It was a beautiful day in Foster Park filled with music, dancing, and plenty of food (and candy!) for all in attendance. This global celebration recognizes the courage and resiliency of refugees. It is truly one of our favorite days of the year at Amani.

"This year the UNHCR named the theme for World Refugee Day as “Hope Away from Home”. Each day, through our clinical programs and Welcoming Fort Wayne initiative, I see how Amani and our community work so hard to create a welcoming community for refugees who make Allen County their home. We truly witness the hope of so many refugees as they begin their lives here." - Melissa Grossman, COO  

We want to share a special thank you to our friends at Kroger for providing awesome goody bags for participants, the talented Amaneceres de Mexico from Renaissance Pointe YMCA for dancing, WELT 95.7 FM - Fort Wayne Community Radio for playing fantastic music, Vanessa Lobaton for sharing her beautiful story and leading Zumba and Angel Campos Photography for capturing it all so beautifully! Thank you to our friends at International House for joining in the fun! And a BIG thank you to our Amani staff and volunteers for making this day happen!

On Monday morning, June 26th, Amani Family Services in partnership with Greater Fort Wayne Inc. and Downtown Fort Wayne, hosted the Gateways for Growth: Call to Action meeting. Together we are exploring ways to remove barriers that limit the contributions and advancement of all immigrants in our community. Fort Wayne is one of ten communities across the nation selected to participate in the 2023 Gateways for Growth (G4G) cohort to gather critical data needed to create a more welcoming, engaging, and equitable community.

The G4G grant provides a competitive opportunity for localities to receive research support and technical assistance from the American Immigration Council and Welcoming America to improve immigrant inclusion in their communities. This work will involve a community survey, focus groups, and work by key leaders to develop a 3–5-year Strategic Immigrant Integration and Inclusion Plan.

Please join us by taking the community survey and supporting the creation of a transformational community strategic plan.

surveymonkey.com/r/FortWayneGateway

Join us at the Three Rivers Festival's International Village 2023!

International Village is a two-day celebration of the many different cultures and heritages that are part of the Fort Wayne community! Stop by International Village in the Freiman Square parking lot on the last weekend of the Three Rivers Festival to experience the food, art, dance, culture, and traditions of those who have made Fort Wayne their home.