Champaign County Welcoming Plan in Action

A panel held during Welcoming Week on putting the five-year Champaign County Welcoming Plan into action. Akua Forkuo-Sekyere, director of the University YMCA's New American Welcome Center, outlined the plan's five focus areas, its "communities of practice" model and the county's welcoming designation. Panelists Thomas Yu (public safety), Kora Maldonado (language and education), Whitney Gregor (health and well-being) and Janel Gomez (economic opportunity) described their work, including building immigrant trust with police, a Maya language justice collective, restaurant permitting support, and local response to asylum seekers. Audience Q&A followed. Fall 2024 Friday Forum / Conversation Cafe series.