The Multicultural Kids Network (MKN) was founded in 2014 to provide support and information to African families raising their children in the United States. Many of these families have limited access to resources within their adopted community and indigenous cultural healing techniques that are familiar to them, such as group drumming and Bantu teachings. MKN also provides resources such as connecting with social services, job searches, parent advocacy groups, navigating the school systems and more. Access to MKN support includes a telephone helpline, support groups, career pathway counseling, educational development, multicultural family events, access to multicultural kids’ network center for family health and social stability convening to discuss all the important factors from an African standpoint meaning staying in the collectivism system as our African Culture is. Multicultural Kids Network is a recognized 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization founded in Minnesota by Mame Samba Fall. Mr. Fall has long been passionate about Multicultural populations in regard to integrating family systems, social issues, and economic access opportunities. In 2000 Samba Fall moved to Minneapolis from Dakar Senegal and worked at the Office of Multicultural Services for Hennepin County as an outreach liaison for West African communities. During this time at Hennepin County he discovered the prevalence of African immigrants who lacked access and opportunities within the community. Although there are resources that Hennepin County did offer, access was hindered by cultural barriers and the need for increased support and information made available for African families such as understanding their boundaries when it comes to health and wellness. Upon further observation and research as school district staff member for Robinsdale Schools serving the African communities, he realized that an astonishing number of African children in the Unites States were raised by relatives, both formally andinformally without a strong connection to their African values in able to live a healthy and productive life. This being a significant motivator, Mr. Fall founded the Multicultural Kids Network to provide much needed cultural resources, economic access opportunities, and peer-to-peer support for dedicated African families working tirelessly to raise their children in the United States. He also realized the importance of keeping these multicultural children both connected to other kids within their new communities in a healthy and safe network that values the most common health practices that are still being use today all over Africa where many of the parents came from, while valuing the heritage of African children born in the United States and beyond. Samba Fall holds a degree from the University of Minnesota. He received a University of Minnesota Award Certificate for high achievement, and academic excellence. He has been the only Paolo Freire International Grant Recipient for the University of Minnesota in 2002, which allowed him to travel to Africa (in Senegal and Gambian) to work for with local African families. These community based projects centered on African socioeconomic ways of surviving the poverty that face many African countries. This poverty is often the reason why their children are looking to immigrate to the western countries in addition to the environmental conditions that allow them to sustain life while hoping to have their descendants benefit from the healthy lifestyle that Africa can offer. The negative impact of capitalism and colonialism in Africa has adversely affected many lifestyles and opportunities for its residents, yet many have learned how the power of the social capital in Africa has been maintained and can inspire many African immigrants living in the United States. Many of these immigrants can refer back to life long lessons from their ancestors and use it in their new homes where their children will be raised with both traditional and African cultural influences. They can maintain healthy lifestyles while nurturing their family and bring an added value to their host country in community self-care that many of them were born into all over Africa. In the United States Multicultural Kids Network mission and vision is based on the fundamental beliefs of its founder. This is to create and sustain a healthy lifestyle for all immigrant populations yet focusing on the African and African American populations. These families may be missing many of the positive attributes that come from living inMinnesota and the rest of American because of cultural barriers, mistrust, misinformation and the structural dysfunction endured every day as immigrants. Multicultural Kids Network and its founder recently completed the Star-Lite training where we learned the strategies for Trauma awareness and resilience from the Minnesota PeaceBuilding Leadership Institute. This training is an added value to the work that we do as it will help the organization decipher many of the unrecognized symptoms that our community members are developing now as newly arrived immigrant population. In 2003, Samba developed an increase awareness to the danger that the immigrant communities will face while working the Children of Torre de San Miguel Homes through the CommondBond Communities. As he worked to assist the children navigate their school work daily, he also bounded a relationship with their parents who were mostly undocumented Latinos families. He assisted them understand how to use the bus line and educated them on how to understand the map of the cities and where to call in case they are lost or don’t know how to get back to St-Paul from their prospect sites. Samba speaks five different languages including English, French, Italian, Russian, and his native tongue of Wolof. Mr. Fall is a happily married father of four children all US born that he is raising to ensure that they develop into being healthy productive children of the world raised in America. Multicultural Kids network is currently working closely with schools and healthcare organizations in the metro to build strong and healthy minority youth population. This has been done through African Healing drumming gatherings and education to help get the families to a healthy and better place to enjoy living in Minnesota, while helping others outside to the African community members learn new ways to take care of themselves and the families from this wealth of cultural healing. The below reportage from a community local television Published on Dec 28, 2015 articulate well: School is out for winter break and many families are struggling to find activities for their children. But finding activities or daycare can be really difficult if youhave a child with special needs. Quincy’s Fresh Beat Clubhouse and the Multicultural Kids Network are hoping to change that by offering activities for children with special needs. This week activities are being held at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Park.” In the north metro area it’s pretty much limited. There’s not a facility that I’ve been able to find,” said Donald Jackson. He started Quincy’s Fresh Beat Clubhouse because of his 17-year-old son Quincy, who has Down syndrome. “I wanted to change the stigma behind special needs,” said Jackson. The goal is to provide a safe, environment where the children can have fun and engage with other people. On Monday, the children participated in music therapy. Each child played beats on African Healing Drums. “When we get kids engaged in a therapy session of music, they’re being totally in their comfort zone. They’re opening all their pathways to learn,” said Multicultural Kids Network Founder, Samba Fall. He says, advocating for special needs children is personal. His daughter Fatime was born premature and suffered some developmental setbacks. He says socialization has made a huge difference. “She speaks three different languages,” said Fall. As for Fatime and the other children, you don’t have to guess if they are having a good time. The big, bright smiles on their faces says it all. Sonya Goins, reporting Twelve TV As in all over Africa, healing drumming is present and is a unique source of community building, Multicultural Kids Network brings this lively technique here in Minnesota not only to build and reconnect community, but also to give the many families that come from Africa a concerning for them to showcase their cultural healing power and share it with the community. As a result of this successful model we are able to bring unity many African families from various parts of Africa along with native Minnesotan friends to gather around the healing drums and benefit from them. Recently the MKN hosted in partnership with the Catalyst George Family Foundation and several African Diaspora health and wellness convening planning meetings in which many in the African community gathered to learn about the cultural health initiative inthe African Diaspora event being planned for the summer of 2016 in Brooklyn Park. This is just another way Multicultural Kids Network is engaging the African community to be part of the great integrative work being done in Minnesota. This is a critical activity to continue to build community and dispel the potential underlining assumption the African diaspora populations have not been part of. Similarly, MKN has also been in the Brooklyn Park Community activity center throughout 2015 and 2016 promoting health focused on the African healing drumming to decrease the skepticism of the power of the drum and build a better community while helping many affected families regain better health. Below is an excerpt of a recent article published on January 20, 2016 in Brooklyn Park highlighting the need for more cultural awareness and initiatives addressing health disparities in Minnesota: Youthful, growing and global. Those are three ways to describe Brooklyn Park according to a new study on the future of the city. The report by the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council shows the city continues to grow in population, diversity and is getting younger. “Brooklyn Park is a good place to be,” said Mame Samba Fall, founder of the Multicultural Kids Network. According to the report, 42 percent of births in Brooklyn Park between 2003 and 2013 were to foreign-born moms. “Brooklyn Park, I believe compared to many other cities, is a good place for immigrants,” said Samba Fall, who is from Senegal in West Africa. Projected population spike Brooklyn Park’s growth will continue too. Forecasts predict the city will have a population of 89,000 by 2030 – an increase of about 11,000 people. “It’s always been the plan to have this staged growth,” said Kim Berggren, Brooklyn Park’s community development director. “There’s available land here still, pretty close into the city. So we do expect as we build out we’ll see additional residents moving into Brooklyn Park and our population will grow substantially.” Brooklyn Park also has a youthful side. The report shows that 31 percent of the city’s population is younger than 19 years old. By comparison Hennepin County’s youth population is 25 percent. “It makes Brooklyn Park a really vibrant community to have a young population,” Berggren said. “[Thereare] a lot of dynamics in our youth population, and in our youth athletics and youth opportunities.” Eric Nelson, reporting Twelve TV (http://www.facebook.com/12localnews)