Bhutanese family finds success in Erie, thanks to hard work and Sisters of St. Joseph
Anil Pradhan has two full-time jobs.
He works seven days a week caring for his nephew with special needs as an employee with Golden Home Care, and then works five nights a week at the Plastek Group.
Sleep sometimes seems like a luxury, but Pradhan can't believe his family's good fortune. For the first nine years of their marriage, Anil Pradhan and his wife, Dirpa, lived in a bamboo-and-mud hut at a Nepalese refugee camp.
"Our home was about the size of this (living room)," Anil Pradhan said. "I never thought I would own something like this."
Anil and Dirpa Pradhan, each 34, were born in Bhutan, but their families sought refuge in Nepal when they were 2 years old due to their home country's ethnic and political tensions.
They lived in the camps for 26 years, including the first nine years of their marriage, before they emigrated from Nepal to the United States. They eventually moved to Erie in January 2016 with their daughter, Azmi, who was 9 months old at the time.
"It was so cold," Dirpa Pradhan said of her first impression of Erie. "The snow was up to my hips."
Like many other refugees who arrive in Erie, the Pradhans at first lived in a rental unit near the center of the city.
Anil Pradhan said his first job was working as a cashier at Bello's Market in Millcreek Township's Colony Plaza. Since he didn't have a car or a dependable ride to work, he trekked the 4 miles there and 4 miles back despite the winter weather.
"Sometimes I ran," he said, moving his arms through the air like a sprinter does. "I worked there a week. (The walking) was a bit too much."
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He then found a job as Plastek, where he could ride to work with a family member who had also immigrated to Erie.
How the Pradhans became home owners
In October 2016, the Pradhans joined the waiting list for the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network's Genesis Home Buying Program. They had first learned about the network when they didn't have enough money to buy diapers for their daughter, so they received free ones from the Sisters of St. Joseph.
"An opening for a rental unit became available for them in April 2018," said Colleen Burbules, the network's project manager. "What we do is take $100 of their monthly rent and set it aside for them as a future down payment for a house if they decide to buy one in our service area."
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Anil and Dirpa Pradhan bought their home in September 2020. The 1,536-square-foot, four-bedroom residence was the childhood home of Erie Insurance CEO Tim NeCastro.
The Sisters of St. Joseph purchased the house, 352 W. 17th St., in 2018 and spent two years renovating it for the Genesis program.
"Owning our own home wasn't even a dream we had," Anil Pradhan said.
Eleven houses have been purchased as part of the program, which is funded in part by Highmark Inc. and its subsidiary, United Concordia Dental. UCD recently announced a second $900,000 grant to the Sisters of St. Joseph for certain programs, including the Genesis program.
A life-changing experience
When he isn't working or sleeping, Anil Pradhan and his family — which also includes a 7-year-old son, Aaron — entertain relatives in the back yard by playing Nepali music, dancing and picnicking.
The Pradhans have also put a lot of money into the house.
"We put on a new roof, cut down a big tree and put in new gutters and a new fence," Anil Pradhan said.
Investing thousands of dollars in house projects confirms to Anil Pradhan that his life has changed.
"In Nepal, we didn't have anything," he said. "The only job was labor and we made just 90 rupees, less than a dollar, for the day."
Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNBruce.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Bhutanese refugees find success, thanks to Erie's Sisters of St. Joseph
