 The Rev. Scott Couper with the imam of the local Afghan community who will be using space at Centre Congregational Church for prayer. The name of the imam is being kept confidential for safety reasons. On March 25, 2022, Compassionate Brattleboro took the lead in organizing an Afghan Welcome Event (AWE) for our neighbors from Afghanistan who arrived in this area over the previous few months. The event, rich in Afghan culture, was also designed to thank the many individuals and organizations which have been helping our new neighbors to settle in, and to dedicate an Islamic prayer space within Centre Congregational Church on Brattleboro's Main St. The pastor of that church, Scott Couper, also an active member of Compassionate Brattleboro, additionally had invited the Afghan Imam to move in to Scott's home. All of us present were in agreement that this was Brattleboro at its best, and it gave big smiles to our new neighbors, one of whom wrote a beautiful note, also published in the local newspaper, saying, "I could hardly believe this was happening." Also actively participating in the Welcome Event was the new L'Arche Community of Southern Vermont and Afghan and Pakistani families who have been living in our community. We also heard inspiring words from Ian Goodnow, Chair of the Brattleboro Selectboard, and from Tom Huddleston who has been leading the resettlement effort. During the Event, the 2022 Brattleboro Area Unsung Hero Awardees were also announced, not surprisingly two ECDC case managers, Nebras Attia and Jessica Rose, who have had central roles in ECDC's Afghan resettlement efforts. Compassionate Brattleboro has been sponsoring these awards since 2017. When it was time to leave, there were paper flowers (provided by L'Arche) and packages of dried fruit (provided by the Putney Friends Meeting) for the Afghans to take with them as momentos. Read a story about the event in The Reformer Comments are closed.
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