Green Card Voices Exhibit Tells Immigrant Stories
A sizeable crowd of Heathers Manor residents gathered Wednesday night. They were there to listen to a panel of immigrants tell their stories.
The talk was a culmination of a week-long exhibit at Heathers Manor displaying the stories of immigrants who work in the medical and senior care fields. It’s a traveling exhibit put on by Green Card Voices with the help of the Hennepin County Library. The group hopes to personalize immigrants through stories of why they came to the US, and what they’ve done since they got here.
If you don’t have freedom, you got nothing.”
–Yazdan Bakhsh from Afghanistan.
Yazdan Bakhsh is originally from Afghanistan. He came to the States in 1976, escaping war and the systematic mistreatment of his people. He says he wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
“Because freedom,” says Yazdan. “If you don’t have freedom, you got nothing.”
Building empathy is crucial
Green Card Voices founder Tea Rozman Clark, also an immigrant, says now is a particularly good time to have immigration discussions.
“Debate, when it comes to immigration… is becoming quite heated sometimes. But we really believe dialogue and storytelling and building empathy is extremely crucial and important.”
This exhibit and panel program is tailored specifically for senior living facilities. The program not only targets seniors, but also targets teenagers. Senior centers like Heathers Manor say they appreciate the program coming to them, and that immigration issues are relevant to seniors because workers at senior housing are often foreign-born.
“We have 93 residents, average age 92,” says Stacy Reynolds-Ondov of Heathers Manor.”Getting their opinion and their thoughts is very important.”
For information on where you can see an exhibit, check the organizations website, greencardvoices.com.
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