The nonprofit’s founder says his own experiences as a refugee and New Mainer have shaped the organization’s mission of supporting immigrants through mental health services, youth programming and more.
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Abdullahi Ali is the founder and CEO of Gateway Community Services, a nonprofit organization with offices in Portland, Biddeford, Lewiston and Augusta dedicated to supporting immigrants and refugees through services from mental health to youth programming.
Mainebiz: What is the mission of Gateway Community Services?
Abdullahi Ali: Gateway Community Services was founded to help improve the lives of all people in Maine, especially New Mainers. Beyond that, we have a deep commitment to helping all people struggling with trauma or other emotional distress gain independence in their communities so that they can achieve their potential and find increased peace and happiness.
MB: How did your own experience as a refugee in Kenya, and later as a New Mainer, inform the creation of Gateway Community Services?
AA: My experience as a refugee played a big role in my decision to create Gateway Community Services. Growing up in a refugee camp, I depended on humanitarian assistance and support from international organizations that provided us food, water, health care, education and other basic needs. In the camps, I later became involved in those organizations — I worked with them delivering conflict resolution, peacemaking and self-sufficiency programs.
Later when I came to the United States, getting support from social services organizations as I adjusted to being a New Mainer helped me understand my journey and my life experience, and how support from other people helped shape me and was critical to my progress. All of that prepared me to approach things in the way that I have. I saw the need for mental health services and other support in the community, and I asked, “How can I respond to this? What is my role as an individual, and what can I do about the need?”
MB: Can you share any examples where Gateway Community Services has made a difference in the life of an immigrant or refugee family?
AA: There are clients who were afraid to leave their apartments years ago, who now join us at community events and proudly share that they have become citizens, while others have been homeless and are now comfortably living in their own apartment. Still other clients make small but life-changing gains in counseling, understanding that they are resilient survivors and not victims.
MB: What do you see as the biggest barriers for immigrants getting mental health services, and how do you help them overcome those challenges?
AA: One huge barrier is a lack of funding for mental health support. Another barrier is that so many clients come from countries where mental health was heavily stigmatized. We work to ease people into the idea of mental health by talking about it in terms of the stress of everyday life and using universal terms for feelings, like “being worried” instead of “having anxiety,” or “feeling sad” instead of “having depression.”
MB: Given Gateway’s presence in Portland, Biddeford, Lewiston and Augusta, how do immigrant needs differ in each of these communities?
AA: We have observed a higher concentration of asylum-seeking clients in and around the Portland and Biddeford locations, and a greater number of homeless families. In Augusta, there are fewer other social service agencies, so we might have to work harder to link clients to resources than we would in Portland or Lewiston.
MB: How has the pandemic affected your budget and fundraising?
AA: We had to shift our priorities, but we got more in terms of fundraising during COVID than we had before. Some of what we needed to do with our budget was to change our programming, such as going from in-person to online. In some cases, we used the budget towards more COVID-related goals.
MB: What are your goals or priorities for 2021?
AA: (1) Continued sustainable agency growth; (2) Fundraising and supporting efforts to provide mental health services for asylum seekers and those who are otherwise ineligible for MaineCare; and (3) Creating training opportunities for certifications and other experience or credentials, so that people can be ready for employment, particularly supporting individuals from the communities we serve.
