Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1982: The Refugee Program of Clovis Inc. had opened its doors to about 450 Laotian refugees who lived in Clovis.
Four employees had been hired to operate the agency, which received a $54,311 contract from the state Behavioral Services Division to help refugees learn to speak and write English and find jobs.
Dale Owens was director of the agency. Rev. Hoyt Welch, former pastor of Clovis’ Sandia Baptist Church, was chairman of the non-profit agency’s board of trustees.
The program planned “to offer to the people of Clovis interpreters for any meetings they have with the refugee people. Doctors, merchants, police will have access to an interpreter as a free service,” Welch told the Clovis News-Journal.
Welch had been working with the Laotian community for more than a year through Sandia Baptist. He approached city officials for funding, but was rejected, before securing a contract with the federal government.
The Refugee Program was located at 1305 Thornton St.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact:
