Imam Johari, Director of Outreach at Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, discusses the ways he sees local youth living their faith, the role of social networks and a virtual community in this process, and the importance of asking deep questions.
Mitzvah Day: Yachad DC (Anacostia, DC)
Mitzvah Day is an annual day of service organized by Washington Hebrew Congregation in collaboration with various partners throughout the DC region. Each year, hundreds join together to work on projects to benefit their community. For Mitzvah Day this year, Yachad DC, a local organization that mobilizes volunteers for real estate rehabilitation, brought dozens of young adults from Washington Hebrew’s 2239 group to Anacostia to repair the home of the Roy family.
Mrs. Roy has owned her home for 31 years. She is now 80 years-old and she lives with her adult daughter. Both women are on disability and are struggling to keep up the repairs needed on their old home with their fixed income. The group’s sponsorship fee (paid for by Washington Hebrew) paid for repairs to the Roys’ roof, electric, hand rails/grab bar installation, and drywall repair.
More about Yachad: Yachad’s Sukkot in Spring program is the nation’s largest Home/Community Repair Program sponsored by the Jewish Community. Yachad has built bridges of understanding between the Jewish community and the African American community through this program since 1992 and has helped thousands of people stay safely and comfortably in their homes. This year, 2239 is one of about 15 synagogues sponsoring the home repair of a local homeowner-many are working on the same streets or neighborhoods. The Roy home is just one of two on the same block and one of nine in the same neighborhood.
Interview with Melody Fox-Ahmed of the Berkley Center at Georgetown University
Melody Fox-Ahmed is Assistant Director for Programs and Operations at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University. In this interview, Melody explains how GU students are living up to the school’s motto of being “men and women for others” and why she has faith in the millennial generation.