Spring 2009 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
 The Afghan Coalition greets you with a spring newsletter. Thank you for your interest in our programs. In this issue:
New sports program for Afghan children & youth
The Afghan Coalition welcomes a new member project to promote access to sports, healthy lifestyle choices and leadership for children and youth, with an emphasis on low income immigrant youth who would not otherwise have such opportunities. We have discovered that soccer is one of the best ways to bring parents and youth together to have fun and learn about each other. Over 50 children and youth are involved and their parents are looking forward to more activities for their children. Read More
Kaiser Permanente hosts recent Afghan Health Leadership Consortium meeting
One of the Afghan Coalition’s goals is to improve the health and well-being of immigrant communities in Southern Alameda County. To make this goal a reality, for the past two years we have coordinated community resources through the “Health Leadership Consortium,” a project of our Afghan Health Partnership Program. Facilitated by Dr. Valerie Smith, this consortium brings together healthcare professionals, ethnic organization representatives and community advocates. In the last year, the Consortium held three major meetings in June 2008, October 2008 and February 2009. In a recent meeting in February, 30 participants gathered to hear about Kaiser Permanente’s efforts to provide culturally competent care to our local diverse communities, including the Afghan population. Read More
Save the Date! Our next Health Consortium meeting will be held on Friday, April 24.
We are grateful to The California Endowment for their support of this program.
Local Afghan women build new skills through jewelry making program
The Jewelry Making Program began in spring 2007 with the support of a seed grant from Wells Fargo to teach refugee and other immigrant women entrepreneurial skills with the objective of increasing self-sufficiency in a supportive environment. The program is an extension of the Afghan Coalition’s ongoing programs for women - safe arenas where women learn new skills, receive health education and provide mutual social support while working on jewelry making and other craft projects. Many participants come to the program with experience in beading and jewelry making from their time spent in Pakistan’s refugee camps. The Afghan Coalition’s vision is to develop the program so that participants can later become peer trainers who empower other members of the community. We are also seeking support to build our referral and resource network for women entrepreneurs.
Strategic planning process underway
As grantee of The California Wellness Foundation, the Afghan Coalition qualified for a technical support grant for organization development services from the Center for Civic Partnerships. This program is helping the Afghan Coalition to connect with other grassroots organizations across the state and learn new ways to develop sustainably. Building on this work, the Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) also awarded the Afghan Coalition with a grant for a strategic planning project. Together the two awards are helping us work with experts to assess our organization's effectiveness and areas for program development. The project will engage community stakeholders and the Afghan Coalition Board of Directors to develop a new strategic plan. We look forward to presenting our new strategic plan to the community later this year.
Thank you for your support!
Our program accomplishments are your accomplishments. Our successes are made possible with the generous support
of our community network, volunteers, partnering agencies and funders. Thank you for your kindness.
www.afghancoalition.org
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