Banking on tradition
New refugees encounter numerous complications when they get here, and some of the most vexing can be financial. A refugee's first few years can be riddled with money issues.
"Basically, they are facing the same financial challenges low-income Americans face but with the added challenges of learning the language and the culture," said Molly Short, executive director of Journey's End Refugee Services.
Low-wages and entry-level jobs are a reality. Opening a bank account can be difficult. And without any credit history, qualifying for any loan can be impossible.
Ma Myint, a Burmese native, and other area refugees have turned to traditional financial customs -- ancient collective systems based on shared trust -- to get a few thousand dollars in times of emergencies.
Myint is disabled and on a fixed income. Her financial situation is so fragile, it's susceptible to any kind of emergency. But it recently withstood her husband's death. Myint paid for the funeral with cash, without cutting corners and without a life insurance payout.
"I don't have money, so I don't have money for funeral," said Myint, a 59-year-old Buffalo resident.
So how did a cash-strapped refugee tackle a costly expense that can blindside financially stable Americans?
She benefited from joining a Burmese funeral club, where a $20 annual membership can give a member up to $4,000 if they experience a death. She got $3,645 in August when her husband died of cancer.
"I don't know what I would do without the funeral club," said Myint, who moved here three years ago with her husband after a decade in a Thai refugee camp. "I couldn't pay for my husband's funeral and burial on my own."
Funeral clubs, microloans funded by small communities and susus -- a type of loan circle -- are some of the financial tools local refugees use to supplement their incomes.
It's the way Steve Setro, a Liberian native barely making it paycheck-to-paycheck, bought his first vehicle -- a $5,000 SUV -- in 2004 without financing. And it's the same way Iraqi native Rasha Al Shaban, who is unemployed, recently furnished her living room with a $1,500 sofa set. It's also how entrepreneur Zaw Win purchased two large washing machines this summer for $1,400 for his business.
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Win, a former political prisoner who arrived in Buffalo in 2005, said the loan from WEDI and contributions from family members allowed him to buy the Massachusetts Avenue laundromat. He plans to keep his business going and expand services with future
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