Residents Needed to Participate in Community-Wide Dialogues Focused on Refugees & Immigrants in Rock Island

Neighborhood Partners of Rock Island is asking you to participate in a public dialogue that will acknowledge the challenges of incorporating recent refugees and immigrants into the community and develop action steps to create an environment that helps mold this influx of new people into an asset for all of Rock Island.

This approach to community change brings together small, diverse groups of people who will meet five times to think, talk, and work together to address the integration of refugees and immigrants into Rock Island neighborhoods. The process, called Changing Faces: Refugees & Immigrants in Rock Island, works best when many small dialogue groups happen all at once, across a community. The popular name for this process is "study circles."

The study circles will meet five consecutive weeks from April 10 to May 13. On registration forms, participants are asked to select times they can possibly meet.

Registration deadline is Friday, March 25, particularly for those requiring child care or interpreters. Registrants will be notified of their study circle location at the Kick-Off meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 7 at 6:30 p.m., Rock Island Academy, 930 14th Street, Rock Island.

Child care and refreshments will be provided, courtesy of Community Caring Conference/Grow Your Own Teacher program and Doris & Victor Day Foundation, respectively.

Those interested in registering should call the City of Rock Island's Planning & Redevelopment Division at (309)732-2900, email planning@rigov.org or visit www.rigov.org. More information is posted on the City website.

Attached media release is more complete.