op:coop

Mela Group

http://mymela.org

How do you come together and share a resource?

Mela (means solutions in Amharic, Ethiopian) Group is a non-profit (applying for 501c) organization composed of twelve dedicated Ethiopian professionals in the Seattle area with a common desire to make a positive impact on our local community as well as provide assistance to the underprivileged in Ethiopia. With a motto of “Serve and Live,” Mela strongly believes in the merit of helping those in need.

Our mission is to provide charitable services to distressed and underprivileged Ethiopians through the support of philanthropic causes and compassionate volunteerism.

Mela strives to advance its mission by collaborating with other nonprofit organizations locally and internationally. We believe that “the whole is greater than the sum of the individual part”. As such, we create strategic synergies with other organizations to advance a common goal.

How would your group use the award money?

Mela Group would use the award to organize a resource day for low-income Ethiopian single parents. These parents are facing serious difficulties in achieving self-sufficiency for their families because of lack of information, language and cultural barriers. They are overwhelmed with twelve-hour workdays. Exhausted and stressed, they lose out on parenting time with their children which creates parent-child disconnect that often results in child behavioral issues.

Our goal is to have a workshop for these parents, to provide them with expert information and to let them know that there are resources available to help alleviate some of their stresses. We want to help bridge the communication gap between parents and their children; we will also develop an information packet to be available at community centers and online.

In order to accomplish our goals, we will partner with established non-profit organizations and governments that provide essential services in education, health care, social services, financial services, translators, nutrition and low-income housing.

The resource day will encompass:

Organized workshop – Assemble various resources for single parents. Invite social workers, health care professional, non-profit organizations that aid single parents, educational support, finance specialists, translators, nutritionists and volunteers.

Resource packet – Compile list of resources available for single parents and create a binder and hand it out to attendees and community centers. Our goal is to make the information very simple and easy to understand. We will have this information available online to all in need by posting it on our website as well as linking it to other websites that are easily accessible.

Communication – Help bridge the communication gap between the single parent and child who have differences as a result of language, education and culture barriers. Provide information to the single parents about mentoring and parenting tools, translators, creating communication with their child’s school, knowledge of resource centers; knowledge of government and non-profit healthcare, financial, education, and social support.