Intercultural Community Center in Dearborn 2022 Report
The mission of Intercultural Community Center in Dearborn (ICCD) is to gather individuals and groups from diverse cultural backgrounds to cultivate strong relationships, share and learn from one another, and work and lead together in education and service projects for the wider community.
ICCD was born during the summer of 2021 from the Partnership in Faith between Christ Church and Mother of the Savior, and from long-standing and new relationships with other groups in the church building and the wider community. The ICCD Task Force (community coalition and board) has grown to include over 30 individuals from more than 20 organizations, and several others have been involved in ICCD action teams and events. The willingness and enthusiasm of these groups and individuals to participate shows their respect and trust in the relationships they find in ICCD. The Christ Church vestry oversees ICCD and appoints the ICCD Facilitation (planning) Team. More than a dozen other Christ Church members volunteer in the ICCD Task Force and action teams.
By early in 2022, the ICCD launched action teams to support community work, including:
- The College Food Security Action Team collaborates with the campus food pantries at University of Michigan Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College to actively respond to student food insecurity. The comprehensive response includes targeted donations of food and gift cards, food preparation training, and healthy living classes (offered by partners in ICCD). Community partners – including Christ Episcopal Church – helped meet these needs. This year’s Stocktober food drive collected the largest number of donations the college pantries had received, including 350 pounds of food and 400 personal care items.
- The Environment Action Team held 12 environmental forums about PFAS contamination at high schools and middle schools and at Christ Church. The forums aimed to build awareness of the lifelong health risks of contaminants such as PFAS, which are prevalent in Arab American neighborhoods near industrial areas in Southeast Dearborn, and to advocate for mitigation of these contaminants.
- The Environment Action Team is also preparing a Salina Schools Outdoor Learning Spaces fundraiser for Spring 2023. Dearborn Public Schools has received a grant to establish a green schoolyard program at Salina Elementary and Intermediate Schools. The ICCD is partnering with the Salina school community to assist in raising awareness throughout the greater Dearborn community about the greenspace initiative at Salina as well as to encourage fundraising for the project.
- The Music Action Team offers monthly year-round diverse musical experiences filled with fellowship and learning. In November and December, these were held at Christ Church with music and conversation by Isis Damill (fiery, mezzo vocals blended with jazzy R&B melodies) and GMAC (rap like a scholar with an expansive vocabulary, a wealth of self-education, and piercing insight into the world around him).
- The Community Engagement Action Team is beginning to extend our community network, relationships and partnerships in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights by identifying diverse and active volunteers and leaders who may be interested in community partnerships to serve educational and social justice needs and by increasing understanding of community opportunities, needs and resources. ICCD needs more volunteers for all of its action teams and events.
Other events ICCD sponsored or co-sponsored during 2022 included:
- The Littlefield Action for Social Justice sponsored an Earth Day Sustainability Swap in April 2022 on the plaza at Christ Church.
- The ICCD supported the Juneteenth weekend long celebration in Dearborn hosted by Homage to Black Excellence (H2BE). Events included a Truth & Reconciliation Forum with the police department, a commemorative prayer breakfast and a parade down Michigan Ave.
- On November 5, 2022, the ICCD hosted an educational forum on Palestine-Israel peace with an expert panel of Muslim, Jew, and Christian presenters leading the discussion. The forum was a hybrid event that was both in-person at Christ Church and online via Zoom. The forum was well-attended and successful in raising awareness and understanding of various issues surrounding this conflict.
As an intercultural community, ICCD is unique in the Episcopal Church and the ELCA-Lutheran Church, and communities of this kind are urgently needed in today’s world. In June 2022, Trinity Wall Street Philanthropies awarded Christ Church a $260,000 three-year startup grant for ICCD. This grant covers website development, creation of new leadership training materials for the development of similar intercultural communities, and salaries for part-time staff (executive director, communications coordinator, development consultant, and, later in 2023, building manager). Kassem Doghman has recently been hired as Communications Coordinator. The ICCD Facilitation Team is presently interviewing website consultants, designers and developers for completion of a new community-focused website with the assistance of the communications coordinator and a Communications and Website Action Team. Work is just beginning on the creation of training materials for leaders developing intercultural communities.
In September, ICCD celebrated its first year anniversary with its first in-person meeting and a well-attended luncheon at Christ Church. A tremendous amount has been accomplished in the first eighteen months and Christ Church has been a primary catalyst, host, facilitator, and contributor! Please continue to participate in ICCD action teams and events whenever you can.
Gratefully submitted,
ICCD Facilitation Team
(Karen Beck, Erin Biggs, Chris Burkhalter, Jim Gettel, Pete Kenney,
The Rev. Terri Pilarski and The Rev. Halim Shukair)