For the last seven years Narbeh Shazarian hopped from job to job. The 23-year-old worked at Subway and Chipotle, was a dispatcher for Allstate, drove for Uber, and most recently, was employed at a smoke shop that was forced to close due to COVID-19. But through the many positions Shazarian held, he felt that something was missing. “I’ve always wanted a job where I can help people,” he said.
Today, Shazarian is one of several migrants and refugees from the IRC in Los Angeles employed by Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), a non-profit organization founded by Sean Penn in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Amidst a global pandemic, CORE has now allocated resources to provide free drive-through testing for COVID-19 at various sites across Los Angeles. Shazarian spends his days at a site in Hansen Dam, demonstrating and administering tests in full PPE under the sun. While this work, he claims, is “not for everyone” and makes his family nervous, Shazarian says he couldn’t be happier.
Shazarian first heard about CORE through his uncle, who said that the IRC Los Angeles had called to inform him about this new employment opportunity. According to Martin Zogg, Executive Director of the IRC Los Angeles, a partnership between CORE and the IRC is a consequence of a larger plan to get refugees and migrants involved in national efforts against COVID-19.
Initially, CORE approached the IRC Los Angeles with opportunities for health supervisor positions for foreign-born health professionals without licensing in the United States. Through the IRC Refugees Rescue Portal, the IRC Los Angeles was able to connect three foreign-born health professionals to CORE. Soon after, CORE returned offering general positions that required no formal medical training -- looking to fill them right away.
“I had 48 hours,” said Rachel Tang, Census Outreach Coordinator of the IRC Los Angeles. Tang was contacted about recruiting for CORE positions on a Sunday evening and spent the next two days vigorously making phone calls alongside a team of about 10 volunteers. According to Tang, she and her volunteers collectively made several hundred phone calls, and out of those calls, were able to get 49 people interested.
As far as Shazarian knows, he is the only worker at Hansen Dam who was referred from the IRC. His peers represent a range of backgrounds, including nursing students, city workers, and former entertainment professionals who found themselves suddenly unemployed. But while Shazarian may be the only migrant working at Hansen Dam, he sees no shortage of people from migrant communities coming to get tested.
“[Migrants] are the ones that are at risk the most,” he said. “I feel great everyday seeing them come and get tested because most of them couldn’t afford the tests if they weren’t free.”
Photo: Isabel Guarco
Free testing is what Shazarian admires most about Los Angeles’ approach to fighting COVID-19, especially compared to that of his home city, Tehran, Iran where one of his family members contracted the virus. “Iran is going through a lot right now,” Shazarian said. “At least people here have a chance.” This sentiment echoes that of Shazarian’s parents, who decided to move from Tehran to Los Angeles in 2006 before their eldest son, Shazarian’s brother, turned old enough for conscription to the Iranian military. As Armenian Christians living in Iran, the family decided to come to Los Angeles where some of their extended family was already living among a thriving Armenian community.
“Iran isn’t a place where you can grow and have a chance to be something,” Shazarian said. “It’s not the land of opportunity. My parents moved here so we could make something out of ourselves, do something great, help people.”
With CORE administering over 1,400 tests in Los Angeles a day, Shazarian is actively helping people, which is his is favorite thing about the job. “I love seeing people’s faces when they drive by and say ‘God bless you, thank you for doing this,’” he said. “It really makes my heart feel better. Just the fact that I can help people makes me happy.”
In the future, once the pandemic subsides, Shazarian says he hopes to continue with CORE or any work that helps people. By facilitating opportunities for migrants and refugees, Shazarian may be proof that the partnership between the IRC and CORE succeeds because benefits come both ways. “Unemployment is so high today and one can only imagine that it’s become even more difficult for refugees to find jobs,” said Tang. “But refugees can bring so much value to the workplace, especially with regards to cultural diversity and language capacity.”
Ultimately, as Zogg said, the foundation of his proposal to involve migrants and refugees in national COVID-19 efforts is to promote survival in all senses.
“While literally millions of people are losing their jobs, we’re actually putting refugees to work,” he said. “We’re building the bridge to ensure that refugees will not just survive the pandemic physically, but survive economically.”
Author: Isabel Guarco