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Refugee Spotlight
Delivering the Right Tools to Refugees:
A Profile of Reza Odabaee
Reza Odabaee shares a journey similar to many of his refugee clients. In the early 1980s, Odabaee moved from his native country of Iran to Europe with his two teenage sons. While abroad, Odabaee met many young teens whose parents had been unable to leave Iran, and he began helping them with school registration, health issues, housing and career planning. Often filling in as a "surrogate father," Odabaee remembers many midnight phone calls from distant parents asking him to help their children who were stranded, homeless or sleeping in train stations.
After resettling in San Jose, California, in 1988, it was only natural that Odabaee's career eventually led him to the refugee field. In 1992, he applied for a Matching Grant job developer opening at Catholic Charities and has been with the agency ever since. Over the years, Odabaee has held several positions within the organization. In his current capacity as program director for resettlement and employment, Odabaee trains new staff members and gives each one the same advice, "Whatever you want for yourself, you have to want something better for your clients."
Through both his personal and professional experiences, Odabaee has seen how this mindset can really make a difference in someone else's life. For example, two years ago a young woman from Afghanistan with limited formal schooling or work experience enrolled in Catholic Charities' customer service and cashier training program. Immediately following the three-month training, the client's employment specialist helped her secure a job at Fry's Electronics. Two years later, she is a store manager. In his words, "If you give [refugees] the right tools, they really move fast."
For 14 years, Odabaee has been delivering the right tools to hundreds of refugees in the San Jose area, just as he did for the young men in Europe. Although challenging at times, Odabaee acknowledges that, "when you see people grow and come back to help others, that makes all the work worth it."
Contact Odabaee via email reza@ccsj.org |
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Reza Odabaee,
Program Director for
Resettlement and Employment,
Catholic Charitites San Jose.
OTHER REFUGEE SPOTLIGHTS
An Iraqi Physician's Story
Reza Odabaee — Catholic Charities
Ibrahim Balah — World Relief
Timothy Tran — Cardone Industries |
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