Walmart Helps Refugees Pave their Way to Success

Thanks to a generous $25,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation, Hmong American Partnership (HAP) is able to offer driver’s education and training to 75 recently-arrived Hmong and Karen adult refugees.  The grant, awarded through the Walmart Foundation’s State Giving Program, has enabled HAP to partner with a local driving school to provide four hours of classroom instruction and five hours of behind-the-wheel instruction to each of the 75 participants.

Before now, language barriers and limited financial resources prevented many recently-arrived refugees from obtaining a driver’s license. Thanks to the Walmart Foundation, HAP is now able to help refugees overcome these barriers. The ability to drive opens up thousands of new job opportunities because applicants are no longer limited by location or shift hours. Especially given the current state of the economy, it is important for refugee job-seekers to have a driver’s license, so they can apply to all jobs for which they are qualified.

Funding from the Walmart Foundation is helping to ensure that new refugees have equal access to employment opportunities that will help them become independent and eliminate reliance on public assistance. Hmong American Partnership would like to express its deep appreciation to the Walmart Foundation for its strong charitable commitment and for helping some of Minnesota’s most recent refugees develop the skills they need to “live better” in their new community.

The grant to Hmong American Partnership is only one example of Walmart’s strong commitment to the community. From February 1, 2008 through January 31, 2009, Walmart – and its domestic and international foundations – gave more than $423 million in cash and in-kind gifts globally. To learn more, visit www.walmartfoundation.org.