OUR BRIEF HISTORY

In the early 1990s, about 100,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese population were expelled or forced to flee from their country of origin, leading to what Amnesty International has called it “one of the most protracted and

neglected refugee crises in the world.” This group of forcibly displaced immigrants had to become refugees in Nepal due to their differences in language, culture and religions with the Ruling monarchy in Bhutan. The Nepali speaking Bhutanese diaspora had to endure resettlement twice: during the late 80's as refugees in Nepal for more than 20 years, and as resettled Bhutanese Americans in the United States since 2008.

MISSION

The Non-Profit organization was established in 2016 and is committed to cherish, preserve and promote good customs, including cultural, educational, moral, religious, social and traditional beliefs, of its members; to act as a bridge and build healthy and mutually respectful relationship with other communities; to act as a forum to facilitate for the moral and spiritual development of its members and to create awareness to and about the resettled Bhutanese Hindu Community in the Akron area. GAHSS was founded exclusively for charitable, religious, or scientific purposes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

OUR WORK AND IMPACT

Education: Adult education through GED program and tutoring for high and middle school students.

Training and Empowerment: Our project pinch and pleat provided training and employment for more than one hundred people in Summit County during the very difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also helped out by making over 800,000 reusable masks through our project.

Language and Culture: GAHSS hosts different cultural festivals and teaches Nepali language to children.

Awareness Programs: During the very difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic, we created pamphlets and brochures to provide information regarding the virus and created online videos in Nepali to help inform and educate all the community members.

Charity Services: Over 5000 masks donated to the Summa health system, homeless shelters, and local community. Provided two-weeks rations to a hundred local families who needed help due to COVID. Donated organic vegetable-plants to the local community. Assisted families who had trouble meeting rent by linking them to services that were able to assist.

Job Placement: Facilitated job fairs with HR representatives from local companies to help community members locate and acquire work.

Memorial Services: Hosted fundraisers to financially support grieving families and donated N-95 masks to families to ensure COVID safety during funeral gatherings.

Civic Responsibilities: Provided information regarding voting and hosted events to help members fill out absentee ballots and the census.