This Year, We Celebrate Resilience, Diversity, and International Food!
“Over the past seventeen years, but especially the past five months, the staff at US Together has been resilient and inspiring. Even in hard times, we have continued to provide our essential services. From helping newly resettled refugees secure food to providing intensive case management for victims of trauma, our staff has been resilient, kind, giving. From ensuring vulnerable clients get to their medical appointments to assisting driven, hardworking refugees in landing a job, our staff has been resilient, driven, relentless. I have seen, day in and day out, how much our staff cares. No virus could ever stop them.”
- Nadia Kasvin, Co-Founder and Director of US Together during the
46th International Taste of Columbus, August 27, 2020.
2020 was a challenging year, but here at US Together we found new ways to help refugees and immigrants across Ohio. We have been able to continue providing our essential services to clients, prioritizing the health and wellbeing of the families we serve and adapting some of our programming to be virtual. We have also been assisting the refugees and immigrants we serve with adapting to a new reality of work routine, health screenings and digital schooling. Knowing that over 750,000 Ohio residents speak a language other than English at home, US Together has further taken the lead in translating and distributing critical public health information to the community.
Employment Coordinator Mukti meets with a client outdoors in full PPE to provide employment, housing, and health assistance.
Case manager Uma distributes information in the community about preventing domestic violence, along with distributing hand sanitizer and masks.
All of these efforts would have not been possible without the continued support of the community. We sincerely thank our generous donors and dedicated volunteers for their time, resources, and kind hearts. We are so grateful for every volunteer who took the time to send us a video testimonial and spread the word about our agency: they are the true ambassadors of our mission.
This year, in appreciation for those who choose the gift of giving back, we are sending our very own 2021 US Together calendar to anyone who donates $100 or more to our fundraising campaigns!
This 13-month, 8.5” x 11” calendar is special to us because it features 13 family recipes from the households of our team members across offices:
Columbus’ Office HR Coordinator and Office Manager Jocelyn Greene shares how her family prepares Shanghai Lumpia - a beloved dish from the Philippines, traditionally eaten for special events and holidays.
Corine Dehabey, Director of US Together-Toledo, has long been known for her culinary skills and Middle Eastern specialties. Corine provides her recipe for Maldum, a Syrian dish of spiced minced meat patties and vegetables.
Evan Chwalek, US Together’s Economic Integration Coordinator in Cleveland, inspires us to cook his Vegetarian Gołąbki, or a unique version of the famous Polish stuffed cabbage.
The calendar features ten more family recipes from all over the globe, such as Chicken Satay from Indonesia, Stuffed Zucchini from Lebanon, and Norwegian Meatballs with Gravy. To make this present even more special, we also marked some dates that are meaningful to us, including International Women’s Day, Juneteenth, World Refugee Day, and Indigenous Peoples' Day.
As food brings US TOGETHER, we hope you enjoy this shared journey across cultures and cuisines! We wish a healthy, fruitful, and happy 2021 to all of our partners and supporters!