding Desert Storm. While living in Turkey he
assisted in interpretation and translation with various relief agencies. He came to the U.S. in 1992.
In addition to his work with refugees, Ismet has training as an electrical engineer, and has worked for the
last seven years with an automotive parts company in Columbus.
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Minh Tam Nguyen, Caseworker
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Minh Tam has been with CMAA since 1995. Like others she assists Vietnamese and other refugees with a wide range of cultural and linguistic interpretation issues. Her particular expertise is in health and medical interpretation. Prior to joining CMAA, Minh Tam spent eight years working with newly arrived refugees in the health screening process, through her role as Outreach Worker in the Refugee Health Program at the Ohio Department of Health, and five years with the Columbus Health Department Outreach Program.
Minh Tam relocated to Columbus from McLean, Virginia, where she took course work at Northern Virginia Community College. She has also pursued accounting courses at Columbus State Community College.
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Oeun Chan, Caseworker
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Oeun joined CMAA in early 2001. Her previous experience includes eight years
with the Hilltop Civic Council, providing interpretation and translation,
sponsorship, youth tutoring, citizenship, HIV/AIDS education, and many other
services during that time. She participated as a medical technician for a
smoking cessation program for southeast asians with the Ohio State University
Department of Preventative Health. Oeun also has experience in banking and accounting,
having completed a program at the Northwest Career Center in 1988.
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Selemon Gebriel, Caseworker
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Selemon has served as a bilingual caseworker with CMAA for the last 13 years.
He is CMAA's primary contact for refugees from the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities.
In addition to helping refugees access services in the U.S. by providing interpretation and
orientation, he also assists American services providers to better understand refugee cultures
and acculturation issues. Selemon's long term experience with housing, medical, employment,
immigration, and many social service networks have made him a key resource person for refugees
from all communities, as well as for new staff and American service providers. One particular
focus of his work at present is the ORR-funded Senior refugee project.
Selemon is active outside of CMAA in a variety of civic and business activities.
He previously spent three years as President of the Ethiopian Community of Central Ohio. Selemon
attended Haile Selassie University in Addis Abeba, where he majored in mathematics and political science.
Since arriving in the U.S., Selemon has completed coursework at the University of the District of Columbia
and Columbus State Community College in electrical engineering.
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Zeinab Elmi, Caseworker
Zeinab joined CMAA in March of 2000.
Like other case workers, she assists new Somali arrivals with interpretation and
orientation to enable them to access education, housing, employment, and other resources
that will contribute to their self-sufficiency.
Her background in nursing and midwifery,
however, have resulted in a high demand for her services in medical interpretation. She is
fluent in Arabic as well as Somali and English.
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