Monthly Archives: June 2012

Meet Aden Batar and Get Involved with the Refugee Community!

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by Chelsea Nelson

Interactive Communications Director

A few days ago, I had the honor to sit down and talk with Aden Batar, the Director of Immigration & Refugee Resettlement for Catholic Community Services (CCS). Batar has an amazing story.  A Somali refugee himself, Batar has first hand experience with fleeing a country due to civil war and then going through the refugee resettlement process in Utah.

Batar grew up in Somalia and then graduated with his law degree from Somali National University. During that time, he also married and started a family. However, in 1990, shortly after Batar graduated, civil war broke out. Due to the violence, Batar hid his family for two years until his older son died as a result of the war in 1992. Following that devastating loss, the very next day Batar took his family and fled Somalia.

Batar had a brother-in-law that had been a student in Utah since 1988, who then sponsored Batar and his family for political asylum.  Shortly after, Batar and his family came to Utah to resettle as refugees. Batar and his family spent 2 years in Logan where he studied at Utah Sate University. At this same time, many Somali refugees were living in camps in Kenya.  In 1996 the camps became so overcrowded and health conditions became so poor, that hundreds of thousands of these refugees were resettled to the United States. Utah resettled a large number of refugees and Batar moved to Salt Lake to take a job with Catholic Community Services to help with resettlement.

Batar has dedicated himself to Catholic Community Services ever since. In 2001 he became the director of the refugee program and is currently still working hard to resettle refugees in Salt Lake City. Batar also does many things for the refugee community outside of Catholic Community Services.  Batar founded Somali Community Services and works to help the Islamic Society of Salt Lake City. His family also participates in volunteer service with the refugee community whenever they can. Because of his dedication to the resettlement of Somali refugees and the refugee community in general, Batar has been asked to attend the UNHCR annual meeting on refugee resettlement in Geneva, Switzerland, as the Somali US Delegate–where he will be representing all Somali refugees. This is a huge honor, and we congratulate him.

United Way of Salt Lake partners with Catholic Community Services to help reach our Immigrant and Refugee Immigration goals. Using the Collective Impact model, CCS and other refugee partners are now working together, rather than in competition with each other. Batar says “Collective Impact and partnering with United Way of Salt Lake is very exciting. It allows everyone who is supporting the refugee community to come together, rather than compete. Because of this, services can compliment one another. This helps so much because those who need help get a well-rounded variety of services and everyone is working together.”

There are many great partners working together in Utah to help the refugee community.  However, volunteers who get involved on a personal level are always needed. Batar encourages everyone to reach out and become friends with those who are trying to make Utah home. “No matter how many agencies there are–there is only so much each one can do. The refugee community needs more. They need someone to call a friend. They need people to welcome them. Helping on a personal level is so meaningful and we can’t allow refugees to be isolated. They need to be a part of the community. Refugees don’t have a choice when they leave their home country. As a community, we do have a choice. We must choose to help refugees.”

Photo thanks to icatholic.org

Thank you, Batar for LIVING UNITED and helping so many people in our communities and neighborhoods!  Good luck in Geneva!

For volunteer opportunities in the refugee community, dial 2-1-1 for more information!

A Great Open House!

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by Chelsea Nelson

Interactive Communications Director

Last night United Way of Salt Lake held an Open House at our new office! From 4:00 – 6:00 p.m., guests were welcomed to our new space on 257 East 200 South! The evening was quite the celebration with a ribbon cutting that included the help of Mayor Corroon, Mayor Becker, and UWSL’s own Deborah Bayle. Guests toured the new office and enjoyed wonderful food and beverages that were donated by great local companies.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to come out and celebrate with us! We appreciate your support of United Way of Salt Lake.

Thank you to those who generously donated to this event: Brown Brothers Catering, Catering for the Cause, Elizabeth’s Catering, Epic Brewing, Le Croissant, Utah Food Services, Zy Restaurant, Pierpont Place/Premier Corporate Events, Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown, and Special Events Center.

Lunch with a Leader – Tom Love!

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by Sofia Smith

Guest Blogger, Young Leader

Senior Credit Analyst, Zions Bank

This month United Way of Salt Lake’s Young Leaders gathered at Love Communications in downtown Salt Lake City for the Lunch with a Leader Series. Every month Young Leaders have the opportunity to attend a small roundtable discussion with various movers and shakers from the Salt Lake Valley. This is a great chance to engage successful individuals in an intimate setting.

If you have never had the pleasure of meeting Tom Love, you need know only one thing: the man is a rock star. Nationally acclaimed for its work in several campaigns, Tom and Love Communications continues to excel in the industry.  Tom discussed his career path and gave small pieces of advice regarding success in the workplace.  The item he expressed as key to a successful career is the ability to build relationships with people and to maintain them.

So attention all you Young Leaders out there! Attend the next Lunch with a Leader event for a break from the mundane work day and learn from the brightest in Salt Lake Valley.  As Tom Love quoted: “80 percent of life is showing up.” –Woody Allen

Union Pacific Railroad LIVES UNITED!

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by Jim Young

Regional Director, Davis County

Union Pacific Railroad has been on the national scene since 1862–150 years with the largest railroad network in the U.S.  UP was and is a huge player in the settlement and economic development of the American West.  They had an early impact on Utah’s history when the joining of the first transcontinental railroad from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Francisco, California which occurred at Promontory Point, Utah in May of 1869.  Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, they have 31,000 miles of track, 8,000 locomotives and 44,000 employees in 23 states.

Over the decades, UP has had more than a passing interest in the communities that grew in its path.  Indeed, that social consciousness has not been more manifest than here in Utah.  For many years Union Pacific has enthusiastically supported a United Way of Salt Lake employee giving campaign.  Recently, Dan Harbeke, the phenomenal Director of Public Affairs for UP (and a great friend) awarded United Way of Salt Lake $5,000 from the Union Pacific Foundation for our Community Impact work.  UWSL was among a few dozen nonprofits in the Intermountain West to receive grants.  At the awards ceremony, I drew an analogy to the childhood story of Johnny Appleseed.  “Legend has it that Johnny Appleseed traveled about the country planting apple seeds along the way.  The trees grew and provided beautiful fragrant flowers in the spring, cooling shade in the summer, and delicious fruit in the fall and winter.  Everywhere he went, Johnny left in his path a better, more beautiful world.  Like Johnny Appleseed, Union Pacific passes through many communities and like him, everywhere they go and in every community they touch, they leave a better place behind.”

Thank you Dan Harbeke and Union Pacific–you truly LIVE UNITED!

Jim Young and Dan Harbeke

June Tip: Keep Your Kids Busy This Summer!

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If your kids are on a vacation from school this summer, it’s a great time to do some teaching of your own! Keeping your kids’ minds active is important during summer break. Take this opportunity to teach your kids the basics of money management and wise decision-making. Check out all the great Kids & Money resources available one the Believe website!