03/23/2010 - A Reception will be held March 25, 2010 from 5:00-7:00 pm at the Fremont Area Art Association (92 W. 6th Street) in Fremont, Nebraska to honor 21 people, immigrants or descendants of immigrants to the Fremont area, who tell their stories in the special project, "Building Fremont: Immigrants 1856-Present."
07/03/2009 - The Grand Island/Hall County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the "Nebraska Is Home" campaign will be distributing "Welcome" signs in 12 languages in Grand Island.
"Nebraska Is Home" is a creation of Nebraska Appleseed to promote community unity and recognize the contributions that immigrants make toward that goal. Vanessa Martinez is the campaign coordinator.
The signs, which will be posted in businesses throughout Grand Island, display "Welcome" in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Laotian, German, French, Arabic, Japanese and four languages spoken by Sudanese immigrants -- Nuer, Dinka, Nuba and Fur.
06/29/2009 - Sunday afternoon turned out to be nearly perfect for a picnic designed to help get people in the Fremont community together.
More than 125 people attended the picnic organized by Home Is Nebraska Fremont.
Kristin Ostrom, one of the picnic organizers, said events like this are needed to help people understand that regardless of background and culture, people are basically the same.
06/29/2009 - Gabby Ayala is a U.S. citizen.
But, she said, you would never know it from the way some of her fellow Fremont, Neb., residents behave toward her and other Mexican-Americans.
“We all come from somewhere else,” Ostrom said Sunday at a picnic that Nebraska Is Home Fremont sponsored. Ostrom noted that her great-grandparents emigrated from Sweden.
06/26/2009 - In Fremont, people are asked to take a tradition dish to share, plus silverware and a blanket or lawn chair to a Sunday picnic, 3-6 p.m., on the Campus Green at Midland Lutheran College.
06/22/2009 - Nebraska is Home Fremont’s first big public event is just around the corner.
A community picnic is planned for 3-6 p.m. Sunday at Midland Lutheran College. The event will be held on the campus green near the Cross at the Center fountain.
Debate over an anti-immigration proposal in Fremont is moving forward. In the past year, an effort to ban employers from hiring illegal immigrants and ban landlords from renting to illegal immigrants has caused some controversy between residents.
The proposal is currently tied up in Appeals court. A new community group called "Nebraska is Home-Fremont" is urging Fremont neighbors to put their beliefs aside and focus on being friendly.
Lined up, side by side, Fremont residents stand together. "I believe there's a lot more to people than just where they come from," said "Nebraska is Home-Fremont" group leader, Gabby Ayala.
06/13/2009 - Courtesy and respect.
They are words we say often. But in today’s world, we see less and less of these qualities being exhibited.
One only has to read letters in this newspaper or comments on our Web site to see prime examples. Watching any of the 24-hour news channels or listening to almost any talk radio program will provide examples, too.
We as a society are too quick to comment, too quick to judge and too quick to be offended when someone disagrees with our point of view. Too often today the aim appears to divide, to create an us vs. them mentality.
It seems we’ve lost the ability to be civil; the ability to be neighborly.
We as a community have a chance to show we still can be courteous and respectful. That chance is by supporting the Nebraska Is Home Fremont campaign. Read More...
06/08/2009 - Gabby Ayala sometimes watches in amazement as her 3-year-old daughter plays with her best friend.
Ayala’s daughter’s first language is Spanish, although she is now learning English. Her friend only speaks English.
“It’s just fun to see them playing and getting involved in different stuff,” Ayala said Saturday during the launch of the Nebraska is Home Fremont campaign. “We can see they’re not that different. They communicate somehow. It’s amazing and funny to see that.”
06/06/2009 FREMONT — Organizers of a campaign that emphasizes unity and strengthening communities are spreading their message in a Nebraska city that’s been embroiled in debate over illegal immigration.
The “Nebraska Is Home” campaign launched Saturday in Fremont with organizers pledging they won’t delve into policy and say they just want residents to get to know their neighbors. Read the Full Article
06/06/2009 Standing beneath the group’s first billboard, members of Nebraska is Home Fremont launched a community building effort Saturday.
"Nebraska is Home is a positive community campaign that seeks to promote Fremont’s unity and strength," said Kristin Ostrom, co-chairperson of the local group. "We are doing that neighbor to neighbor." Read the Full Article
04/27/2009 - Community meal co-hosted by Doane College and “Nebraska Is Home” draws crowd of 200
Community members celebrate shared values over a shared meal
CRETE, NE– On Monday, April 27th, over 200 community members gathered at the United Church of Christ for a community meal co-hosted by “Nebraska Is Home” and Doane College. The groups organized the meal as a celebration of community values and invited all Crete community members to enjoy conversation with neighbors and food from different cultures. Karla Cooper, Chaplain and Coordinator of Service Programs at Doane College, said she was particularly moved by the various food choices from ethnic traditions around the world. The menu included Czech kolaches, Vietnamese pho soup and egg rolls, Spanish paella, Italian lasagna, potato salad and fried chicken. “It reminded me of what heaven must look like when all God’s children get together,” Cooper said.
A Crete Kindergarten class also presented their short film, “We are Family. Somos Familia.” The bilingual film’s family theme reflected the “Nebraska Is Home” group’s goals of celebrating shared values, promoting unity, and recognizing the great contributions immigrant families bring to Crete. The group officially began working toward these goals last November by hanging posters with positive messages in business and store windows around town.
Since then, “Nebraska Is Home” has organized simple educational activities. This was their first community-building event and they were thrilled with the response. The April dinner welcomed a variety of guests from all parts of the community, giving folks a chance to make new friends and spend time with old. “I sat down at a table with a very nice Hispanic couple, and then realized that I met them some years ago. While in high school my daughter worked at a local bank, as did this man, and they became good friends. It was good to get reacquainted with him and his wife again,” said Ed Howard, a member of the “Nebraska Is Home” group.
The success of the meal was due in large part to the collaboration of different groups and volunteers that worked together to create what was truly a community event. “I thought it was a great way to bring the community together, meet new people and try new dishes,” said Karen Buchfinck, Crete High School Counselor and member of “Nebraska Is Home.” “I loved the fact that we had volunteers from Nebraska is Home, Doane college and high school students all working together.”
“In the two years since we started the Community Dinners, this was perhaps the most inspiring,” commented Cooper. “Inspiring in the sense that so many from various cultural backgrounds came together to break bread, share in conversation, and simply enjoy each others’ company…what a time!”
Columbus Telegram 11/21/2008 - Schuyler kicked off its “Nebraska Is Home” campaign Thursday at City Hall to help disseminate a more positive message about what immigrants bring to the community.
The statewide “Nebraska Is Home” campaign is being organized by Nebraska Appleseed, “a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes equal justice and full opportunity for all Nebraskans.” The campaign has been coordinated in Grand Island, Seward, Crete and now Schuyler. Each of the communities has diverse populations. Read the full article
KOLN/KGIN 11/10/2008 - Products and companies are being replaced by a deeper message on some Nebraska billboards. Community unity is the goal of campaigns in Crete, Seward, Schuyler, and Grand Island. The face of Nebraskans continues to change, and now you can see that change on billboards across the state.
"I'm so excited," said Odalys Perez. "I think it's going to be, it's going to open up, it's going to start dialogues and conversations that we need to have. We cannot keep silent about our differences." Read the full article
Lincoln Journal-Star 11/10/2008 - Jorge Paredes didn’t move to Crete until his junior year of high school, but the community quickly became home. Paredes was born in Mexico, and immigrated to the United States with his family when he was a boy. He lived in Madison before he moved to Crete, where he graduated from the high school and took a job with Sack Lumber.
Now 25, Paredes owns a home in this Saline County community of about 6,300, where he’s also a soccer coach, volunteer translator and Lions Club member. And in the decade he’s lived here, Paredes said he has noticed a change. There’s less tension between whites and Latinos, he said. There’s less separation. Read the full article
Buenos Dias Nebraska 11/10/2008 - Despite today’s rain, community members gathered at 11am at the colorful new billboard at the intersection of 3rd and N. Broadwell to celebrate a new effort to build community through conversations, education, and positive messages.
Nebraska Is Home is a community-based effort to show support for immigrant community members and build community unity.
“We may have different accents, but we all call Grand Island home, and we want to build our future together,” said Odalys Perez. Read the full article
For more information about Nebraska Is Home, please email Darcy Tromanhauser
