Tennessee leads the way in cultivating strong communities

Kasar S. Abdullah is being honored as a Champion of Change for working tirelessly to effectively integrate immigrants civically, linguistically, and socially into the fabric of their neighborhoods. 

Since the 1990’s, Nashville has become a new destination for many immigrants and refugees like myself.  As cities and towns experience a demographic shift, some long-time residents have expressed unease and confusion, even fear, resulting in additional obstacles for new arrivals to integrate. In 2006, a group of concerned Tennesseans from different walks of life—business, faith, education, and government—came together for the purpose of intentionally building communities that are more welcoming for new arrivals. The Welcoming Tennessee Initiative is a project run by the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), which is founded on the notion that immigrant integration is a two-way process: as immigrants become more engaged and active citizens, members of receiving communities expand their own sense of identity to make room for their newest neighbors.

I have addressed the unique social conflicts facing our community for many years, and my own story reflects the struggles of many New Americans to integrate. I fled my ancestral home of Kurdistan at the age of six in the wake of Saddam Hussein’s attacks, and spent my childhood in a refugee camp in Turkey. Living in the U.S. as an American Muslim leaves me little choice but to engage others in dialogue about global migration and the rising tensions of religious conflict in my new home. Every day, I am more motivated to find ways for New Americans to fully integrate into the civic life of the broader community, and for receiving community members to better understand why people leave the land of their birth and travel to places like Tennessee.  I gain my strength from my faith, my two amazing little girls, a compassionate husband, and the wonderful Tennesseans who strive to know their neighbors and are eager to build strong, integrated communities.

While immigration is not new to Tennessee, each new arrival brings her own unique immigration story. Through my years of leadership and service with TIRRC, I’ve worked with receiving community members to address issues related to immigration and faith through public dialogues, over shared holiday meals from Thanksgiving to Ramadan to Seder, and sometimes by a discussion over some good iced tea. I personally believe that if the human mind continues to be unengaged and remains in a state of ignorance, ignorance has the potential to lead to fear, and fear too often leads to hate. Once hate infiltrates a society, it paralyzes the mind and heart, resulting in the escalation of unbearable social conflicts and violence, as we have witnessed in cultural and religious clashes in Tennessee from burnings of mosques to deportations of families.

Welcoming Tennessee attempts to redress some of the complex issues faced by immigrants in Tennessee, dealing directly with the tensions between US-born Americans and new Americans of every ethnicity, including, but not limited to, Kurdish, Hispanic, Laotian, Ethiopian, and Somali.  I firmly believe that a vigorous democracy is defined by the participation of its entire citizenry, working collectively with diverse opinions, to affect the processes that impact our everyday lives. In order for this to happen, our communities must prioritize integration, and recognize it as the foundation of a strong community.

Having had to go through the immigration system myself, I understand the obstacles of integration, the struggles of maintaining an identity, and the imperfections of our immigration system. In addition, I understand well the deep gap between refugee resettlement and adjustment. Today, I’m proud that the successful efforts in Tennessee have led to amazing work that is being replicated all over the US. My hope is that one day the United States will take the lead on integration in our diverse global society.

Kasar S. Abdulla, Former Director of Welcoming Tennessee Initiative (a project of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition)

Refugees and Successful Resettlement

Jan Reeves is being honored as a Champion of Change for working tirelessly to effectively integrate immigrants civically, linguistically, and socially into the fabric of their neighborhoods. 

Although I’ve been involved in refugee resettlement in Idaho for more than 28 years, I was already into middle age before I discovered this transforming work. Many of life’s great opportunities appear serendipitously and the key to unlocking doors, invariably, is to recognize them, understand their nature and act on them with gusto. If you’re lucky, an opportunity will arise that captures your heart and invades your bloodstream. This is what happened to me in April 1985, when I responded to a refugee related job posting in Boise.

Refugees coming to the United States have faced the most severe forms of persecution, dehumanizing violence and degradation, and they bring with them little more than memories and hope. I’ve found nothing more rewarding than seeing people who have faced unknowable adversity rise out of their shattered pasts to find a place of safety and to succeed in remaking their lives. And to have a role in fostering this transformation and to be able to witness such valiant human resilience is a gift, indeed.

Although there are many commonalties between refugees and immigrants coming by other means to the U.S., one difference stands out. There is a unique and ongoing tension between the recognized need for the United States to provide global leadership in the protection of refugees world wide—which includes resettlement as an option—and the perceived capacity of local communities to successfully resettle them. “Successful” resettlement means to assure that the opportunities and motivations are in place for refugees to fully integrate into the fabric of American life—not to give up their heritage and identity, but to bring them to the table.

From the beginning, I was fortunate to associate with many colleagues who understood that unless refugees—and, by extension, other immigrant groups—had unrestricted opportunities to fully realize their human potential, the work would be incomplete. I took from this association a passion for working toward the full integration of refugees into our communities, where they would feel a genuine sense of belonging and where they would know that their talents and abilities would be appreciated and put to good use.

In early 2009, another meaningful opportunity came my way. The Mayor of Boise, Dave Bieter, wanted to better understand how the financial crisis and resulting economic upheaval was affecting the rapidly growing refugee population in the area. He was hearing concerns voiced by constituents and community leaders and wanted to be sure the City was doing all it could to weather the storm. The resulting collaboration between the Mayor’s Office and the Idaho Office for Refugees engaged dozens of key stakeholders, interested community members and other partners to produce the City’s first Refugee Community Plan. In the summer of 2010, the plan was completed and we are now into three years of implementation. The Plan aims to strengthen supports for refugee resettlement in the greater Boise area by mapping resources, assessing service needs, and identifying areas where resources for the effective resettlement of refugees can be better utilized, coordinated or expanded. The central message that emerged from this process was that limiting the number of refugees coming into our community is not the answer; being more strategic to ensure that our capacity continues to grow is.  

Being a welcoming community goes well beyond smiles and encouraging words, although these acts of kindness are essential. A true welcome is revealed by the meaningful and myriad opportunities that newcomers find to embrace community, share talents and contribute to the welfare of all.  

Jan Reeves serves as Director of the Idaho Office for Refugees (IOR) based in Boise.

Building an Inclusive Community… One Person at a Time

Fatima Said is being honored as a Champion of Change for working tirelessly to effectively integrate immigrants civically, linguistically, and socially into the fabric of their neighborhoods. 

When we hear the word inclusive, many different thoughts come to mind such as togetherness, respect and tolerance.  What comes to my mind is investment, as in making a conscious effort to invest in the lives of others.  This concept of spreading human kindness and respect plays a key role in my professional and personal life.

As a young woman, I had a good life.  My family and I were happy, healthy and relatively safe in our home in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  This all changed in the early 1990’s when war broke out in our country and we were forced to leave our home.  Fortunately, all of my family members survived and were able to reach safety in other countries.  This was when I became a refugee.  During our first several months in camp, we were fighting to survive, living a day at a time.  After a while, things improved when camp staff began to see the value of investing in us.  We were given space to start a school and this helped us to create a more ‘normal’ life, which instilled in us a hope for the future.

When I arrived in Rochester, MN on December 9, 1993, I was amazed at the generosity and kindness of my new community.  We were greeted at the airport by a group of people, all new to us.  They welcomed us with open arms and invested so much of their time and love into me and my family.  It is absolutely impossible to describe how their kindness helped us; it was so motivating to have friends and supporters when we first arrived.  Their influence encouraged us to work harder to achieve our dreams and give back to the community.

I am thankful when I think of those individuals today and proud that I am once again in the position to invest in others through my role as Executive Director at Project FINE.  We are a small nonprofit organization located in Winona, MN with a huge and powerful mission: to strengthen and enrich our community by facilitating the integration of people who are ethnically diverse.  Each day our staff, board, and community partners are working to build inclusion and invest in the lives of newcomers in our region. 

We do this in many ways – through educational programming, language services, diversity training, partnership building and community involvement.  All of these activities build upon the importance of investing in others and an understanding of the power of goodwill and human kindness.  Immigrants and refugees come to our neighborhoods, communities and nation for many reasons, but we all have hopes and dreams and deserve to be respected and have the opportunity to build a better life.

While not everyone has the same background or opportunity as I do, you can still take part in building an inclusive community.  Start by being open-minded and look for opportunities to interact with others.  Listen to the stories of newcomers in your community and make an effort to get to know them.  We all have different cultures, histories and stories and our personal and collective lives benefit greatly from investing in others.  I encourage you to think about how you can invest in others – together, our efforts help create a stronger, more inclusive community and country.

Fatima Said is Executive Director of Project FINE (Focus on Integrating Newcomers through Education), a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving immigrants and refugees in Winona, MN and the surrounding area.