November 20, 2020
The Arab-American Family Support Center is proud to celebrate our very own Farah Salam, who was honored with the United Neighborhood Houses (UNH) 2020 Civic Advocacy award!
As a settlement house, AAFSC is a member of United Neighborhood Houses (UNH), a network of over 40 settlement houses across New York State. Settlement houses are defined as neighborhood-based social organizations that provide services designed to identify and reinforce the strengths of individuals, families, and communities.
The UNH Civic Advocacy Award recognizes and celebrates one exceptional settlement house staff member who has demonstrated significant commitment to and accomplishment in the area of civic advocacy and engagement through outstanding contributions to their community.
Watch Farah’s acceptance speech at UNH’s virtual Annual Benefit below:
As AAFSC’s Community Health and Well-Being Coordinator, Farah supports AAFSC through her work around various wellness initiatives, including health insurance enrollment, SNAP enrollment, mental health programming, COVID-19 community support, and emergency funding applications.
Over the past year, Farah has gone above and beyond putting our mission of empowering immigrants and refugees to action. She has led AAFSC’s Public Charge Information Sessions internally and externally in Kensington, Bay Ridge, and Staten Island to ensure the Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) community members are informed about the ongoing changes to this immigration policy, how it impacts immigrant communities, and how they can receive support from AAFSC. Farah also supported 2020 Census outreach efforts, pledge collection, and led in multiple community events, connecting with hundreds of Bangladeshi community members and educating them about the importance of getting counted. Furthermore, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Farah has been instrumental in the creation of comprehensive NYC COVID-19 Resource Guides that are offered in Arabic, Bangla, English, and Urdu. Not only did Farah support in developing the contends of this guide, but she translated this resource to Bangla and led outreach efforts across the city to ensure as many New Yorkers had access to it as possible.
We are so proud of Farah, and look forward to seeing her continue making an impact on vulnerable communities across New York City!
