Far from home, a Kenyan should never stand alone.
Ushirika Iowa is a Kenyan member society. We began by making sure no family faces the cost of a funeral by itself — and we are growing into the other places our community carries weight quietly: our young people, our minds, and our first hard years in this country.
What we do
The bereavement fund is where Ushirika Iowa started and it remains our binding commitment. The rest grew out of what members kept telling each other at meetings — that the hardest parts of this life are rarely the ones anyone talks about.
Members contribute monthly into a benevolent fund. When a member or a listed family member dies, the fund pays out quickly, so a grieving household is not opening a fundraiser in the same week it is planning a burial.
Our children are growing up between two countries — Kenyan at home, American everywhere else. We pair them with adults who have walked that line: help with school and college applications, first jobs and career advice, and honest conversation about identity, expectations, and the pressure of being the one who made it.
Open to the children of members and to young Kenyans across Iowa.
Grief, isolation, the weight of sending money home, the long silence men in particular are taught to keep. We do not provide therapy. What we do is name these things out loud, run peer support alongside our meetings, and connect members to licensed, culturally-aware care that understands what an immigrant carries.
If you or someone you love is in crisis, call or text 988 at any hour. It is free and confidential.
The first year is the hardest and the most expensive to get wrong. Members who have done it help newer arrivals with the practical maze: documents and paperwork, housing, a driver's licence, enrolling children in school, credit and banking, finding work — and surviving the first Iowa winter.
Offered to Kenyan newcomers whether or not they join the fund.
The fund
Membership in the bereavement fund is a commitment with real obligations. Here is exactly how it runs — nothing hidden in the small print.
You complete the application, pay the one-time $50 registration fee, and submit the family members you want covered. That list can only change later for a birth, a legal adoption, or a marriage.
New members contribute for six months before benefits begin. You can pay the balance in full to become current, but the waiting period still runs. It protects everyone already in — including you, later.
Contribution amounts are set by a vote of the membership, not by any officer. Funds sit in a Ushirika Iowa bank account with three signatories; no withdrawal happens without two of them.
The Secretary works with the family or their named contact. Once the claim is verified, payment is made within 48 hours, less any arrears owed. Nobody has to ask anybody for anything.
Within two weeks, every member except the bereaved household pays their prorated share to refill the fund. This is the part that makes it work — the fund is never empty when the next call comes.
Who can join
Mentorship, mental health and settlement support are offered to Kenyans across Iowa. The bereavement fund is different: it is a closed society, where what members put in is what members draw on. To join the fund you must be Kenyan by origin or identity, live in Iowa (or be an active member who has moved away), and keep your contributions current.
Members are always free to give privately toward a loss outside these rules. The fund itself does not.
Questions
No. Those programmes are open to Kenyans across Iowa. The bereavement fund is the part that requires membership and monthly contributions, because it pays out of what members have pooled.
No. Ushirika Iowa is a closed benevolent member society governed by its own constitution and run by unpaid officials elected from the membership. It does not sell policies and is not available to the public.
The members. Four officials — Chairperson, Secretary, Record Keeper and Treasurer — are elected by majority vote and serve without pay. Members can remove an official by majority vote and can dissolve the society by a two-thirds vote. Funds sit in an account with three signatories, two of whom must approve any withdrawal.
You can stay. An active member who relocates outside Iowa remains eligible as long as contributions stay current.
At least once a year. The Annual General Meeting is held on the first Saturday of November and is conducted virtually unless members agree otherwise. Decisions made with a quorum bind every member, present or not.
Late contributions carry a fee, and continued non-payment after two consecutive late periods can end your membership. If you are behind when a claim is paid to you, what you owe is deducted from the payment. If you leave voluntarily or are removed, 60% of your contributions is returned, less arrears and fines; the $50 registration fee is never refunded.
Community resources
Ushirika Iowa cannot provide medical, legal or financial services. What we can do is make sure nobody in our community is searching alone. These are free or low-cost services open to anyone in Iowa. Please confirm hours and eligibility before you travel — details change.
Free and confidential, 24 hours a day, for anyone in emotional distress — not only for suicide. You can call or text.
For when it is not a crisis but you need to talk to somebody. Answered around the clock. You do not have to be at breaking point to call.
Free, answered 24/7, and connects you to thousands of local programmes — food, housing, utilities, healthcare, childcare. Interpretation available in around 150 languages. If you remember one number on this page, remember this one.
For anything life-threatening — chest pain, difficulty breathing, serious bleeding, stroke symptoms — call 911 and go immediately. Never delay over cost. Hospitals must treat emergencies regardless of ability to pay, and you can apply for financial assistance afterwards.
The largest network of free clinics in the state — more than 30 member clinics, urban and rural, staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses, at no cost to patients. General illness, minor injuries, well-child exams, immunisations, physicals, TB testing, blood pressure and glucose checks, chronic disease management, and dental or mental health at some sites. Most take no appointment.
Free medical care when you are sick or injured and it is not an emergency. Walk in — no appointment, no insurance needed, no charge. Also free eye exams and free or low-cost prescriptions.
947 14th Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids
Mon 8:00–13:00 · Tue–Fri 8:00–10:30 · closed weekends
(319) 363-0416 ·
communityhfc.org
Therapy, psychiatric care, addiction counselling and crisis services in one place. Same Day Access means you can walk in without an appointment for a first assessment. They take Medicaid, Medicare and most insurance, apply a sliding fee scale, and help uninsured people get covered.
615 Fifth Street SE, Cedar Rapids
Walk-in: Mon–Wed 8:30–14:30 · Thu–Fri 8:30–10:30
(319) 398-3562 — crisis line, same number, 24/7
A free clinic run by University of Iowa students and supervising providers, travelling to a different location most weekends — Iowa City, Coralville, West Liberty, Columbus Junction and elsewhere. Check the schedule before travelling; the location changes every week.
SNAP food assistance and WIC through Iowa HHS. Food pantries need no immigration status and usually no paperwork. Winter heating help runs through local community action agencies — apply early, funds are limited.
Iowa Legal Aid gives free civil legal help — housing, benefits, family law, debt. The University of Iowa Immigration Clinic assists with status adjustment, asylum and VAWA petitions. Never pay a “notario” for immigration advice — in the United States they are not lawyers and cannot represent you.
The Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services helps people arriving under humanitarian protection apply for benefits and connect to community resources. Lutheran Services in Iowa, USCRI and Catholic Charities all resettle and support newly arrived families.
IowaWORKS offers free job search help and training funding. Community colleges run free or low-cost English classes, high-school equivalency and citizenship preparation. VITA prepares tax returns free for households under an income limit, January to April.
Contributions & donations
Ushirika Iowa accepts Zelle. It is free, it arrives in minutes, and it works between almost any two US banks — Zelle now lives inside your own bank's app rather than a separate one.
Monthly contributions, replenishments after a claim, registration fees and fines are all paid by Zelle. Contact an official for the current deposit details before you send anything — we do not publish the account details on this page, and we will never message you asking you to send money to a different address.
Email info@ushirikaiowa.com or speak to any official. Always include your name and what the payment is for, so the Treasurer can record it correctly.
We are always glad to receive donations. They go toward the community programmes — mentorship for our young people, help for newly arrived families, and support for households going through a hard season.
Please note: donations to Ushirika Iowa are not tax deductible. Ushirika Iowa is exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, and donors cannot deduct contributions under section 170(c)(2). We would rather tell you plainly than have you discover it at tax time.
Get in touch
Tell us who you are and what you are looking for. An official will reply — with the membership application and a copy of the constitution if you want the fund, or simply with a conversation if you need something else.
You can also write to us directly at info@ushirikaiowa.com.