In the three years that Charm Emiko has been reserving a room at the Concord community center to work with children as part of her organization, Project STORY, she has never faced any availability issues or been unable to secure a classroom.

However, despite there being adequate space, the New American community and grassroots organizations like Emiko's face challenges in accessing it due to financial constraints. Although the city has reduced the fees for reserving rooms at the community center, it still poses a barrier for groups that rely on volunteers and cannot afford the costs.

“I run this organization on my own and those funds should be going to the kids,” said Emiko. “They shouldn’t be put back into the community center for me to rent a classroom for me to teach the kids how to read.”

At the city’s first Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice & Belonging Committee listening session on Tuesday, Emiko suggested that a room be designated as a multicultural room exclusively for New American learning, and urged the city of Concord to actively support anti-racism efforts and eliminate barriers for the multicultural community to create a more inclusive environment.

Zandra Rice-Hawkins, a member of the committee alongside fellow city councilor Byron Champlin and Mayor Jim Bouley, said that the committee’s objective is to create a welcoming, inclusive, just, and equitable environment where all residents feel empowered to participate in civic activities and have a sense of belonging.

“We are very open to what kind of conversation people would like to have as we start to embark on this process in the city,” said Rice-Hawkins. “These three initial listening sessions are to give us the feedback from you as we start the path forward for the work of the committee in the broader community.”

In addition to the challenges encountered by the multicultural community related to matters like inadequate access to space, advocates cited lighting issues at Keach Park and the underrepresentation of diversity in the city’s personnel and on appointed boards and committees. They called for diversity training to be provided to all city employees to prevent racism.

Joel Eaton, an ordained minister who has been a resource for Good Neighbors Steering Committee at Havenwood-Heritage appreciated the listening sessions, but emphasized the importance of the city making significant and tangible changes for the benefit of children of refugees and immigrants, LGBTQ+ children, and all individuals belonging to marginalized communities, instead of focusing on short-term solutions.

“You as leaders have to not only put together a justice committee but you have to also allow that committee to infect everything you do,” Eaton said of making changes ranging from hiring to spending money.“We’ve got to put our money where our mouth is meant to make substantial changes.”

A second listening session will be held Thursday, May 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Merrimack Valley High School Auditorium and a third session will be held on Saturday, May 6, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Citywide Community Center. 

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