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1<br />
sterling moment<br />
New foundation building opens to raves<br />
BY JOYCE WISWELL<br />
PHOTOS BY DAVID REED<br />
2<br />
U. S. Rep. Sander Levin<br />
summed up the mood in the<br />
crowded tent at the ribboncutting<br />
ceremony for the new Chaldean<br />
Community Foundation (CCF)<br />
center on November 13: “It’s cold<br />
outside but really warm here.”<br />
Several hundred people braved<br />
the high winds and wet snow to put<br />
their stamp of approval on the new<br />
center, which encompasses 11,500<br />
square feet to help refugees acculturate<br />
to the United States.<br />
The CCF has raised nearly half of<br />
its $5 million goal for the building,<br />
located on 15 Mile and Ryan Road<br />
in Sterling Heights. It replaces the<br />
nearby cramped offices that the CCF<br />
quickly outgrew — twice.<br />
“The Chaldean Community<br />
Foundation opened on March 8, 2011<br />
to serve 400 people. That first year<br />
4,000 came through,” said Martin<br />
Manna, president of both the Chaldean<br />
Chamber and the foundation.<br />
The CCF now helps some<br />
20,000 individuals a year with acculturation<br />
services, job placement,<br />
access to health care and<br />
immigration assistance. More than<br />
15 percent of clients are not Chaldean,<br />
Manna said.<br />
Attendees were impressed to<br />
learn that ground was broken for the<br />
building just this past April. “We<br />
should have put you guys in charge of<br />
a roads deal,” quipped Lt. Governor<br />
Brian Calley, one of the many dignitaries<br />
and elected officials on hand<br />
for the opening ceremony.<br />
Manna had high praise for Sterling<br />
Heights officials. “They’ve been<br />
bombarded with a lot of Chaldeans<br />
and they’ve been pretty good about<br />
it. We’re not the easiest people,” he<br />
said to laughter.<br />
“What an asset the Chaldean<br />
community is to the city of Sterling<br />
Heights. It’s been a true blessing to<br />
the city of Sterling Heights to be<br />
home to so much of the Chaldean<br />
community. The work they do is<br />
unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” responded<br />
Mayor Michael Taylor.<br />
Anmar Sarafa, who heads the<br />
“New Lives in a New Land” capital<br />
committee, said fundraising is going<br />
well. “We will get to $5 million<br />
quickly, rather more quickly than I<br />
expected,” he said. “I told Martin $5<br />
million will not be enough, that this<br />
will have to be the first phase.”<br />
Program Manager Sharon Hannawa<br />
has run the Eastside office since<br />
32 CHALDEAN NEWS <strong>DECEMBER</strong> <strong>2015</strong>
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