Louisville wins first place in the Annual City Cultural Diversity Awards

City wins cultural diversity award By ASHLEY KIM Staff Writer news@louisvillecardinal.com April 04, 2006 The City of Louisville won first place in the Annual City Cultural Diversity Awards, recently, thanks largely to the work of the Louisville Metro Office for International Affairs. The award, sponsored by the National League of Cities and administered in conjunction with the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, honors cities promitng to cultural diversity. Louisville competed against four other cities with 400,000 or more plus residents. Â"The City Cultural Diversity Award was developed to showcase cities and honor their community leadership in developing creative and effective programs designed to improve and promote cultural diversity,Â" stated Sandra Arez, Staff Associate and overseer of constituency group programs at NLC, the oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments throughout the United States. One of NLCÂ's goals is to build more inclusive communities, said Latricia Good, NLCÂ's Media Associate. Good added that while not every citizen of a community is affected directly by programs such as OIA, success within one area of a community, implicates success overall. Â"[The award] is a testament to the good work that the city is doing,Â" said Office Director, Omar Ayyesh. Â"Not necessarily at The Office for International Affairs, but all Louisville Metro [agencies].Â" Over the past 15 years, immigrants have accounted for approximately 50 percent of LouisvilleÂ's population growth. The Louisville Metro Office for International Affairs (OIA) was created in 1999 in response to this growth. Its mission statement is: Â"OIA supports and promotes a vibrant, successful, interconnected, multicultural community through awareness, advocacy and referral.Â" Â"We are not a direct service provider,Â" said Jeremy Morris, OIA International Program Specialist. OIA, through its work with other organizations, fulfills its objectives in a number of ways. One of the key programs for which Louisville was recognized, according to Morris, is the International Citizens Police Academy, conceived by OIA and implemented by the Louisville Metro Police Department. Due to the nature of the circumstances they fled, refugees may harbor a negative perception of law-enforcement agencies. In attempt to clarify misconceptions, the 12-week program educates attendees about many facets of police work. Â"The issues of the immigrant community are different from those of native citizens,Â" said Officer Minerva Virola, Community Relations at LMPD. For example, because of cultural differences, many immigrants donÂ't know what to do when they get pulled over, Virola said. In addition to providing information about how to handle everyday situations, the courses detail everything from the definition of homicide to the training received by officers. In addition to overseeing programs that assist immigrants, OIA also collaborates with organizations to catalog information that is of use to the entire community. For the past three years, the catalog has materialized as the International Directory. Â"For international newcomers, the directory sends a welcoming message and assists them in their transition by acting as a referral for organizations and services in our community,Â" said OIA International Program Specialist, Jennifer Ratoff. Â"For others, the directory demonstrates how diverse Louisville truly is and provides people and businesses the opportunity to learn about and reach a targeted population.Â" The directory includes a brief description of and contact information for everything from interpreter and translation services, career and business resources, educational institutions, government and public/social services, to entertainment and cultural attractions and an international dining guide. It is mass distributed to Jefferson County Public Schools, all area colleges and universities, Neighborhood Place locations, and Family Health Centers, among others. International Program Adviser Anshu Anand said that U of LÂ's International Center receives copies of the directory and distributes them to students for free. Senior Business major, Hao Dang, who immigrated to Louisville from Vietnam in 1991, pointed out what he sees as a flaw in the directory: itÂ's printed in English. Dang recalled his first years in the US when no one in his family could speak or read English. Often times, however, the directory is used by organizations who are able to translate the information for immigrants, if necessary. Gioconda Guerra, a graduate student in the School of Education, said that as a volunteer for the Hispanic/Latino Coalition, she often uses the directory to get information about, and refer the immigrants she works with to, various service providers. Not only does the Office make resources available to immigrants it also exposes the community at large to international culture. As a kick-off to SeptemberÂ's International Heritage month events, WorldFest takes place on the Belvedere and allows people to browse information booths and sample foods from many different countries. What started four years ago as a one-day program that lasted about four hours, has grown into a two-day program that lasted 12-hours each day and attracted about 50,000 people last year, Morris said. OIA also provides financial support for other events with similar goals. For the past four or five years, they have provided funding for U of LÂ's own International Banquet, said Anand. Â"The thing I like about the Office is that itÂ's not one-dimensional,Â" said Terry Singer, Dean of the Kent School and member of OIAÂ's Advisory Council. In addition to working with agencies that provide services and spreading awareness through community events, OIA also works with governmental bodies such as Greater Louisville Inc, Metro GovernmentÂ's traditional Chamber of Commerce and regional economic development agency, to look at the economic aspects of internationalism. Â"The emerging workforce is more diverse than it has ever been,Â" said Parminder Jassal, Executive Director of Workforce Solutions at GLI. Jassal noted the importance of the immigrant population to the economy, citing its role in the cityÂ's population growth. LouisvilleÂ's international community is currently the subject of a study that is scheduled to be finished in a few months. The study, conducted by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan economic and social policy research organization, is being sponsored by GLI and Kentuckiana Works. Its findings will be issued by OIA. The results will summarize many aspects of the international community, including where and what kind of work is being done by internationals, said Jassal. The studyÂ's purpose is Â"so our region can get an idea of what the international community looks like, and what they need to prepare for and strategically plan for,Â" Jassal added. http://www.louisvillecardinal.com/vn.../4430303cc4a13>