Washington West African Center formally GAMBIAN TALENTS PROMOTION

We are the 911 and the 211 for West Africans who are living with their families and working in Washington which is home to thousands of West Africans. The population we serve is mostly West African immigrants with their families - including children and seniors. This community tends to suffer more from disinformation and coupled with a deep mistrust of the systems. This perhaps is a consequence of trauma emanating from suffering (discrimination and deprivation) endured through the ages. We are a predominantly immigrant community, mostly from West Africa (The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo, Benin), and a good number of people in our community are undocumented and have no formal education. This often leads us to live in unsafe neighborhoods, exposed to crime, domestic violence, unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors, vulnerability, and other conditions that negatively impact our health and wellbeing. Most of the members of our community work in the hotel, food and hospitality industries, hair salons, and rideshare. Others work at home health care facilities and support adults and children with disability, and people with underlying medical conditions.