Somali Community of Louisville is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that has been formed exclusively for educational, cultural identity, and social purposes. Louisville is home to over ten thousand Somali immigrants, many of whom face language, cultural and religious barriers to success. The organization helps Somalis in Kentucky to obtain the necessary resources, services, information, and skills needed to build productive and self-sufficient lives in a new land. While strengthening the Somali community by promoting mutual assistance, cultural identity, and leadership, SCL fosters the ability of Somali individuals and families to advocate on their behalf and participate constructively in the broader community.
As part of our community-building efforts, we aim in creating a community space where the Somali Community of Louisville of Kentucky area can come together, give space for children to play with each other, share common interests, practices and values crossing geographic boundaries, strengthen social ties rooted in relationships that create and/or maintain an ongoing sense of cohesion; with the realization that a facilitated engagement of social complexities within communities can create an opportunity for a multiplicity of communities to see and learn from each other, co-exist and thrive.
Mentor & Meals
The goal of Mentors & Meals is to enhance academic achievement through mentoring. Mentors
& Meals provides school aged youth with free homework help, hot meals, and structured group
activities designed to enhance academic achievement/and social development.
Youth Leadership Development
Via our youth development programs, young people gain the skills and knowledge to lead civic
engagement, education reform, and community organizing activities. Youth leadership is both
an internal and an external process
While youth development programs meet basic physical, developmental, and social needs, leadership programs seek to position youth as leaders in their community, to take positions of leadership in companies, organizations, and professional associations. Through youth leadership programs, young people gain the skills and knowledge to lead civic engagement, education reform, and community organizing activities. Youth leadership is both an internal and an external process
Importance
Youth leadership programs are important because not only do they channel youth energy in a positive way, but they also it prepares the next generation of leadership in the workforce and in communities. Youth leadership programs provide youth with the skills necessary to guide others, influence opinions and policy, and become as role models for their peers and younger generations
COMPUTER CLASSES
We offer a variety of entry level and intermediate computer classes on topics ranging from basic
computer technical skills,productivity software, and how to navigate social media.
Avenue-Mutual Assistance
Taking computer classes at the community center.
We hold our computer classes in our center. Most of our classes last one hour to ninety minutes. They’re designed to be hands-on and last for one session. Feel free to repeat a class to improve your skills.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Our programs aim to remove barriers to career development and create economic
opportunity by providing assistance with job preparedness training, and assistance with
establishing businesses. SCL opens the door to small business resources – and makes it easy
to get the help you need. If you can’t find the answer to your small business question, contact
us.
job placement/job referrals
In collaboration with local staffing agencies; provide job placement, job referrals, and career
development resources for those seeking stable employment.
Quudi Walaalka/ Feed The Brother (Hot Meals Program)
The overall priority of this program is to facilitate a just, sustainable, and diverse meal program
and network for local Somalis and their families. The program is offered during “three critical
months” for the Somalis Community (April, May, June). These months show an uptick in the
number of Somalis who are challenged by “food insecurity.”/ The program serves 100 families
per week, for 3 months, annually.
Somali Community Mental Health Program
Louisville, in particular, is a place where Somali refugees have made their home in order to escape the violence and unrest of the Somali civil war that began in the early 1990s. Each of these Somali person has her or his own story — some have only recently moved to the U.S. after spending years in refugee camps in places like Kenya,or Ethiopia; about one-third were born here. Some speak English at home, others Speak Somali, some speak both. They share a sense of belonging to the Somali diaspora, as well as the challenge of negotiating complex identities marked by race, religion, and ethnicity. They must regularly navigate the perceptions of who people think they are and who others hope for them to be.1
Identity development is a challenging life stage for any adolescent but it’s uniquely complex for Somali American youth. Somali American youth are either working to meet or to contest other people’s expectations of who they should be and become, which makes it difficult to develop a more fluid, complex and authentic identity — a marker of positive youth development.2
Somali American youth have the challenge of trying to fend off Western perceptions and stereotypes of their identity. For example, in schools, they are often feared as threats. According to a recent student survey, one in three Somali high school students reported harassment because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion.. Somali American youth are also labeled as different and viewed as people who choose to resist mainstream norms – because the girls wear hijabs even when they play sports, because they don’t eat pork, or because they don’t date during adolescence. Somali American youth often find themselves defending or explaining who they are, a process that can isolate them from their peers and confuse their sense of self.Reduce stigma in seeking mental health and wellness services and build awareness mental health resources.
Become a Youtuber
Ages 10+
Summer Youth Program About Becoming a YouTuber is a great way for kids and teens to learn about video production, storytelling, and audience engagement. These programs typically cover topics such as how to create a YouTube channel, how to customize their own channel, how to record and edit videos, how to use video editing software, and how to create engaging content. Some programs may also cover topics such as copyright and fair use, and how to grow your audience. By the end of a YouTuber program, participants will have the skills they need to start their own successful YouTube channel.
CULTURE
We present and sponsor annual Somali Day festival which puts on display Somali cultural music and food. Purpose is to have people who have different cultures than Somalis to understand and gain in-depth knowledge of the Somali culture. Sharing culture, art and history is a great way to build understanding and empathy across cultures.