Somali Community Link
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Somali Community Link
IMPROVING LIVES
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Our Mission

To improve the lives of Somali refugees and immigrants in advocacy, education, employment, and housing needs in Central Ohio.

Vision: To build a thriving Somali community in Central Ohio.

The Challenges

Housing presents a special challenge due to large family size, language barriers, and lack of understanding of local housing practices. This results in overcrowding, evictions, complaints about fair housing practices

Our Services

Somali Community Resettlement, Housing Legal Advocacy, Case Management, Employment Assistance,  Youth Initiative in Columbus South Side and West Side.

Funding

Our funding is through donors like you, Caring Community Partners Agencies, and Endowment funds.

Workforce

Somali Community Link Workforce Development Hub is focused on successful inclusion of immigrants and citizens as well into the workforce.

Youth Initiative

We seek to provide youth with positive American values, while retaining their identity, increase their self-determination and confidence.

Case Management

At The Somali Community Link we handle all our cases from end to end with compliance to confidentiality regulations.

Social Integration

We equip Somali refugees  to live with people of different races and beliefs.The SCL  teaches immigrants and especially refugee children the tools they need to integrate into American society. 

Somali Community Link in 2020-2022

Provided rental assistance to

0
families facing evictions.

After school programs, tutoring and mentoring

0
immigrant children across Central Ohio.

We fed more than

0 +
children for breakfast and lunch during the summer.

Financial literacy and facilitated training of small business resources to

0
business owners.

We small business counseling and PPE and supported to

0
Somali businesses

Provided English as a Second Language to

0
individuals

Provide translation and employment

on a daily basis 0

How SCL provides help for people

Case Management

SCL Case managers coordinate with families in need to link to services sought by the person or family. Connections are made to SCL and other nonprofit agency programs.

Youth Initiative

We seek to provide youth with positive American values, while retaining their identity, increase their self-determination and confidence, overcome language, culture and psychological barriers.

Community

(SCL) supports entrepreneurship through partnerships with community organizations that offer assistance to immigrants striving for financial independence and cultural identity.

Social Integration

We equip Somali refugees  to live with people of different races and beliefs.The SCL  teaches immigrants and especially refugee children the tools they need to integrate into American society. 

Summer Youth Employment Program

This yearly program helps teens find jobs through the support of the Central Ohio Workforce Investment Corporation (COWIC) and the Ohio Department of Education.

Background
Somalis In Columbus

An estimated 75,000 Somalis live in Columbus, Ohio and its surroundings. This is their new home. They have moved to Central Ohio from other parts of the U.S.A as well.
 
They choose Columbus Ohio because of Cost of living, index is combined with  low housing cost and job opportunities for entry level workers has made Columbus an attractive economic beacon.

Socially, Somalis find a welcoming atmosphere for their beliefs and cultural diversity they bring to the area.

Local Schools and Universities like Columbus State Community College, Ohio State Universities and many other educational institutions have modified student activities and curriculums to embrace and make Somali presence into the mainstream. This includes creation of student groups and distinct Somali literature into school media and publications.

To aid this effort, we have worked with Somali refugees to enroll in educational institutions to benefit from some of these efforts. The Staff of the Somali Community Link walk them through the process of filing and processing the documentation required for enrollment.

The Banks and many other city and state services have also expanded to serve Somali specific clientele.

Even though relatively new to the Area, many members of the Somali community own businesses. Somali restaurants, shops, and other services. In 2020-2021, We, the Somali Community Link, have helped 805 Somali businesses to get start-up funding of 2M. Also in 2021-2022, we prevented 3500 from eviction and spent 2.8M for rental assistance.

Many of these Somali businesses are housed in Somali shopping malls all over the city especially on the northern side as well as the West Side. The economic impact alone is a big plus for their presence in the city. Somalis provide exotic foods, flavors, fabric, and other items unique to their culture and experience.

Their close communal connections foster business to business support among their enterprises and help their business thrive. The Somali Community Link supports entrepreneurship for Somalis through partnerships with community organizations that help individuals and communities striving for financial independence.

WorkForce

Somali Community Link Workforce Development Hub is focused on successful inclusion of immigrants and citizens as well into the workforce. We work to build an economy where all immigrants have the chance to thrive. Investing in immigrants’ human potential is an investment in our collective future.

Our Workforce Development Program connects immigrants to dignified jobs and employers to skilled workers via collective employer outreach.  Our office’s location serves as a community space where workers gather to build community and organize.

Somali Community Link offers a free workforce development program for new immigrants who are intermediate English learners, facilitated entirely in English.

The program uniquely combines career exploration, job readiness, English learning, and community building in a safe, flexible, and inclusive space.  

Somali Community Links’ Workforce Development will also be a base for collaboration. SCL will offer the Hub as a place together, ideate, and build strategies  to solve some of our city’s most pressing challenges. At Workforce Development Hub, the SCL will set the stage for success. Here, Individuals will ignite their future, and community workforce initiatives will thrive.

SCL also offers access to additional programming and benefits, including group practice and networking sessions. 

Case Management

At The Somali Community Link we handle all our cases from end to end with compliance to confidentiality regulations. We facilitate and coordinate communication between organizations handling Housing, Legal, Education, and Employment to settle thorny issues and broker understanding.

Housing: The Somali Community Link help families’ sign up for housing aid to help struggling families retain their dignity in hard times. Our staff help navigate the housing application process and act as a bridge to the housing support organizations by providing language services and technological assistance to applicants. Many beneficiaries (both Somalis and other Ohioans) owe their success applications due to our interventions.

Volunteers

Volunteers are a vital part of SCL’s strategic plan to help children and families in our area. Every time you volunteer, you will leave knowing that you have helped to provide Connection and Hope for our neighbors in need.If you are interested in volunteering with us please sign the volunteer form and we will get in touch with you.

Legal Assistance

We provide Legal assistance for immigration as well as other areas to allow protections of the rights of our clients. By overcoming language barriers and providing interpretations we are able to allow our clients make informed decisions to lead to better outcomes.

Education

Application to Educational Institutions is not an easy task. With uninformed parents the situations worsens. We bridge the gap and provide information and assistance to achieve this objective. We also provide after school programs as well as English as A Second language training to older clients.

Employment

Language and cultural barriers hinder assimilation into the American Work Force. To overcome that we provide job search techniques, resume writing, proper interview etiquette and basic computer skills, for our patrons to improve the chances of securing a job. We facilitate small business creation by providing resources to funding and documentation and financial literacy. Vocational training, job training seminars and in areas such as business and healthcare, Somalis give back to the community en route to attaining the American dream.

Client Testimony

Meet the Team

Mahdi Taakilo

President/CEO & Publisher

Hindo Salad

Office Manager

Deeq Adde

Director of Housing

Fadoumo Mahamuud

Executive Assistant

Khadija Artan

Social Media Director

Contact Us

We would like to hear from you. Please us the form bellow.