Tea Time: Upcoming inclusion events you won’t want to miss!

How are we in May already? But here we all are, and as the May flowers blossom in all their colorful glory, there are many emerging opportunities around cultivating communities where everyone feels that they belong.

Belonging Begins With Us

Together, we can create communities where everyone feels they belong. Together with Welcoming America’s Belonging Begins With Us campaign, we are thrilled to share local Nebraska stories, beginning with Tut’s story. Tut found and created a sense of belonging in Lincoln, and is now helping others buy their first homes, putting roots down to become vital members of their community.

We will be sharing more stories on our Belonging Begins With Us page, so stay tuned!

Rural Assembly Everywhere!

Rural Assembly Everywhere
May 10 and 11 from 1 to  4 pm CT
Free, Virtual Event

Rural Assembly Everywhere will this year feature Nebraska inclusion leaders Nancy Tellez, City of Crete Community Assistance Director; Valeria Rodriguez, paralegal with Immigrant Legal Services and Co-Founder at Empowering Families:Empoderando Familias in Scottsbluff; and Christa Yoakum, Senior Welcoming Coordinator at Nebraska Appleseed. Join the conversation about successes and challenges of rural community inclusion!

Rural Assembly Everywhere is a virtual festival for rural advocates and the rural-curious, listeners and leaders, neighbors and admirers. Participants will enjoy two days of programming featuring artists and poets, civic leaders, and experts.

Rural Assembly is a nonprofit connecting with people and organizations across the country dedicated to building more opportunity, changing perceptions in service to healing a divided nation, and working toward better policy for rural communities.

Welcoming Interactive

Welcoming Interactive
May 18 to 20, 2022
In-person event in Charlotte, North Carolina

There is still time to register! We hope you’ll join us at the annual Welcoming Interactive. This gathering of people from nonprofits, local governments, and many other sectors highlights successful practices and inspiring stories about immigrant inclusion, programs, policies, and partnerships on economic development, civic participation, government leadership, and more. Attendees learn about local innovations from peer communities and come away with new ideas and energy to foster welcoming places for all.

Welcoming Interactive is hosted by Welcoming America, a nonprofit leading a movement of inclusive communities to become more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs, including immigrants.

Race and Equity Resources

Co-creating a home where everyone belongs, has a voice, and is valued in their fullness requires us to tackle systemic barriers to inclusion and belonging. Here are some tools for that journey of learning and understanding together.

[Early bird discounts available] Racial equity conferences coming up!

We are excited to share three national conferences this year each offering unique collaborative spaces to learn and share with others who, like you, are committed to racial equity, racial justice and working to create communities where everyone feels like they belong. Participants will have access to information, tools, and resources on racial equity, share successful practices and inspiring stories about immigrant inclusion, programs, policies, and partnerships on economic development, civic engagement, government leadership, and more. 

Please do let us know if you have any questions or if you are planning to attend so that we can meet up at the conference!

Welcoming Interactive, May 18-20 in Charlotte, North Carolina (Early Bird Registration discount through March 25, 2022.)
The Welcoming Interactive is an annual conference that highlights successful practices and inspiring stories about immigrant inclusion, programs, policies, and partnerships on economic development, civic engagement, government leadership, and more. Attendees learn about local innovations from peer communities and come away with new ideas and energy to foster welcoming places for all.

Facing Race, November 17-19 in Phoenix, Arizona (Early Bird Registration discount through April 1, 2022.)
Facing Race is for all people who desire to build awareness of racial equity, identify solutions to dismantle systemic racism, and come together with people who share a passion for racial justice. Facing Race welcomes people of all ages, races, ethnicities, occupations, sexual orientations, gender identities, faiths, and political ideologies.Facing Race: A National Conference is presented by Race Forward, a national non-profit working to advance racial justice in our policies, institutions, and culture.

Facing Race is hybrid this year with the full experience of the in-person conference and a hybrid program which includes all plenaries and 20 breakout and interactive sessions. (Let us know if you plan to attend the virtual conference and we will look for an opportunity to connect you with other Nebraskans informally to learn and share more.)

National Immigrant Inclusion Conference, December 11-13, National Harbor, Maryland
A project of the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), the National Immigrant Inclusion Conference (NIIC) is the nation’s largest gathering of the entire sector working on behalf of America’s immigrants and refugees. NIIC celebrates our commitment to an inclusive democracy that welcomes, integrates and uplifts all, recognizing the vital contributions and impact all communities have on our nation. The conference is an inspiring, collegial and intersectional space that showcases the expertise and innovation of a wide range of leaders, organizations, and networks all working on behalf of America’s immigrants and refugees and towards a shared vision of a welcoming democracy.

Watch your inbox for information about Nebraska Is Home’s summer convening series too!

Tea Time: Statewide Book Club + See you next year!

Tea Time with Khenda

The quarterly newsletter where we share Updates & Opportunities for Inclusive Communities

This year has been full of wonderful opportunities and challenges, and I could not be happier to have shared the journey with all of you Welcoming leaders of Nebraska.

You’re invited: Statewide book club!

As you may have heard, we are ending the year with a bang and began a book club, Real Talk on Racism, around, You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism by Nebraska authors, Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar.

You’re invited to join the book club! This is the perfect book to curl up on cold winter nights, or to gift to a friend or family member!

Find out where to get the book locally, register to join a discussion near you, or find out how to host a small book club yourself HERE!

Join us in Meeting the Authors!

Don’t forget to register for our virtual conversation with Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar, moderated by Lincoln City Councilwoman Sändra Washington on January 19, 2022! The discussion starts at 5:30 pm CT and the authors will join at 6 pm CT.

Thank you and see you in 2022!

Thank you for all of your incredible work to build a more inclusive and welcoming Nebraska. We know this work is hard and full of challenges, and this year was no exception. But you persevered with grace, creativity, and strength. We appreciate you!

On behalf of Nebraska Is Home, we wish you all a wonderful holiday break and a happy New Year!

REGISTER NOW: Fostering Belonging Individually and Structurally series

Welcoming communities and places are made possible by people like you! Whether you’re a student, librarian, government worker, or business owner, each of us is empowered to foster more welcoming places at work, in our neighborhoods, and places of gathering where everyone feels like they belong. 

We hope you can join us for The Fostering Belonging Individually and Structurally series starting October 14th, by Welcoming America, which features three videos and accompanying webinars on belonging: what it means, what it looks like, and how we can create belonging as individuals with structural impact.

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Welcoming Week and beyond!

Neighbors all across Nebraska came together this Welcoming Week – virtually as well as physically – to celebrate, learn together, and take strides in creating communities where everybody can belong. 

Nebraskans hosted close to 30 events across more than eight communities, joining the growing movement to create more welcoming communities through intentional actions, practices, and policies. Immigrants, refugees, long-time residents, and community members of all backgrounds found imaginative ways to bring people together across lines of difference to develop greater understanding and mutual support, and to affirm that Belonging Begins With Us!

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Welcoming Week is just around the corner! Let us help you plan!

Now is the time to start planning your Welcoming Week event, and we can help!

Welcoming Week

Welcoming Week is September 10th-19th and we’re ready to help you plan how you want to celebrate your community as a welcoming place!

Each year, Welcoming Week is a chance for neighbors from all backgrounds to come together, get to know one another, and celebrate what unites us as a community.

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Celebrate and recognize the history of Juneteenth

Celebrate and recognize the history of Juneteenth

The impact of recognizing Juneteenth as the federal holiday with the passing of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act cannot be understated. Yet many people don’t know the meaning and significance of Juneteenth

While it took two and a half years for word of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas, it has taken 156 years for Juneteenth to be recognized as historically significant. 

We celebrate Juneteenth and all it means with the knowledge and reality that we have much more work to do. We must seek to know the history and the barriers and structures of racism that carry forward in order to learn from our mistakes as a country and as individuals to do better in the future. This is a day to reflect and to deeply consider the wound of racism. 

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Celebrating Immigrants! June Is Immigrant Heritage Month

Celebrating Immigrants! June Is Immigrant Heritage Month

This is a guest blog post by Zeke Rouse, Appleseed’s Immigrants and Communities Welcoming Intern.

Two Muslim women holding up prints of the “We the People” series.

June is an opportunity to share stories and recognize the impact that different immigrant Nebraskans have in shaping our communities. Storytelling gives us an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of experiences, perspectives, and people that call Nebraska home. 

Since June of 2014, Immigrant Heritage Month has given people across the United States an opportunity to annually explore their own heritage and celebrate the shared diversity that forms the unique story of America.

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Summer 2021 series: Creating Communities of Belonging

Please note: We are currently in the 4th session of the Creating Communities of Belonging series. Join us by registering at the link below!

Join community leaders from across Nebraska who are building inclusive and vibrant communities

This virtual series will provide collaborative sessions, presentations, and networking with Nebraskans who are committed to creating communities where everyone, including immigrant neighbors, feels valued. 

In lieu of an in-person statewide welcoming convening this year, join us for this monthly series of virtual sessions. The series will continue through the summer on the second Friday of each month. All sessions will be virtual and are free.

We are excited to introduce the speakers for the event series!

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