2017 New Hope Award
The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) is excited to announce the establishment of a new annual award for members of the New American community: The Crystal Family New Hope Award. In this inaugural year, there will be two awards of $500 granted to Fardowsa Ibrahim and Abdelali Amrani. The awards will be presented at the Bobbin Mill Community Room on November 16th at 5:30 pm
About Fardowsa Ibrahim
Fardowsa Ibrahim is a senior in the Medical Laboratory Sciences major in the College of Nursing and Health Science at the University of Vermont (UVM). Her family came here from Somalia. As a student with a young family of her own, Fardowsa says, “My parents came here because of war, and they wanted to give my siblings and me the opportunity to receive an education in a safe environment. As the eldest of nine children, being a role model is important…I have seen too many young Somali Bantu women without opportunities…”
About Abdelali Amrani
Abdelali Amrani, a U.S. citizen originally from Morocco, is married to a Moroccan citizen with whom he has two children. Abdelali and his family were homeless when he came back to the US last spring after living in Morocco for 16 years. Since becoming housed, he has enrolled as a full-time student at Community College of Vermont, has written a business plan for the family’s future Moroccan restaurant, and has secured employment as the coordinator of the interpreter program at the Association for Africans Living in Vermont (AALV). He says, “My family and I are very fortunate to have been surrounded by so many great people who have helped us transition quickly from the dangers of homelessness…We hope in the near future to be able to give back to this community and to help inspire others to do the same.”
