Programs

IPC’s One-Immigrant-at-a-Time (OIAT) program provides self-development grants to documented, low-income immigrants, refugees and asylees from around the world who are living in Colorado.

Since its founding in 2009, IPC has made grants to immigrants from more than 28 countries, including Afghanistan, Bolivia, Bulgaria, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Peru, The Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Vietnam and others.

Grants are for citizenship and “green card” applications, learning English, professional certifications, GED preparation, tools for work, travel to medical internship interviews, and more.

Referring Professionals submit grant recipients through an on-line portal (click Here to view the application). Current Referring Professionals come from Emily Griffith Technical College, Lutheran Family Services, Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning, Spring International Language Center, The Village Institute and Hands to the Future. Grant funding goes to the agency that will help the immigrants reach their dreams.

An example of a young man who received a OIAT grant is Muktar, a refugee from Ethiopia, who graduated as a petroleum engineer at the Colorado School of Mines in 2021.

IPC sponsors educational sessions and workshops to help the community at large understand complicated immigration issues. For example:

• IPC sponsored a series of discussions about immigration with Colorado authors who write about the subject.
• IPC’s workshops introduce community members to immigrants to hear their stories.
• Our popular cookbook, Together at The Table – Recipes from Our Cultural Heritage, featured international recipes contributed by grantees of the OIAT program and others, who wrote of the importance of the recipes in their families’ cultures.

In 2017, IPC began making available scholarships for immigrants and refugees at Arapahoe Community College. Since then, IPC has facilitated scholarships for newcomers studying nursing, computer science, information technology, engineering, child development and many other specialties.

Meet a few of our scholars:

Vietnam: One scholarship awardee was a single mother from Vietnam who came to the U.S. without speaking English. Following the birth of her daughter in 2015, she began to focus on her dream of becoming a pharmacist. Today she works in a retail pharmacy store while also taking classes at ACC.

Philippines: Another scholarship went to a young man from the Philippines who is pursuing a nursing degree. While attending ACC, he also works as a nursing assistant in a long-term care facility. He loves the people he cares for, saying, “I am here for them in every moment. They might just need a heart that listens to the times they are confused and disoriented. Maybe a heart that encourages when they are dismayed. A heart that celebrates in their triumphs. And always a heart that will demonstrate the love that they deserve.”

France: Another scholarship awardee, who comes from France, plans to become a pediatric nurse. A single mom with an eight-year-old daughter, she is proud that she has earned her citizenship. She says, “My daughter has already seen me accomplish so much, such as my citizenship and raising her on my own, and I do believe that she is proud of her mom. I love that feeling. But, I mostly want her to understand the importance of a college education, and what better way to show it to her myself by earning a college degree, right now?”

Mexico: Another scholarship was awarded to a young man from Mexico who is the first in his family to go to college. Brought to the U.S. as a child, he went on to earn a 3.1 grade point average in high school and wants to be a mechanical engineer.

We wish each of these scholarship awardees good luck as they pursue their dreams!

“I want to thank you so much for the help you gave me. Thank you for helping me realise a dream that is so important to me and my life. This was a grand step in my being able to become a US citizen. I am going to feel much more sure and safe once I am a citizen. My next step after this is to continue studying the English language so that I may help my kids with their homework, so that I may better feel like a part of society, and so that I may feel surer of myself. Thank you again for the opportunity, God will repay you.”

~ Diana from Mexico