IFN Monthly Community Chronicle
November 2018
IFN PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Assalam Alaikum Respected Brothers and Sisters
November has been a busy month for us and among other items, Allhamdullilah, here is what we were able to accomplish. Jazak Allah Khair for all committee members and volunteers for their hard work and dedication.
- A talk by Sr. Nancy/Imam Azfar on Etiquettes of Visiting the Sick and Introduction of an IFN Visitation Team
- IFN Mental Health Initiative
- IFN is now GOLD certified by MUHSEN
- Active voter registration at IFN in collaboration with other organizations
- Interfaith Thanksgiving Dinner at Village Church of Lincolnshire, more than 25 people of IFN attended this event.
- Participated In 2 vigil events after recent attack on Jewish synagogue
- Voters list was displayed in the lobby.
- Around 30-40 Jewish youth joined HSYC students to learn about Islam.
- New programs
- Toastmasters
- Community Potluck
- Podiatry Services in IFN Clinic
- Upcoming committees/programs
- Family Advocacy Committee
- IFN umrah program
- Quran & Science Academy
- Ethics Committee
CIOGC ANNUAL COMMUNITY DINNER
The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (United Voice of Muslims of Greater Chicago) promotes civic change through educating, engaging and empowering people. CIOGC hosted its 26th Annual Community Dinner on Saturday, November 17th, 2018. There were a thousand guests, including representatives of Chicago area muslims of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds as well as well known leaders of other faith communities and elected officials. CIOGC invites prominent national figures to speak at their annual community dinner and this year they had a very accomplished individual and dynamic leader to be the keynote speaker. This year's keynote speaker, Abdul El-Sayed who ran for Governor of Michigan popped into the national scene and got more than 30% of Michigan Democrats to vote for him. Although he did not win the race to become Governor, Dr.El-Sayed served as a health commissioner in Detroit where he rebuilt Detroit's Health Department. He was the youngest health official in a major US city. CIOGC thanked the members of the civic committee especially its Co-Chair, Irshad Khan who is from our IFN for their ongoing support to drive their message "Our Time... Our Vote" to the community. Many prominent members from our IFN community also joined the CIOGC annual community dinner.
Keynote Speaker Dr.Abdul El-Sayed
Civic Committee Co-Chair Irshad Khan
President Jaseem Anwer and Board of Trustees Vice Chairman Haris Jamil
Etiquettes of Visiting the Sick
IFN Mental Health Initiative Meeting
A presentation about the new IFN Mental Health Initiative was held on Sunday November 18th from 12:00pm to 1:00pm in the Banquet Hall .
This initiative is being developed by a subgroup of the IFN Health Committee,
in direct response to requests from IFN community Members to address the need for mental health at IFN. The presenters are Sister Nancy Romanchek and the IFN Mental Health Core Committee. Sister Nancy discussed about the prevalence of mental health disorders, gave an overview of the most commonly seen mental health conditions with treatment options and also discussed how to build resiliency in our Mosque community. The IFN Mental Health Initiative Committee chose to begin with 3 key projects at IFN in the new year; one for the men, one for the women, and one for the youth. She told about the vision for these projects and sign up for participation so as to participate in small group discussions to build groundwork for our community, for our mental health initiative at IFN.
The IFN Mental Health Initiative Core Committee members are:
Nancy Romanchek, Lead
Sadia Thiryayi
Kareema Abdullah
Mariam Eldeib
Omar Kazi
Jaweria Hamid
IFN Mental Health Awareness Event
Nancy Romanchek
Sadia Thiryayi
Kareema Abdullah
Omar Kazi
Mariam Eldieb
IFN MUHSEN(Muslims Understanding and Helping Special Education Needs) UPDATES
IFN was Silver Certified by MUHSEN in 2017 as IFN provided a room for special needs children for sensory breaks and their inclusion in classrooms, wheelchair accessibility through ramps and elevator for people with disabilities, disabilities awareness event, needs assessments survey for community at large, restroom and wudu accessibility,advertising of special needs services on masjid website along with information on programs available at IFN.
IFN MUHSEN went further and Provided Sign language interpretation for Eid Khutbahs, Eid prayer accessibility and designated room for families with special needs, made availability of Braille Quran at IFN Masjid, our youth were trained at a youth training event about disabilities interactions, we provided childcare for special needs kids at IFN’s fundraiser this year , regularly scheduled club for families with disabilities were integrated with Dar al Arqam, Quarterly Caregiver Support Group and Sibling Support Groups were started this year and so, on the basis of all this IFN has been GOLD CERTIFIED by MUHSEN THIS YEAR IN October 2018 Alhamdulillah.
IFN is GOLD CERTIFIED by MUHSEN
MUHSEN GOLD CERTIFIED
IFN MUHSEN TEAM
YOUTH FROM SYNAGOGUE
The High School Youth Core Program runs every Sunday at IFN and is specifically designed for Muslim high school students. They have field trips arranged by their faculty and staff and is run by the HSYC Chair Oghay Khirzai. The mission of HSYC is to foster a sense of Islamic identity in the youth so that they can engage and empower themselves to actively practice their faith in our society.
HSYC had organized a field trip to the Turkish American Society of Chicago in Mount Prospect in October where high school youth core students enjoyed the Turkish food festival at the Center, learnt about Ebru/water marbling and much more about the cultural diversity at the Turkish Mosque.
Imam Azfar invited Youth from the Synagogue along with Rabbi Ari to IFN where they along with the High School Youth Core students built their interfaith dialogue and connections.
IFN YOUTH COUNCIL
The IFN youth council is an assembly of dedicated young leaders who have many aspirations and big dreams for our masjid. Many of these leaders are active members of Muslim youth groups in their schools and colleges also.
The IFN Youth Council sold churros to raise funds for Orphans sponsored by Helping Hand. This Initiative was taken by Nabil Ahmed and Sehr Shaikh who are the leads, and supported by Amaan Rakhangi, Taha Tayyabi, Shayaan Shaikh and Abdullah Basith.
IFN TOASTMASTERS CLUB
The first IFN Toastmasters meeting was on Sunday, October 14th, 2018. Liz Sachnoff who is the current Public Relations Manager for District 30 will be serving as the IFN Toastmasters sponsor along with Patti Anderson, who is Division Director. They will be working closely with Khaudeja Bano who will be IFN Toastmasters club President. All IFN Toastmasters meetings are on two Sundays of the month on the main floor of the mosque.
IFN Toastmasters spend their time during their previous meetings discussing meeting roles, had exercises to build the club for effective meetings and practice table topics which is usually impromptu speaking to build confidence in the speakers. All participants received certificates for training in conducting effective meetings. At their regular meetings everyone has the opportunity to speak for prepared presentations as well as impromptu speaking and helpful evaluations. Please share in the excitement of our new club by bringing a guest on January 13th for a Toastmasters open house.
Please feel free to reach Khaudeja Bano at khaudeja@gmail.com or Liz at l.sachnoff@gmail.com and/or Patti Anderson at patti.anderson.d30@gmail.com.
Toastmasters Members
IFN Toastmasters Club
Toastmasters Members
Editor's Note
If you would like to share community achievements or celebrations, please email
Sadia Thiryayi at sadiathiryayi@gmail.com
Email: sadiathiryayi@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/SadiaThiryayi
Twitter: @smos77