Their Story is Our Story Announces Launch of Community Connections Workshops
Salt Lake City, UT - February 21, 2022 - Their Story is Our Story (TSOS) today announced the launch of Community Connections Workshops, featuring Miss Utah 2021, Sasha Sloan, and TSOS’ Utah Community Program Coordinator, Shurooq Al Jewari. The workshops are intended as school-based presentations and focus on friendship, inclusivity, and mental health.
“Shurooq and I share a passion for creating compassionate communities and destigmatizing candid conversations about mental health,” said Sasha Sloan. “In these workshops, we reflect on our shared challenges throughout school and invite students to reflect on their own experiences with labeling and social exclusion.”
A former refugee from Iraq and a current student, Shurooq Al Jewari said, “I want to offer these workshops because I do not want newcomers to have the same experiences I had with discrimination, racism, and exclusion. These experiences can lead to mental health issues. We simply want to have a peaceful life where we are included in school and the community.”
The first Community Connections Workshop will be held on Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 6 p.m. at Utah State University’s (USU) Eccles Science Learning Center 046, hosted by the USU chapter of TSOS. All are welcome to attend.
To request a Community Connections Workshop for your school, contact TSOS’ Director of Advocacy, Sherianne Schow at [email protected].
About Their Story is Our Story:
Their Story is Our Story (TSOS) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to sharing stories of the refugee journey to advocate and educate, and to actuate integration. For more information, visit www.tsosrefugees.org.
Media Contact:
Kandace Hyland
Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Official Statement on the Detention of Refugees and Ongoing Community Violence
With another death in Minnesota and continued violence toward individuals and groups standing up for their communities, we acknowledge the profound fear and uncertainty people are feeling--not just locally, but across the country.
On top of this, there are reports that refugees invited and admitted to our country through the U.S. Refugee Admission Program are now being detained, meaning that our new friends and neighbors feel that fear most acutely.
Refugees have already fled violence and persecution once. They came here legally, seeking safety. In moments like these, we reaffirm our commitment to building communities where refugees and immigrants can live without fear. Where they can go to work, send their children to school, and build lives of dignity and belonging.
We call for due process, accountability, and humanity in all immigration enforcement operations. We call upon our leaders to demand the demilitarization of our neighborhoods and cities. And we call on all of us to continue the work of welcoming and protecting those who have been forcibly displaced from their homes.