CIANA believes that for the safety, security, and future of the United States, we cannot wait for the second and third generations of immigrants to integrate. We must proactively initiate the process immediately upon their entry into the country, by locating them and providing them with services that will ensure their social integration and economic advancement.
CIANA’s model is built on a strength-based, community-specific empowerment approach where services take into account the cultural, linguistic and urban/rural experience of the participants, and are customized to fit the targeted community’s specific needs. Fear of losing their culture, language, and religious traditions encourages newcomers to insulate themselves and resist efforts to integrate into American society. CIANA believes that integration, rather than assimilation, is a more suitable and responsive approach to today’s new immigrants from traditional societies. Rather than expecting immigrants to relinquish their cultural identity to become part of mainstream society, the two-way integration approach encourages immigrants to adopt essential cultural aspects of American society, and the host community to accept and value the newcomers and their cultural heritage.
CIANA’s holistic integration model does not wait for future generations to be fully integrated into American society, but is designed to actively identify new immigrants soon after they arrive in the country, introduce them to American systems and laws, offer them an array of support services, and guide them towards successful social and economic advancement within American society. Through extensive community outreach and education, newcomer families are encouraged to overcome the many barriers they face in their daily lives and to take advantage of the opportunities available to them. They are helped to see social change as a positive path towards family enrichment and increased social and economic opportunities. They are urged to blend the best of their ethnic identity with that of their new country, to enjoy the freedoms and protections that the US offers, and to take pride in their cultural heritage.
approach
CIANA believes that for the safety, security, and future of the United States, we cannot wait for the second and third generations of immigrants to integrate. We must proactively initiate the process immediately upon their entry into the country, by locating them and providing them with services that will ensure their social integration and economic advancement.
CIANA’s model is built on a strength-based, community-specific empowerment approach where services take into account the cultural, linguistic and urban/rural experience of the participants, and are customized to fit the targeted community’s specific needs. Fear of losing their culture, language, and religious traditions encourages newcomers to insulate themselves and resist efforts to integrate into American society. CIANA believes that integration, rather than assimilation, is a more suitable and responsive approach to today’s new immigrants from traditional societies. Rather than expecting immigrants to relinquish their cultural identity to become part of mainstream society, the two-way integration approach encourages immigrants to adopt essential cultural aspects of American society, and the host community to accept and value the newcomers and their cultural heritage.
CIANA’s holistic integration model does not wait for future generations to be fully integrated into American society, but is designed to actively identify new immigrants soon after they arrive in the country, introduce them to American systems and laws, offer them an array of support services, and guide them towards successful social and economic advancement within American society. Through extensive community outreach and education, newcomer families are encouraged to overcome the many barriers they face in their daily lives and to take advantage of the opportunities available to them. They are helped to see social change as a positive path towards family enrichment and increased social and economic opportunities. They are urged to blend the best of their ethnic identity with that of their new country, to enjoy the freedoms and protections that the US offers, and to take pride in their cultural heritage.