Resettlement re-cap: a periodic report from the Cuban Refugee Center, November 1967

              SPONSOR CUBAN REFUGEES
Fulfill Their Faith in Freedom
NOVEMBER 1967
RESETTLEMENT RE-CAP
FOR  ADMINISTRATIVE   USE
A PERIODIC REPORT FROM CUBAN REFUGEE CENTER — FREEDOM TOWER, MIAMI, FLORIDA 3310
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE
SOCIAL AND REHABILITATION SERVICE
U.S. CUBAN REFUGEE PROGRAM JOHN FREDERICK THOMAS, Director, Washington, D. C.
ERROL T. BALLANFONTE, Director of Center HARRY B.  LYFORD,  Editor
REFUGEES IN KANSAS CITY MEET CHALLENGE SUCCESSFULLY
"CUBANS, PROUD OF HERITAGE, CARRY ON THEIR CUSTOMS HEREJ1
That is the headline over a feature story in the Kansas
City, Mo., TIMES.  The writer is Humberto Cruz, of the
Kansas City STAR staff.  Few newspaper stories have covered
so completely and with such commendation the resettlement
of Cuban refugees in cities of the United States.  Mr. Cruz
writes:
"Cheerfully independent, courageous and proud, the Cuban
colony in Kansas City has done well.  Faced with the task
of starting a new life in a new country, nearly 1,600 miles
away from their homes, most of the more than 130 Cuban families in the area have met the challenge successfully.
"A Cuban in Kansas City may be a physician, a dentist,
or a college teacher.  He may be an electrical engineer, a
mechanic, an architect, or even a baseball player.  The
manager of a restaurant and the assistant manager of a
grocery store in the area are Cubans.
A KISS FOR FREE SOIL
Kissing of the ground by arriving Cuban refugees has
been observed in Miami now for eight years.   It is not
a daily occurrence when airlift planes arrive.   But it
does happen. One such happening recently could not have
been better timed.  Several visitors at the airport had
indicated they were unconvinced about the eagerness of
Cuban refugees to reach freedom.   On that day, within
seconds after the plane from Cuba began to discharge
its refugee passengers, two of the Cubans knelt reverently and kissed the soil of the U.S.   The unlookers
who had been skeptical glanced at each other and nodded.
There could have been no more convincing scene.
"There are many Cubans here, but there is not such a
thing as a Cuban ghetto or neighborhood.  Many of the Cuban
families do not even know one another.  'I know of no Cuban
families living next door, or even on the same block,' said
Rev. Patrick Tobin, Cuban Refugee Resettlement Director for the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese
Cubans have gone into the community, and the mutual acceptance has been excellent.'
MOST REFUGEES ROSE RAPIDLY
'The
"But this does not mean that the Cubans have not kept the spirit or the memory of their homeland.  More than
a score of interviews revealed that, for the most part, Cubans are fiercely proud of their heritage, and carry
(See Page 2 For Conclusion)
'WITH GRACE AND DIGNITY1 U.S. OFFERS SOLACE TO THE CUBANS
The Easy Chair column in TIMES OF THE AMERICAS, Washington, D.C, (successor to TIMES OF HAVANA) recalls
that "over a year ago we reported on the shortage of Cuban refugees in U.S. cities.  The column caused comment.
But it was true.  Cities throughout the country found their one Cuban family an asset, with the husband a good
bank teller, a good doctor, or a good teacher.  They wrote the Refugee Center in Miami asking for more refugees.
The shortage was in refugees, not in homes for them...The years have shown how unexpectedly and how effortlessly democracy ran rise to the occasion.  It may not be headlines for your home town paper.  But the grace and
dignity with which this country offered solace to the Cubans is something in which each of us can, indirectly,
take hope and pride."
!M0NEY WELL SPENT1 IS EDITORIAL COMMENT ON COST OF REFUGEE PROGRAM
Editorial in the Troy, N.Y., TIMES RECORD:  "It isn't often the U.S. gets rewarded for humanitarian effort
It happens so seldom that when such effort ends in success it is worth noting...(Cuban refugees) have been assimilated without the social problems one might expect...Doctors among the refugees have helped relieve the
shortage of doctors in this country.  Areas in Miami on their way to becoming blighted have been saved as Cubans launched business ventures and provided employment.  Cubans are bearing their share of the burden of
providing community services for all...The catalogue of benefits from Cuban refugees goes on.  Since the Cuban
Refugee Program was started in 1961 it has cost the U.S. $250,000,000.  The money has been well spent.  It is
seldom we succeed in meeting the demands of humanitarianism, and at the same time confer benefits on the
people and areas involved."
DO THE FALL-WINTER ACTIVITIES OF YOUR ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDE HELPFULNESS TO CUBAN REFUGEES?