Transcript

We are also pleased to welcome this

morning Nadia Cosman, Guadalupe

Velasquez and Kim Ench from the Franklin

County Welcoming Advisory Council. They

are joining us today. Ladies, if you

want, they are joining us today in

recognition of uh World Refugee Day

which is observed annually on June 20th.

Uh and we will share more about the

importance of this observation uh and

the contributions of refugees and

immigrant communities throughout

Franklin County.

Good morning. Uh, good morning boys,

commissioners of Grady, Commissioner

Crawley, County staff, community

partners, and guests. My name is Nadia

Kasin, and I have the privilege of

serving as chair of the Franken County

Welcoming Advisory Council. I am also

the co-founder and co-director of US

Together, organization that has

supported refugees and immigrants in a

high for more than 20 years. On behalf

of the welcome advisory council, I would

like to thank the Franken County Board

of Commissioners for recognizing World

Refugee Day and for adopting this

resolution. World Refugee Day observed

each year on June 20th honors the

courage, resilience, and contributions

of people who have been forced to flee

their homes because of war, persecution,

or violence. It is also an opportunity

for communities like ours to reflect on

what it means to welcome.

This recognition is deeply personal to

me. 32 years ago, I arrived in the

United States as a refugee from Ukra

Ukraine. Like so many refugees, I came

with hope, but also with uncertainty. I

had to learn a new language, navigate a

new culture, and rebuild my life far

from family and everything familiar.

What made the journey possible were

people who welcomed me. People who

opened doors, offered guidance, and

helped me believe that I belonged.

Today I have the honor of working

alongside many former refugees and

immigrants who now dedicate their lives

to helping others across Franken County.

Refugees are business owners, health

care professionals, educators, skilled

workers, community leaders, taxpayers,

neighbors, and friends. They strengthen

our economy, enrich our culture, and

contribute to the vitality of our

communities every day.

Franken County has long demonstrated

that welcoming is more than a value. It

is a commitment. Through the welcome

plan and the work of the welcoming

advisory council, we have taken steps

toward ensuring that all residents have

opportunities to participate,

contribute, and thrive.

At a time when the world faces record

levels of displacement, local leadership

matters. Welcoming begins in our

communities. It begins in schools,

workplaces, neighborhoods, libraries,

faith communities, city and county

government. It begins when we choose to

see newcomers not for what they have

lost but for what they bring. Across

Franken County, future business owners,

health care professionals, educators,

community leaders, and innovators

already among us. They are raising

families, starting businesses, serving

their neighborhoods, and helping shape

the future of our county. When we invest

in belonging and opportunity, our entire

community benefits for many refugee

families in our community. This year's

World Refugee Day comes during a time of

uncertainty.

That makes the message of welcome,

belonging, and community even more

important. As we recognize World Refugee

Day, let us celebrate the resilience of

those who have sought safety and

opportunity, honor the organizations and

volunteers who support them, and

reaffirm our comm commitment to building

a county where everyone has the chance

to belong and succeed.

Thank you again for this resolution, for

your leadership, and for your continued

commitment.

Please.

>> Thank you, President Orady, uh,

Commissioner Cwley, and our valued

guest, uh, Miss Cosman. One, I want to

just thank you. You've been, uh,

certainly a pioneer, uh, that represents

what's possible when we come together.

When we started off with what was

originally the New Americans Advisory

Council, um our position then was to

facilitate a conversation on how we

could be a better Franklin County,

welcoming people from different parts of

the world, different walks of life,

etc., etc. And um what you and all of

our partners, our value partners in this

conversation have become uh have been

much more than that. Advisors to this

county in a way that puts us in position

to do the very best that we can to

provide a quality of life uh for

everyone who resides within our

boundaries. uh and that means everything

from educational access um employment

opportunities, housing, um access, etc.,

etc. And I want you to know and be

encouraged even though we are in an even

tighter and tougher political time than

we were when we started this

conversation that uh your work is seen

uh and valued and uh and will continue

to embrace the concept that central Ohio

is a big tent and there's room for

everybody. And the hope is that the

people who are under under that tent

find a place to contribute to the

quality of life for us all. And that's

that's really what it means to be a part

of the county. And so as a person um

along with Commissioner Grady who who um

came up with the concept if you will uh

for this conversation this this entity

um I'm really proud of the work you've

done. Um the one thing I want to

encourage you to do, we used to have the

annual um

>> forum

>> forums. Yeah. Yeah. And I really liked

that because it gave others in the

opportunity a chance to be a part of the

conversation and to understand the

different uh or the diversity that is

represented in the ecosystem that is

quality of life here in Columbus and so

in central Ohio. So I just want to

encourage that again encourage continue

the annual reports. uh we got to find

ways to distribute that information more

so that people are informed with real

information and real facts because

sometimes the political environment that

comes out can distort real information

and real facts in in central Ohio we

want to live in the space of reality the

space of information and so um I'm real

grateful for all of you you all are

partners in in many ways a pleasure to

know and you all do different things um

with this work and so I just want to

encourage encourage that and and and

hope that uh this is something we're

building on and not and not just living

in. So, thank you.

>> Thank you,

>> Nadia. Uh Guadalupe, um Kim, thanks for

thanks thank to all of you for being

here today. Uh thanks for the work that

you've been doing. Um appreciate the

work that that my colleagues have been

doing as well. Uh we started this, you

know, for a reason years ago. Um, you

know, uh, everybody, everybody in the

audience, all of us, you know, we're

we're we're the products of immigrants.

Um, you know, my family came here 110

years ago. Um, uh, and and 110 years

later, um, as I've said to the different

Don't worry about it.

>> Adriana, you turned out the lights.

>> You can turn You can turn them back now

for all I care. I like it better when

it's a little darker.

>> Um, you know, 110 years later, as I've

said to many different immigrant groups

around the county, 110 years later, I'm

uh my, you know, I'm the I'm the

grandson of an immigrant and I'm sitting

in, you know, as the as a as as a county

commissioner in the largest county in

the state of Ohio. Um, you know, my

grandfather spoke with a very thick

Irish brogue at at a time in this

country much different than it is today,

but at a time in this country when the

signs and all the windows said no Irish

need apply. Um and and so um you know,

we're going through, as Commissioner

Boyce said, we're going through some

rough times right now. Uh immigrants are

having a rough time these days. Uh which

which makes it that much more important

that we continue to do the work that

we're doing and that you guys are doing

and that we're trying, you know, that we

hope to help and continue to help you

guys do. So, thank you for being here

today and and thank you for helping us

celebrate. Uh for those of you uh you

young folks in the in the audience that

are here, you young state champions that

are in the audience maybe for the first

time and for coaches that may be in the

audience for the first time. I should

have announced before you they before

they came up anybody came up. Pay

attention to what they're doing because

you'll be asked to do the same thing

here shortly uh that you come up. You're

going to have to say a few words. Then

we're going to come and take a picture

with these guys with a resolution. So uh

you know use use them as your example of

of how to do it. By the way, the uh

podium there's buttons up there. You can

push it to go up or down. If you're

particularly tall uh athlete, then you

might want to ra or coach uh coach

Batty, you might want to raise the be

the the podium. If you're particularly a

dimminionative uh athlete, you might

want to lower the podium. Uh but but

these guys, you know, Nadia has been

here before, uh so she knows the the

drill, but you know, you know, pay

attention to so uh so you know how to do

it. Commissioner Crowley.

>> Yeah. Thank you, President Orady. Um,

thank you Nadia and team for being here

um to recognize World Refugee Day. Thank

you for all that you continue to do in

our community. Um, our for our refugees,

our immigrants, our uh community is

better because of the diversity um that

immigrants and refugees bring. Uh we

know that as people continue to come uh

to Franklin County, a lot of them um are

immigrants and refugees. And um you know

I I know DCA Withers um has continued to

work with um an organization that uh

supports youth and they I forget what's

the name of the organization that um

they have like a capstone at the end of

the year. They learn about um refugees,

immigrants, and they, you know, share

their perspective. But what's the name

of the organization?

>> Greater um Columbus World Affairs.

>> World Affairs. Yeah. Um, and so we

continue to get our youth engaged in um,

you know, what it means to come from a

different uh, background and bring all

of your cultural perspectives and how

that just shapes a more um, diverse um,

uh, community and one that sees

everybody's humanity um, and kindness.

So um, I appreciate you and all that you

all do and your respective

organizations. Franklin County is better

because of you. So thank you.