Craft Lake City and the IRC in Salt Lake City have setup a public art exhibition titled “Local Voices: Together We Welcome.” This new exhibition aims to honor and highlight global cultures that have arrived in Utah and now call the state “home.” It invites the public to learn more about our newest neighbors and listen to their stories.
Read MoreBhutan House Restaurant is OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans) Utah Director's Choice Recommended Bhutanese Restaurant.
Read MoreWendy Juarez is creating opportunities to bring vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores together for authentic Mexican cuisine! Wendy's small business, Prime Corn, won the top prize at this year’s New American Dream Lab, an event hosted by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City giving local refugee and immigrant entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their businesses and win a capital prize! Wendy, an entrepreneur participating in Spice Kitchen Incubator, keeps the focus of Prime Corn simple, specializing in 90% corn-based dishes, and 100% vegan and vegetarian-friendly foods. In Wendy’s words, people who eat meat have prime rib, why can’t vegetarians have prime corn?
Read MoreAs a young restaurant owner, Kiki Sharma has a difficult time deciding which menu item is her favorite. At Bhutan House, her family’s restaurant that she runs with her father, she particularly likes anything spicy, especially their chewy momos. Recently though, the environment of their restaurant looks different. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Bhutan House has gone through a number of shifts, including their participation with the Nourish to Flourish Initiative.
Nourish to Flourish initiated out of conversations that recognized food insecurity caused by the pandemic and wanted to support local restaurants, economically hit during this time.
Read MoreJoin Kiki Sharma as she tells us about her journey from growing up in a refugee camp in Nepal to becoming an Utah restaurant owner and manager! Kiki and her family are an inspiring example of resiliency. Despite Covid restrictions, Kiki continues to run Bhutan House Restaurant and make a living for her family. Join us for this live recording of a community podcast and talk to Kiki about her life experiences!
Read MoreNoor is a 45-year-old chef and the father of five. He and his family fled war-torn Syria to seek refuge in Egypt before they resettled as refugees to the United States with support from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City. He says one of the benefits of living here is that children with disabilities can still attend school, including three of his children who live with disabilities. Finally, five years and seven months later, after waiting and studying, Noor and his family are becoming citizens.
Read MoreMeals center on our culture, our ideas of home and family, they open up the community to a broader table. Sitting down to eat together can be powerful. Of all the questions that come up when opening a food business, though, Abudu of Kafé Mamai acknowledges that ’why’ is the most complex. For Abudu this may be especially true. While he loves to share his “culture and experience,” he is also passionate about using his small business to support others in his local community and around the globe. In August, Abudu worked to organize a fundraiser in support of Yemeni children.
Read MoreSami Roe, small business specialist at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City, works to propel small businesses towards success. By leveraging funding and loans, Sami helps entrepreneurs scale up their businesses. Working alongside them, he finds resources so that owners have direction when they run into roadblocks.
Now that the pandemic has upset many businesses, Sami’s job shifted gears toward relief assistance. Especially where language barriers exist, Sami’s work remains vital. Many shops and restaurants could evaporate simply because they do not have the language resources they need to save themselves. For the owners of the popular micro-restaurant, Laan Na Thai, in downtown Salt Lake, this especially posed a dilemma. “They’re an older generation paired with a language barrier,” Sami explained. While language barriers present their own challenges, the loans themselves “open and close that fast,” according to Sami.
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