More than 100 bikes for foreign students
Every summer Rehoboth Beach and the Cape Region are flooded with young international students, 1,500 in Rehoboth Beach alone, who come to study and work in the United States.
The International Student Outreach Program (ISOP), a nonprofit organization made up of volunteers from local churches and state and federal government agencies, attempts to help foreign students adjust to life here in the United States.
Hugh Leahey of the Delaware Community Foundation said most students already have housing worked out, however, others “don’t know whether to turn right or left.” For these students, the ISOP tries to build on its existing network of volunteers to link students with Realtors, hotels and fellow countrymen to help find housing.
At a Monday, March 10 meeting, ISOP members discussed ideas to help students without housing find a place to stay for the first and second night. The first idea was to create a hostel for students until they could find a place of their own. While this idea might be ideal, Leahey said, it was beyond the organization’s resources.
The second and most practical idea, Leahey said, was to reserve blocks of hotel rooms, especially during weekdays, where students could stay for the first night or two.
Outreach volunteers will once again be greeting buses of international students upon their arrival in the Cape Region. Greeters will pass out an information packet that includes welcoming materials, maps and lists of Realtors and hotels in the area. The information packet comes in six languages: Russian, Bulgarian, Polish, Turkish, English and Lithuanian. Leahey said students are required to be able to read, write and speak English, although many only have a basic understanding of the language.
Gareth Tonnessen, who acts as a greeter in addition to being assistant pastor in discipleship ministries at New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Rehoboth, said networking with fellow countrymen was the best way for international students to find housing. He said last year, New Covenant rented two houses for student use, but ended up losing around $12,000 to $13,000 on them because the church charged only $15 a night. This year, Tonnessen said that housing would not be available. A big problem, he said, was the cost of security deposits on apartments, as well as the rent.
Tonnessen said volunteers within his church have stepped up and offered housing to students but he acknowledged there is always a shortage. He said the outreach program would continue to work with Realtors and hotels to help find housing for students.
To help meet the transportation needs of students, the program will distribute more than 100 bikes. Roger Roy, executive director of the Transportation Management Authority, said his organization was working with Delaware Department of Transportation to have serial numbers on the bikes so they can be identified. Leahey said ISOP was not trying to get in the way of retailers but was merely trying to provide an alternative for students who can’t afford to pay for a new bike.
source: capegazette.com
