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For those who call Nebraska ‘home,’ we are on the native land of the Pawnee, Omaha, Cheyenne, Oglala, and many others. Native American Heritage Month is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the continuing contributions of Native Americans in our communities and throughout the state of Nebraska. It is an opportunity to read the works of Native authors and poets. Learn more about the land you inhabit and who is indigenous to this land with this interactive map.  Continue reading “‘Nebraska is Home’ means recognizing and celebrating its indigenous past, present, and future”

Nebraska Is Home is excited to introduce a virtual learning and engagement opportunity that will help you progress toward your equity and inclusion goals! We invite you to join us for a training and conversation using powerful tools that you can continue to use in your work. Continue reading “REGISTER TODAY – Training & Conversation on Race Equity Nov 16 & 18”

Nebraska is Home is celebrated in Bridging Divides, Creating Community: Arts, Culture, and Immigration, a new publication highlighting the power that creative placemaking holds in creating an America where everyone can belong and thrive. The report explores how arts and artists, writers, musicians, and performers have long been and may increasingly be partners in helping to achieve community development goals. Continue reading “Nebraska Work with Arts and Immigrants featured in National Report”

 

Cheers to a successful Welcoming Week!

Welcoming Week 2020 helped us find new ways to bring people together across lines of difference to develop greater understanding and mutual support. This year, like no other, with COVID-19 and a divisive political climate, creative Welcomers across the state held Naturalization clinics, voter registration drives and even a drive-through tasting party of local ethnic foods. Continue reading “Photos and videos from your Welcoming Week events”

This blog is written by Nebraska Appleseed summer intern Vivian P. Alvarado.

Haeler Paw, or as she prefers to be called Hae Paw, is originally from a refugee camp in Thailand. She immigrated to the United States in June, 2012. Because Haw Paw already had some siblings living in Nebraska she decided to relocate close to her family.  Hae Paw was welcomed by a social worker with Lutheran Family Services when she arrived at the airport in Nebraska. Not only did the social worker welcome her, she also worked with Hae Paw for months to help facilitate her adaptation to the new culture and language. Continue reading “Celebrating Nebraska Immigrants: From Refugee Camp to Nebraska Nurse”

Welcoming Week is September 12th-20th and we’re ready to help you plan how you’d like to participate! Each year, Welcoming Week is a chance for neighbors — both immigrants and U.S.-born residents — to come together, get to know one another, and celebrate what unites us as a community.

Continue reading “Welcoming Week: Creating Home Together”

In July, Nebraska Is Home partnered with Dakota County’s own Unity in Action and One Siouxland to host a virtual community conversation about race and the system of inequity using the video series, Cracking The Codes. Leaders across many different sectors and backgrounds–educators, librarians, city officials–came together to talk about how race affects us in our daily lives. Members of the community shared their personal stories and experiences in a way that was both vulnerable and powerful.

Olga Guevara, Executive Director of Unity in Action reflected on her experience at the event, noting:

We were truly inspired by Dakota County community leaders’ willingness to become part of the solution, and we are eager to help others have conversations about racial equity with additional groups of friends, family, and coworkers too!

What is Cracking The Codes, you ask? It’s a powerful tool for engaging in community dialogue that is meant to help deepen the local and national conversations on race. It helps groups to examine some of the causes and consequences of racism, and to ask themselves how the system of inequity shows up in their schools, at work, and in their neighborhood.

If you’re interested in hosting a conversation in your community, school, or faith group, let us know. We’d be happy to connect you with this great resource and help you facilitate the discussion. Just reach out to us:

• • Christa at cyoakum@neappleseed.org / 402-890-5662
  • Khenda at kmustafa@neappleseed.org / 402-540-8407