Diverse Populations, FOOD SECURITY- Farming Community, and Farm Bill 2018. Immigrant, Refugee Community. Plan Now

DIVERSE POPULATIONS At BEMA International, we celebrate cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity everyday! We wanted to share this new resource with you.   As the U.S. grows more diverse, community based organizations CBOs) are serving an increasingly diverse group of children and families.  In this changing environment, developing cultural competence—behaviors, attitudes, and policies that enable organizations to work effectively in cross-cultural situations—is critical.  To help support CBOs in better meeting the needs of the populations they serve, the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families just released Developing Culturally Responsive Approaches to Serving Diverse Populations: A Resource Guide for Community-Based Organizations.                http://www.hispanicresearchcenter.org/?publications=developing-culturally-responsive-approaches-to-serving-diverse-populations-a-resource-guide-for-community-based-organizations This guide helps users to define and understand cultural competency and identify easily accessible resources for choosing interventions, conducting a needs assessment, selecting appropriate measures and measurement approaches, collaborating with other organizations, ensuring workforce diversity, and budgeting for culturally competent programs.  Since funders increasingly require evidence that applicants recognize the importance of cultural competence, the resource guide also aims to help better position CBOs to be even more competitive in attracting funding.  I hope that you find this guide to be useful in your work, and encourage you to share it with others who may be interested.  FOOD SECURITY Return back to our Farms that were Earned.  Farm Bill 2018 Plan Now Food Security, nutrition, and diet are not only issues in other nations, but prevalent here in the U.S. Farms, and farmers are the key to filling one of our basic needs in under privileged communities globally.  The need for food. Urban farming in our major cities, and return to our rural ancestral farms in the southern states of the U.S., Central & South America, and the Caribbean are key to our community survival. Each need our help and support.  We definitely need theirs. 1.       Mississippi Association of Cooperatives   http://www.mississippiassociation.coop/ For 35 years, the Association has been on a mission to enhance the quality of life and economic opportunities for rural Mississippi residents through the development of cooperative businesses and other economic strategies. 2.       National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association  http://www.nlfrta.org/  MISSION of the organization is to organize, engage, empower and provide technical assistance to Latino farm and ranching advocacy groups, farmworkers  transitioning into farm ownership, and, generally, small producers, throughout the United States and beyond. NLFRTA provides best practices training workshops on relevant farm and ranching and policy, forums and webinars, and facilitate meetings with state, local and federal elected officials and work with the Congress on the Farm Bill deliberations. 3.       National Black Farmers Association    http://www.nationalblackfarmersassociation.org/ The National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) is a non-profit organization representing African American farmers and their families in the United States. As an association, it serves tens of thousands of members nationwide. NBFA's education and advocacy efforts have been focused on civil rights, land retention, access to public and private loans, education and agricultural training, and rural economic development for black and other small farmers.  Within the farming sector the ‘brain drain’ is a global predicament, and not isolated to one nation.                                  Our youth leave the farm never to return. IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY, REFUGEES, AND MIGRANTS IMPORTANCE IN EMEGENCY\DISASTER PLANNING 1.       ISTANBUL, Turkey, 30 March 2017 – Refugees and migrants must be included in efforts to reduce the risk of disasters, experts said this week at a European conference. Read more: http://www.unisdr.org/archive/52560                            A special session of the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction spotlighted                            their vulnerabilities in the face of natural and human-induced hazards, but underlined                            that they also have an important role to play in curbing impacts.