MELISSA BLOCK, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
We are reporting this year on social entrepreneurs: business-minded people taking on some of the planets toughest challenges - hunger, refugees, climate change.
Well, today we have a story from Fargo, North Dakota, where NPRs Jennifer Ludden finds social change in the unlikeliest of places.
(Soundbite of music)
Unidentified Man #1: (Singing) Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...
JENNIFER LUDDEN: At Riverview Place retirement community, a few dozen seniors tap toes and nibble cake. This monthly celebration is something of a counter to the regular funerals here.
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Unidentified Man #1: (Singing) Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...
LUDDEN: The average age of residents is 80. Marketing director Bonnie Peters has long considered this an asset worth tapping into.
Ms. BONNIE PETERS (Marketing Director): Lots of knowledge, lots of experience, a wealth of information that they could share. And so I always had this dream of coming up with something that would connect them with a population that they could mentor or serve or help.
LUDDEN: At first, Peters thought that population could be at-risk teens. Then, one day a decade ago, it became clear. Refugees from Bosnia and northern Iraq had begun arriving in Fargo by the hundreds. They needed lots of help. Peters felt she had just the answer.
She got funding for a nonprofit she called Giving + Learning, and started matching up retirees with refugees.
Ms. HELEN GLAWE: Well, it was a new experience. We really didn't know what we were getting into.
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Ms. CAROL BROOKS: I had mentored people from Africa, China - Bosnia, too.
LUDDEN: Helen Glawe, age 98, and Carol Brooks, 72, sit in Riverview's library, Glawe leaning on her walker. Like many here, neither has traveled outside the U.S. Glawe's a former teacher. But the two had to improvise when they were challenged with helping an elderly Bosnian couple learn English.
Ms. GLAWE: When we first met them, we were at a coffee shop. I talked about the cup and the saucer, cookies. Well, that was the only thing, you know, that you could make them realize what it was all about.
LUDDEN: Glawe says they had a good time together, and some deep bonds have formed over the years. Carol Brooks wears a thick, gold bracelet of charms engraved with the names and birthdates of those she's helped - Santiago, Andrei, Hussam. She says a lot of them call her Mom.
Ms. BROOKS: In fact, when Mohammed's wife was having a baby, I was in the birthing room at Meritcare. And I told these white nurses, I am Mohammed's mother. And they looked at me kind of funny.
LUDDEN: From tiny beginnings, Giving + Learning has filled a gap in this fast-changing Great Plains town. Though its budget is miniscule and its staff bare-bones, over the past decade, 550 mentors have helped more than 800 refugee families.
Volunteer coordinator Rachel Mertz says she focuses on young mothers stuck at home, and others often left isolated and frustrated.
Ms. RACHEL MERTZ (Volunteer Coordinator, Giving + Learning): Just having that one-on-one interaction with somebody, it's more than just learning English. It's having a friend. It's having that one connection with somebody in the community, and that's invaluable.
LUDDEN: Over the years, refugees have continued to come from Somalia, Sudan, Bhutan and other places. The demand for help soon outstripped the supply of willing residents at the retirement center. So Mertz reached out to civic groups and local universities. Now, students can get credit for being mentors.
Mr. CLIFF TUTTLE: Mahawa? Go on in.
LUDDEN: Volunteer Cliff Tuttle ushers us into the condo of Mahawa Jusu. She fled civil war in Liberia, arriving in Fargo in 2006. What she most wants is to learn to drive.
In her rural village, Jusu says women were not allowed behind the wheel. So for three years, she's waited for buses, enduring Fargo's frigid temperatures, and making a long journey out of what would be a short drive.
Ms. MAHAWA JUSU: If I have to go to my working place, I have to spend one hour, 45 minutes. I have to change three buses.
LUDDEN: When a friend finally took Jusu to the Department of Motor Vehicles, she was utterly unprepared. First, she learned there was a test. Then she was told to take it on computer number seven.
Ms. JUSU: I don't even know how to use the computer. That was my first time.
LUDDEN: After flunking twice, Jusu was put in touch with Cliff Tuttle. He's a retired businessman who's found a calling helping dozens of refugees. He drew a diagram of the DMV computer for Jusu to study, and grilled her relentlessly until she finally got her learner's permit.
Mr. TUTTLE: OK, got your seat belt on?
LUDDEN: Tuttle's now helping Jusu learn to drive. We pull out, and she slowly maneuvers winding residential streets, eyes straight ahead, hands tight on the wheel.
Mr. TUTTLE: Don't cut the corner; don't cut the corner. That's good.
LUDDEN: While volunteers help these refugees, there's a flip side to this program: a healthy dose of self-interest. Fargo is an aging community, and Giving + Learning has helped supply something it desperately needs - certified nursing assistants.
Ms. ZUHRA VUKOMANOVIC: Hello, hello, how are you?
LUDDEN: Zuhra Vukomanovic fled Bosnia's war, and was among the first wave of refugees in Fargo. A resident at Riverview retirement community helped her study for her CNA certification and now, Vukomanovic works right here at Riverview.
Ms. VUKOMANOVIC: You need something? How I help you?
Unidentified Woman: Well, you will have to help me get dressed.
LUDDEN: Vukomanovic says she loves her job. And for an organization that's done so much for her, she welcomes this chance for payback.
Jennifer Ludden, NPR News.