MOLINE, Ill. — AKWAABA QC, a nonprofit helping immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers integrate into the Quad City community, celebrated its first anniversary on Saturday, Nov. 18 with an open house/luncheon. AKWAABA, which translates to "welcome" in the Ghanan language of Akan, was founded by immigrant Nana Ouro-Agror who came to America in 2008 from Togo, Africa.
"I'm an immigrant myself and being in their shoes, I know the challenges immigrants face when they come here," CEO Ouro-Agror said.
Through advocacy and community connections, AKWAABA is setting up people to thrive in their new environment. It now has 10 people working as community navigators from all over the world.
"The resources, where can we find it," Ouro-Agror said. "You need the information to be able to read the language to know where you can find this and this and this, so I thought is very important that we are the resource."
AKWAABA structures help through what it calls the "Community Navigator Program." Their community navigators can assist with accessing healthcare, applying for public benefits, financial planning, and more. AKWAABA also hosts workshops, including a "Know Your Rights" class taught by Moline and Rock Island police officers. The class discusses how to interact and communicate with police.
On December 14, Ouro-Agror joined The Current on News 8 to discuss one year of AKWAABA, a string of local grants the nonprofit has received, and what's next for the organization. You can view the full interview in the above video.
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