2023 Highlights:

Looking Back: MY Project USA Proud to Showcase Organization's Best Moments of 2023

Thank You to Everyone in Our Village Who Aided Our Mission This Year

As the year nears its end, MY Project USA invites you to join us as we take a look back at some of the organization's highlights of 2023. While this has been another year that has seen its share of sadness, in this edition of our weekly newsletter, we hope to put the spotlight on some of the positives.

While the following notes are just a handful of the highlights of the year, we invite you to visit MYProjectUSA.org/newsletter to check out all of our past newsletters. Enjoy!

2023 Highlights:

MY Project USA Purchases the Land for the Issa Jeylani Memorial Recreation Center! 

In August, MY Project USA announced that the organization had taken a major step in its journey to create a much-needed indoor recreation space for the children of the Hilltop.

The organization officially purchased the future site of the Issa Jeylani Memorial Recreation Center for $250,000. This is a 2.13-acre piece of land on Sullivant Avenue where we aim to build two full-size indoor soccer fields, a basketball court, offices, a cafeteria and classrooms – a real Field of Dreams for so many children in the Hilltop.

For many years, MY Project USA has not been able to find any consistent year-round recreation location that could accommodate daily practices and games for the children in our Hilltop Tigers soccer program. There are approximately 10,000 children at risk of gang and gun violence in the Hilltop area, and this center will provide a safe haven to hundreds of them each year.

The work is far from done, however, and we still need help! Because we were not able to raise enough money, we acquired a loan at zero percent interest. Our Founder & Executive Director Zerqa Abid acquired a personal loan of $125,000 to add to an additional sum of $125,000 from her own pocket to help the organization reach the $250,000 figure needed for the land. We are humbly asking for the public’s support in making the center a reality.

You can donate via the button below or by visiting MYProjectUSA.org/donors.

2023 Highlights:

#DoIt4Issa: Issa's Peace Patio Opens at the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center

Our beloved Issa Jeylani was taken from us in June 2022, but he is never far from our hearts. Now, thanks to Issa's Peace Patio, which opened in July, his name will always be a part of our Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center.

We were blessed to be joined by Issa's mother and other members of his family – including his brother and Hilltop Tigers coach Ali Jeylani – at the ribbon cutting ceremony. Members of our Hilltop Tigers youth soccer program joined with elected officials and other members of our village during the ceremony. Please click the image above or button below to watch a video from the ribbon cutting that features excerpts of speeches by MY Project USA Founder & Executive Director Zerqa Abid, Ohio State Senator Michele Reynolds, Ohio House Rep. Dontavius Jarrells and Issa's Peace Patio Project Manager Unasia Qidwai.

2023 Highlights:

MY Community Cafe Opens at Our Youth Center to Help Battle Food Insecurity in the Hilltop

As we are sure you are aware, the Hilltop area in Columbus is what is known as a food desert. That means it is lacking in places people can go to find healthy, nutritious food. In our ongoing mission to protect and empower young people and families in Columbus, MY Project USA took the step in 2023 to try to help address this by opening MY Community Cafe.

Located at our Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center, MY Community Cafe is a pay-forward cafe with all proceeds going to help MY Project USA feed and assist all children, elderly, homeless and other clients on the west side of Columbus. The cafe opened in March and serves delicious sandwiches, wraps, platters and more. We have a seating area for families to eat here and we remain prepared to cater.

Click the image above for a recap of our grand opening. You can also click here for a fun interview with a pair of local residents who visited the cafe for the first time in August.

2023 Highlights:

Global Gifts & Thrift Opens Its Doors in Hilliard, Following the Goodwill Model to Raise Funds for Our Organization

MY Community Cafe was not the only new initiative opened by MY Project USA in 2023 with the aim of helping the organization become more financially self-sufficient. In February, Global Gifts & Thrift opened at 4730 Cemetery Rd. in the Hilliard Shopping Center, next to the Hilliard BMV Office.

This retail location, which is based off the Goodwill model, proudly offers an international, multicultural collection of gifts, artifacts, decorative items, clothing, shoes, household items and more. This retail location is the first of its kind in Hilliard, and each dollar spent here will help us feed, clothe, employ and empower underprivileged youth and their families, refugees, unemployed and homeless people. It will help us address drugs, gang/gun violence and human trafficking. It will also help us foster strong girls and women leaders.

It's not too late to find the perfect gift for the Christmas season at Global Gifts & Thrift! Stop by today!

📍 4730 Cemetery Rd. (Next to the Hilliard BMV)
⏰️ Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

2023 Highlights:

Youth Summit Showcases Development & Growth of Young Men & Women in Our MY Leaders Program

We are extremely proud of our MY Leaders program, an initiative that seeks to empower underserved young people and foster them into the leaders of tomorrow.

Throughout the year, we saw the development of the young men and women in our program. They went from being hesitant to talk or participate in activities to organizing and running the first annual Columbus Youth United Summit at West High School in late July. We are so very proud of their progress.

Please click the image above or button below to watch a video recap of the summit, which featured speeches from Ohio House Reps. Munira Abdullahi and Ismail Mohamed, Ben Prochaska of Students Demand Action's Ohio State chapter and a keynote address by Zerqa Abid.

A very special thanks goes to MY Project USA Youth Program Director Katana Mullen for her efforts in spearheading the MY Leaders program this year and – of course – all of our young leaders who led the way during this special event focusing on the life-and-death challenges of gun/gang violence and climate justice.

2023 Highlights:

MY Summer Expedition Brings Smiles to Dozens of Campers All Summer Long

It was very hard to just pick one highlight from our education efforts, but in the end, the impact of our MY Summer Expedition series of weekly summer camps was too much to ignore!

These camps, created and run by Education Manager Jenna Herron under the guidance of Education Consultant Dr. Sharon Watkins, brought smiles and excitement to the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center. Camp subjects included the environment/nature, community leadership, sports & recreation, art, STEM, nutrition & music/dance! Every week was a new adventure for our campers.

Click on the image above or button below to watch a recap of the fun. We would again like to publicly thank all of those MY Project USA team members who helped make everything possible. We'd also like to thank the Ohio Department of Education, ADAMH Board of Franklin County and the City of Columbus for their support.

2023 Highlights:

Hilltop Tigers Once Again Show That They're Winners Both On & Off the Soccer Pitch

We love to say that our Hilltop Tigers are winners on and off the soccer pitch, and that was proven once again in 2023.

Our Tigers made an impact on the pitch by winning four tournaments, including three in one weekend in July. The trio of titles started when a group of our Tigers participated in the Al-Fityah Soccer Cup tournament at Thompson Park and won four straight games en route to the championship. The next day, our Under-14 and Under-17 squads participated in the annual Columbus Nations Cup, which is a Final Third Foundation tournament at the Soccer Fields at Easton. After a full day of games, both the U-14 and U-17 teams took home championship trophies!

The final championship victory came at the Turf Fest Tournament in November, which was held at several turf fields across the Dayton area throughout one weekend. It was a great event for both our U-18 and U-13 squads, with both teams advancing to the championship game. While the U-13 squad fell just short against Ohio Premier, the U-18 team took home champion medals by earning a hard-fought 3-1 victory over DFA Premier.

Off the field, we were exceptionally proud to share a story from the spring where the sportsmanship shown by our U-11 team touched the heart of a mother of a player on the opposing team. You can find that story in our April 27 Newsletter.

Thank you to the Ohio Department of Education, City of Columbus and the Columbus Youth Foundation for their support of our Hilltop Tigers. We also thank our hard-working coaches – Ali Jeylani, Mohamed "Speedy" Ahmed and Abdi "Neymar" Idris – for their efforts in leading our young people.

2023 Highlights:

MY Project USA Aids New Americans Through ESL Classes, Helps Them Earn Their Driver's Licenses

MY Project USA is extremely proud of its work with the immigrant and refugee community. We have served many new Americans in 2023, including many from Afghanistan. Click on the image above or button below to watch a video with clips and interviews with men and women from our English as a Second Language classes.

We do more than just ESL classes, too! MY Project USA, with help from Welcome.us, has helped 20 men and women earn their Ohio driver's license in recent years. Click here or on the button below to watch interviews with a pair of men who received their licenses this year with our help.

2023 Highlights:

Our 'Women on Fire' Event Leads to Better Understanding of Women's Empowerment

Last, but certainly not least, is a look back at our impactful "Women on Fire" discussion on women's empowerment from March.

Led by moderator and Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Sheryl Munson, this was more than just a "talk," it was a candid discussion featuring some resilient and change-making women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds about their struggles and triumphs on their roads to success. We also talked about what it looks like to actually empower women and not just talk about empowering women.

On this amazing panel of women, we had:
• Zerqa Abid, Founder and Executive Director for MY Project USA
• Ajmeri Hoque, Attorney and former Board Member for MY Project USA 
• Binish Hussain, Life and Health Coach
• Safa Mohamed, Board Member for MY Project USA and Director of MY Reading Warriors
• Katana Mullen, Youth Program Director for MY Project USA

Please click the image above or button below to watch the full discussion.