Welcome! In case you’re new here, Tea Time is a quarterly newsletter where we share stories, resources, and events for Welcoming and Inclusive communities across Nebraska. So pour yourself a cup of your favorite tea or coffee, and let’s exchange good news! ☕️
Stronger Together Even Through The Distance
One year ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic first started, we began asking ourselves a couple of questions related to what kind of community we wanted to become coming out of the pandemic. And now, with vaccines becoming more available and our towns and cities gradually reopening, we continue to meditate on these crucial questions.
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- How are we including the whole community in our efforts today?
- In what ways are we thinking about coming together as a community after collectively getting through this?
Tell us what actions (big or small) your community has done to be more inclusive during this past year. Email me! 💌
Celebrating Milestones
Congratulations to Crete 🎉 for becoming a member of Welcoming America and influencing the creation of the new Rural Welcoming Initiative, which engages 10 rural communities in strengthening welcoming through technical assistance and coaching, free Welcoming America membership, and access to ongoing learning opportunities!
Congrats to Lincoln 🎉 for launching MyCity Academy, a program to connect New American leaders with city and county leaders to make decisions together for our community. The Lincoln Commission on Human Rights is heading up MyCity Academy, and you can learn more about it on the new website. This program grew out of inspiration from similar initiatives in Crete and Omaha.
Shout out to the Biden administration for renewing the Task Force for New Americans, building an infrastructure for inclusion.👏🏽 This is a first step in a national commitment to strengthening local welcoming efforts. Read our blog about it HERE.
Journey Towards Belonging
Welcoming America teamed up with the Ad Council to launch Belonging Begins With Us, a wide-reaching campaign focused on building a country and a world where all of us can truly belong, including immigrants and refugees. On BelongingBeginsWithUS.org you’ll find a tapestry of stories from across the country, and actions you can take locally to cultivate a sense of belonging for everyone. ❤️
We’re planning our annual Statewide Convening for Welcomers 🙌🎉 which we are bringing to you virtually this summer! It will include exciting speakers and opportunities to connect with Welcoming leaders from across Nebraska. Stay tuned 👀 for more info that we’ll be sharing in the coming weeks and months!
🎵Our Intern, Zeke Rouse, wrote a blog about the power of music in building community and even created a playlist of Welcoming music for your enjoyment! 🎧 Check it out!
Tools for Welcomers
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- Accountability Principles by Race Forward is a handy tool that our team is using to assess our individual and organizational practices related to racial equity. Try the Individual assessment on page 8!
- Practical ways to support our Asian-American friends, family, and neighbors – In light of increased violent attacks against Asian American and Pacific Islander community members, it is imperative that we stand in solidarity with our neighbors against hate. Click the link above to find out how.
- Also check out our blogs about centering immigrant women this Women’s History Month and making sure we listen to Black members of our community.
- Got a great resource, an upcoming event, or a story that you want to share? Email me! 💌 I want to hear from you!
Thank you for spending part of your day with me. See you next time! – Khenda