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A Special #GivingTuesday to Yemen
Crowdfunding is an Interesting Universe There’s a crowdfund for almost anything today. You can raise funds to make cherry pie in the actual shape of pi 3.14. A need for a single tooth can be answered by a group of well meaning stranger. There’s also the possible good fortune of having sculptures of bacon created, if desired. No matter how you name it, crowdfunding has changed the way we view and contribute to fundraisers forever. But something special happened in 2018 on this past #GivingTuesday, an annual campaign for people to donate to various causes mostly boosted on social media. An outpouring of compassion rained in across platforms like Facebook,…
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IRUSA-Funded Project Seeks To Tackle Mental Illness, Issues Impacting Muslim Youth
One issue that seems to get little public attention in Muslim circles is mental illness. It’s one of those inconvenient subjects that’s considered taboo or one that doesn’t merit close scrutiny. However, as the Family Youth Institute (FYI), a research organization based in Canton, Michigan, showed recently, more attention is exactly what’s needed. Like other issues, mental illness is alive and, unfortunately, well within the Muslim community. That became obvious during FYI’s presentation on Oct. 19 to Center D.C., a Muslim social group that meets regularly at the Thurgood Marshall community center on 12th Street NW. Madiha Tahseen, a researcher and community educator with FYI, moderated a presentation called Mental Health…
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The HIAS I know
IRUSA’s Christina Tobias-Nahi recently returned from a trip to Lesvos, Greece. She reflected with ReliefLab on her experience partnering with HIAS. This October, I had the pleasure of spending a week traveling with some of the amazing HIAS staff and a board member to visit a partnership project we are working on in Lesvos, Greece. Shortly after I returned from this wonderful experience, HIAS became the target of hateful social media rants from the shooter responsible for the Pittsburg synagogue tragedy. It was clear to me that he did not—could not—know the true HIAS that I spent days alongside serving vulnerable refugees. In light of all of this, I would…
