The organizations will host workshops titled “Understanding us: A cross-cultural conversation” with a session for nonprofits, one for community members and a final one that will bring everyone together. Raphael Allen, Springfield Foundation director of community outreach, said that the series was created due to the current climate in the area.
They were originally scheduled for early October.
“We created this workshop to kind of help bridge the gap as far as calls for understanding laws or verbiage or whatever the case may be. It may be completely different, or I’m sure are different than what our residents here have been accustomed to or used to,” Allen said.
Allen said the nonprofit session topics will include teaching attendees how to approach and work with people of all cultures, when to apply for grants, avoiding duplication of a service another nonprofit is already providing, and how to get integrated into the community for which a nonprofit is providing services.
The community workshop will discuss how to help migrants come in on a level playing field, and address miscommunications.
The city was thrust into the national spotlight when a claim went viral that Haitian immigrants — of whom 12,000 to 15,000 live in the Springfield area — were eating people’s pets. Law enforcement and city officials have said there is zero evidence to back these claims.
Since then, schools, government offices, hospitals and businesses have received dozens of bomb threats. This led to the presence of Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers in city schools.
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