| PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release September 14, 2022 For media inquiries, contact: Ricardo Diaz, CU Immigration Forum 217-979-0255 | xpenn.diaz@gmail.com
Congratulations to the 2022 Recipients of the Immigrant Welcome Awards!
The 9th Annual Immigrant Welcome Awards Saturday, September 17, 2022 from 11 AM Urbana Free Library, Lewis Auditorium 210 W Green Street, Urbana 61801
(Urbana/Champaign, Illinois) The CU Immigration Forum as sponsor of the 9th Annual Immigrant Welcome Awards is proud to announce the recipients of this year’s awards. The 2022 Immigrant Welcome Award recipients are:
• Business Leadership Award – Flex-N-Gate • Community Impact Award – Champaign County Board and the –New American Welcome Center • Immigrant Leadership Award – Mateo Sebastián • Student Leadership Award –Ishita Dharap • The Claire Szoke Distinguished Service Award – Gloria Yen
All award recipients will be honored during the Immigrant Welcome Awards Ceremony and Celebration on Saturday, September 17, 2022. The celebration starts at 11AM and will be held at the ground floor of the Urbana Free Library (210 W. Green St. Urbana). The public is invited to attend this free event and to celebrate the diversity of cultures that make up Champaign-Urbana. The event includes food, music, children’s library is adjacent, special guests, and features Middle Eastern Music by the Mirage Ensemble (Hadi Meidani, Parisa Karimi, Shafagh Hadinezhad, and Roya Attarian). A free reception sponsored by the cities and Immigration Services of Champaign Urbana will immediately follow on the first floor of the Library.
The CU Immigration Forum’s Steering and the Planning Committee recognize that each nominee and recipient serve beyond a requirement and as a sign of their love to fellow human beings. Please join us to celebrate their accomplishments and the amazing diversity of cultures in our wonderful and welcoming community.
The Immigrant Welcome Awards Ceremony and Celebration is sponsored by C-U Immigration Forum, generously supported by the Cities of Champaign and Urbana and The Urbana Free Library, and co-sponsored by ISCU, University YMCA New American Welcome Center, and the Urbana Arts and Culture Program. The 9th Annual Immigrant Welcome Awards Ceremony and Celebration is part of 2022 Welcoming Week, a national week of events that brings together immigrants and U.S. born residents in a spirit of better understanding and unity. The Champaign-Urbana Immigration Forum is a group of immigrants, students, clergy, service providers, labor union representatives, residents and community organizations concerned about the progress and plight of immigrants in the Champaign County community (Central Illinois).
About the 2022 Award Recipients:
Business Leadership Award - A business that contributes to the local immigrant community through advocacy, donations or in-kind services and/or a locally owned immigrant owned business that has contributed to the local economic development of CU 2022 Winner: Flex-N-Gate | Anastacia Floyd, Human Resources Manager
Flex-N-Gate, founded in 1956, has been owned and led by Shahid Khan, himself an immigrant from Pakistan, since 1980. Flex-N-Gate is a manufacturer of bumpers and other automotive parts. The company not only hires immigrants, it makes English classes available via Parkland College at the plant. It also makes accommodations for Muslim employees to do their prayers during their work shifts. This past year Champaign-Urbana has received many Afghans after the U.S. exit from Afghanistan. Flex-N-Gate has hired many of them to work in such jobs as welding and assembly line work. They receive training for their jobs, in their language, and are able to earn an income. Many local Congolese immigrants also work for the company. Anastasia Lloyd, human resources manager at Flex-N-Gate Guardian West, has been instrumental in hiring and working with the immigrant employees. When transportation to and from Flex-N-Gate has been an issue, she has coordinated some of the Congolese employees, in the country longer, to provide rides for the new Afghan employees. Lloyd has worked with the Refugee Center to enable the Afghans to be able to apply for jobs and adjust to American work culture and expectations. Flex-N-Gate’s willingness to work with non-English speaking immigrants and enable them to navigate a completely new world, is commendable.
Community Impact Award - A community-based organization, non-profit, public sector institution, or local government which demonstrates exceptional commitment to serving and advocating for local immigrants in our community. The nominee may also be considered for adopting specific policies or initiatives in response to the growing immigrant population.
2022 Winners: New American Welcome Center & Champaign County Board (two winners) New American Welcome Center
The New American Welcome Center (NAWC) is part of the University YMCA. It began in 2017 to welcome immigrants and to serve as an umbrella organization for the other organizations working with immigrants. A report showing the economic contributions of immigrants in Champaign County, was published, bridging the larger community to its immigrant communities. Gloria Yen was hired as Director of the NAWC, developing a talented staff that created the NAWC into what it is today, an organization which enhances the way our community welcomes and integrates our immigrant communities into the larger C-U community, engaging students in the process. Practically, NAWC created a legal clinic staffed by Department of Justice trained staff. Also offered are citizenship classes; an online resources center; COVID-19 information in multiple languages; the NAWC Immigrant Relief Fund; and the helpline La Línea. NAWC's Jes DesVries organizes the annual Immigrant Welcome Week and a monthly Community Coalition meeting, which has resulted in greater cooperation, collaboration and communication between local immigrant-service organizations. 2021 was the launch of the Champaign County Welcoming Plan which involved many community players coming together to create a plan of both visionary and practical welcome in our community. The leadership of the NAWC and the trust that they have won from community players deserve a strong commendation.
In the work of serving immigrants, it’s not often that a county board is involved. The Champaign County Board deserves a commendation for listening to the needs of immigrants and working with the immigrant support organizations to eventually grant them $250,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds (with potentially more to come in 2023) to serve Champaign County immigrants in the areas of language access and mental health. It was a multi-organization effort that started on July 19, 2021 when the Champaign County Board’s Finance Committee of the Whole, led by Stephanie Fortado agreed to a study session so that board members could learn about the needs of immigrants in Champaign County. They listened to representatives of the New American Welcome Center, the Pixan Konob’ Q’anjob’al Interpreters Collective, The Refugee Center, The Urbana School District’s Parent Liaison for Spanish-speaking families, Immigration Services of Champaign-Urbana and the first hand testimony from representatives of the Afghan, Congolese, Guatemalan communities and a Ugandan speaking for English-speaking African immigrants. A joint grant proposal was written resulting in an ARPA grant from the county board to address language access and mental health needs of immigrants. Those needs are now being actively addressed.
Immigrant Leadership Award: An immigrant individual who has been a strong leader of the immigrant community.
2022 Winner: Mateo Sebastián
Mateo Sebastián is the Q’anjob’al-Spanish Parent Liaison for the Champaign School District, but he is so much more. As one of the few tri-lingual speakers of the Mayan Q’anjob’al language in Champaign County, he is much in demand as a translator. He is a leader in the Guatemalan community in C-U. He is instrumental in the Pixan Konob’ community-based language justice and interpreters collective. He puts together a Q'anjob'al-language radio show that airs every Monday at 6-7 pm on radio station WRFU FM. He helps with translation in the courts. He helps kids know how to catch the right bus to and from school. He helps transport adult learners of English and their kids to the Parent & Family Language Lab at Stratton School. He is on staff at Immigration Services of Champaign-Urbana. He's testified before the Champaign County Board on the needs of Guatemalan immigrants in Champaign County. "He is a wonderful, caring, smart guy very much tuned to the needs of his community. I have seen him grow and push himself to advance to new stages in his professional life knowing that it will benefit his community,” said UIUC assistant clinical professor Korinta Maldonado who has worked with Mateo in Pixan Konob.'
Student Leadership Award - A student who has shown promise as a leader or demonstrated commitment to serving or working with immigrants or refugees, locally or abroad
2022 Winner: Ishita Dharap, Education Coordinator at Krannert Museum | Doctoral Student, School of Art + Design Ishita Dharap is a doctoral student in art education in the School of Art + Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and works full-time as the Education Coordinator at Krannert Art Museum. From India, she is an artist, designer and art educator and an immigrant. In 2020 she received a Master’s in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2021 she designed a virtual tour “This is My America” to explore themes of immigration and migration in America, her contribution to Welcoming Week through Krannert Art Museum. The interactive exhibit featured immigrant artists exploring what it means to be at home. This year “Long-Distance Love” is her choice for a virtual tour for Welcoming Week 2022, reflecting immigrants with loved ones in other countries. She works with a variety of ages and has had both solo and collaborative exhibits in India, Chicago and Champaign-Urbana. Philosophically, she likes to use a variety of programs to engage students, including art, imagination, play, research, reflection, literacy, bicycles, etc. to communicate about migration, discrimination, racism, to educate, tell stories and to bring about social transformation and create connections throughout the world. (194 words)
The Claire Szoke Distinguished Service Award: An individual who has contributed to immigrants over the years in Champaign County. This award is named after Claire Szoke who is resting in peace since 2020. For over 40 years, Claire Szoke was on the front lines of nearly every social justice fight in our community. She was been an important part of the movement for immigrant and refugee rights - from her work in the 1980s with the Sanctuary Movement to her key role as director of the Channing Murray Foundation and host of the first meetings of what would become the CU Immigration Forum. This award acknowledges her lifetime of contributions to help create a more just world.
2022 Winner: Gloria Yen, Executive Director, New American Welcome Center
Gloria Yen, the daughter of immigrants, has been the director of the New American Welcome Center since May 2017. With her extraordinary people skills, she has developed an extremely capable and talented staff that has shaped the NAWC into what it is today. She maintains a clear vision of how NAWC might enhance and increase the way our community truly welcomes and integrates our immigrant communities into the larger Champaign-Urbana community. She made key community connections and led the NAWC through the creation and development of the Champaign County Welcoming Plan, realized in September 2021, setting a roadmap for long-term goals and strategies. She established new programs such as immigration legal services (for which she, herself trained to be a DOJ legal services provider,) citizenship initiatives, and an Immigrant Emergency Fund, and inspired her staff to create or expand others (Welcoming Week, Community Coalition, an online information resource center, COVID information in a variety of languages and the helpline La Línea.) She is not one to seek the limelight, but her vision, intelligence, leadership and skills of bringing people together, including the various immigrant service organizations, as well as her kindness and compassion in doing so, deserve the spotlight. (199 words)
Additional Media Contacts: Ricardo Diaz – CU Immigration Forum – 217-979-0255 Lauren Chambers – Urbana Free Library – 217-367-4405 Follow the event on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/events/574689060932467 |
Immigrant Advocacy in Champaign County, IL We coordinate activities highlighting the contributions and needs of the foreign born.
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Monday, September 6, 2021
2021 Welcome Awards announce winners
For Immediate Release
September 6, 2021
For media inquiries, contact:
Ricardo Diaz, (217-979-0255 xpenn.diaz@gmail.com), CU Immigration Forum board member
Rachel Joy (217-403-8830 rachel.joy@champaignil.gov), Welcome Awards Committee
Monday, September 14, 2020
2020 Immigrant Welcome Awards
Press Release
For Immediate Release
September 14, 2020
For media inquiries, contact:
Ricardo Diaz, (217-979-0255 diazr@cuimmigrationforum.org)
Rachel Joy (217-403-8830 rachel.joy@champaignil.gov)
Monday, September 18, 2017
Congratulations to the 2017 Recipients of the Immigrant Welcome Awards
Congratulations to the 2017 Recipients of the Immigrant Welcome Awards! Join us for the ceremony an celebration this Saturday |
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| As co-sponsors of the 4th Annual Immigrant Welcome Award Ceremony, the Cities of Champaign and Urbana, the CU Immigration Forum, the Muslim American Society of Urbana-Champaign, and the Urbana Free Library are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 Immigrant Welcome Awards. This year's award recipients are Nancy M. Ramirez Blancas, Charles Larenas, Samuel Smith, Karyl Wackerlin, The Education Justice Project (EJP), and the Immigration Project. The Immigrant Welcome Awards Selection Committee congratulates this year's award recipients and thanks them for their dedicated work enriching the lives of those not only living in Champaign-Urbana, but around the world. The public is encouraged to celebrate their achievements during the Immigrant Welcome Award Ceremony and Celebration on Saturday, September 23. This event includes free activities for children and refreshments. The 4th Annual Immigrant Welcome Awards Saturday, September 23, 2017 from 2pm-4pm Muslim American Society Center 2011 Brownfield Rd, Urbana The 4th Annual Immigrant Welcome Awards Ceremony and Celebration is part of 2017 Welcoming Week, a national week of events that brings together immigrants and U.S. born residents in a spirit of better understanding and unity. Program of Activities: Reception We Are More Than One Story Performance Capoeira Angola Center of Mestre João Grande-Illinois Welcoming Remarks Reading of the Welcoming Week Joint Proclamation Deborah Feinen, Mayor of Champaign Recognition of Partners Recognition of Welcome Award Recipients Student leadership Community impact Acknowledgement of the Champaign International Connection City Human Rights award Community Impact Humanitarian Relief Distinguished Leadership Service The 2017 Recipients of the 4th Annual Immigrant Welcome Awards: Student Leadership Award Nancy M. Ramirez Blancas Nancy Ramirez Blancas has been in the forefront of student testimony and activism around issues such as the Access act and support for DACA students like herself. She effectively recruited people into La Casa Cultural Latina's trainings on how to be an ally for undocumented students at the University of Illinois and continues to be a firm and fearless voice for this cause, for herself and others. She has been consistently active not ONLY in behalf of undocumented students but also in her own disciplinary organizations. Nancy has a deep commitment to using her knowledge to help others who find themselves in situations like her own. Her activism and testimony is fearless, even while she remains uncertain of the educational she has striven so hard to secure. Humanitarian Relief Award Samuel Smith Sam Smith is recoginzed for leading the projects efforts to build a clean water well in the Koyagbema community of Kenama, Sierra Leone near a school operated by the Sierra Leone YMCA. A simple investment in these wells can unlock the potential of every student by helping them stay healthy and freeing them to remain in classes other than leaving classes to fetch water. Sam helped coordinate the securing of funding by building a partnership between the University Y,MCA, Urbana Rotary, Sierra Leone YMCA, Akelos, and the Freetown Rotary in Sierra Leone. Sam's hard work in coordinating all of this the past two years resulted in the construction of the clean water well this past summer. He was fortunate to travel to Sierra Leone this summer for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Distinguished Leadership Service Award Charles Larenas For the last 11 years Charles Larenas has been directing the Summer Migrant Education Program in Champaign County. Parkland College has been hosting the program for the last 9 years. This summer of 2017 Charles just finished his 22nd year with the Illinois State Migrant Education Program which provides high-quality and comprehensive educational programs for migrant children. Charles began his first Migrant Education Program with six employees who served about 60 students in 5 different cities. This year, the program had 86 employees and served over 250 students/families, while recruiting close to 350. Through this program he has been providing unique experiences to local youth. Every year he hires local Latino college students to work at the program and provides the encouragement, and the empowerment these students need to participate. He is truly developing leaders. Community Impact Award The Education Justice Project (EJP) EJP is a college-in-prison program. In recent years, EJP has reached out to family members of incarcerated people, providing a monthly forum for them to support one another while writing letters to loved ones in prison. Recognizing the similarities between incarceration and deportation, they extended letter writing sessions, known as the Ripple Effect, to include those facing immigration threats including undocumented U of I students, undocumented local families, and newly resettled refugees. An additonal service that EJP provides is to assist students who get deported to Mexico through developing a deportee reentry guide. The guide is to assist people who are sent back to Mexico in orienting themselves and learning about services available to them in that country. EJP is recognized for addressing the increasing threats facing immigrants today under the new administration of the United States. Community Impact Award Immigration Project The Immigration Project (IP) is a nonprofit organization providing immigration legal assistance to the 100,000 immigrants residing in Central and Southern Illinois. It provides access to quality legal services in Central and Southern Illinois. Due to the complexity of immigration law, quality legal services is essential to keeping families united, building strong communities, and protecting victims of crime. Immigration attorneys and immigration specialists travel to meet with clients in seven regional locations. Without these programs, low-income immigrants in the region would struggle to obtain access to professional immigration assistance. Staff is committed to helping immigrants, knowing that immigrants are members of our community, and that helping all members of a community strengthens the entire community. Human Rights Award Karyl Wackerlin Karyl a professional photographer now uses her camera to find and spread joy across the globe during mission trips. As part of That's What She Said Project, Karyl created and organized She Said: Soul Journey mission trips to God's Littlest Angels (GLA) orphanage in Haiti. Through this program, she has inspired women in the Champaign-Urbana community to experience this life-changing trip. Karyl has also worked on documenting the caregivers' stories both through written word and film and has hired translators while in Haiti to work with her on this project. Karyl's dedicated efforts have resulted in millions of dollars being donated to GLA over the past four years. The project has also introduced women from our community to Haiti and to foster in them the same love for the people and country that Karyl has, creating a connection and bond between CU and Kenscoff, Haiti. Follow the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/277601329389639/ | |
Welcome Awards 2026, Thirteenth Edition Nominate Now
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