Thursday, December 1, 2016

Columbus New Americans' community pledges to build trust




The New American Community Impact collaborative, a group of leaders from all nations in central Ohio, has agreed to work together and build bridges among communities to establish trust and a sense of understanding in the wake of the recent tragedy at the Ohio State University.

A statement issued by Laura Berger, Director of Development, Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services (ETSS) at the end of a meeting of leaders in Columbus, Ohio which looked into post-election challenges and the recent event at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio said the “leaders of the New American Community Impact Collaborative condemn acts of violence and express deep concern for the victims” of the Monday, November 28 attack.”

“We pledge to work within our communities to address feelings of isolation, hopelessness and depression; support each other when tragedy exists in one of our communities and work to connect our members to resources and mental health professionals when we suspect a person is overwhelmed with the trauma they experienced.

“Our leaders would encourage student groups at OSU and other campuses to contact us if they are in need of support, resources and guidance,” it said, adding that “we request all community members to report acts of violence, hatred or backlash of any kind to local police or by calling 911.”

Also, the coordinator of MY Project USA, Dorothy Hassan said, “Our youths are giving us messages that there is a problem and we are not listening. What happened on OSU’s campus is not the problem of one particular religion.  We do not need interfaith circles on this one. We need a bunch of humans to get together and commit to teaching our young humans how to deal rationally with their emotions, successes, failures and struggles.”

The Executive Director of ETSS, Dr Seleshi Ayalew Asfaw reassured that central Ohio is a “welcoming, a diverse and inclusive community.”

He added that the new American collaborative “is committed in building stronger relationships among all nationalities in central Ohio.”



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