Solomon Paul knows full well what it feels like to be a refugee and to walk into the Welcome Center for the first time.

He was that person, for awhile.

“I relate to refugees in a way my very own children could not,” he said. “When I have people coming through the door of the Welcome Center … I see myself.”

Today, he is the new executive director of the Welcome Center in Austin, the very non-profit organization that was his lifeline when he arrived in Austin in 2005.

“Aaron Stewart was the director then,” said Paul, 36. “He helped us then and I have a huge debt of gratitude. After that, when they needed help here, I volunteered; when they needed an interpreter, I interpreted. And when I applied to be executive director, it was a call for passion I already had.”

Paul’s parents were Sudanese refugees who had fled to Ethiopia, where Paul was born.

Although he was born in the country, Ethiopia does not grant citizenship by birth. It was not until he came to the U.S. that he was able to call himself a citizen of any country.

In 1999, sponsored by the YMCA, he and three of his siblings were entered into a resettlement program that brought them to Houston, Texas.

“Life (in Ethiopia) was gloom enough … to get the opportunity to come to the U.S. was a blessing and a miracle,” he said, reflecting on those past years.

He and his siblings spent a short time with an uncle in Atlanta, Ga., and then traveled to live with a sister who had come earlier and who lived in Portland, Maine. He attended community college in Maine and today is finishing his degree in international relations and public administration at Winona State University. His siblings are today doing well; one is a software engineer, while another is in petroleum engineering.

He relocated to Austin because he had a friend here. But it was not an easy transition.

But people like the late Pat Piper, who served as state senator and state representative from Austin, stepped up to help.

“She put us up in a hotel for a month,” Paul emphasized with a shake of his head. “That is the type of debt I can never repay.”

Paul has four children and four more by adoption; his oldest by adoption is now in college. He finds life busy with the rest of his children whose ages span 8 to 17 years.

He is gratified that they are so well acclimated to the U.S. — which, of course, is the goal of any resettlement, he said.

“We are here (at the Welcome Center) to help newcomers settle into a new country; I’ve done my job if, 10 years later, I am not helping their children with services at the Welcome Center,” he said with a smile.

The center for the past 16 years has provided information, referrals and support for immigrant populations, from information about health care, housing, jobs and education.

The challenges are many these days. Austin has become increasingly diverse and the pressure for services “has increased significantly,” he said. When he first arrived, there were only a few Karen or Burmese immigrants; today, there are many attending school.” He added that many are also from Africa.

He is proud of the work done by his staff of four — Paul and three social workers. All serve as interpreters for different language needs when needed.

“We are the information hub” for services, he said. “We might be sending people to the HRA for housing help; to SEMCAC for help with heating costs; or we might be helping fill out a job application.”

The ability to help can be stretched at times, as more immigrants settle in Austin, attracted to jobs at Hormel and Quality Pork Processors.

“There are days you may find the door locked; that means we are out in the field” as they help the growing segment, he said. He is thankful for the major financial support provided by United Way of Mower County and the Hormel Foundation; churches also provide help and financial resources. The faith community, he said, has always been at the forefront providing for immigrant needs.

Language is always the largest barrier to a newcomer, he noted, so their help is often enlisted for being interpreters. Even then, he said, other interpreters are often hired if no one else in the office can speak the language needed to be understood. To give you an idea of the wealth of languages being spoken: 46 are spoken at Austin High School this year.

“We are always recommending they take ESL (English as a Second Language) classes; once you have the language, all the windows open” to being able to successfully assimilate, he said.

He applauds the work that Austin has done to work to be a welcoming community. He said a lot has changed since his first years.

“It is clear the effort has been made to accomplish this; we need this for stability in our workforce. When I first came, I did not feel as welcome as I do today,” he said. “Today I feel, I am not a newcomer anymore. I feel like I belong.”