Ghana family gives thanks for home they found in Harlem
NEW YORK - As we gather in gratitude this holiday season, one family from Ghana has come to call Harlem home. The support they found through an affordable apartment 30 years ago has granted them generational growth.
Bello Mohammed and his family start every day praying towards Mecca. The ritual resounds with even more reverence on Thanksgiving.
"I pray five times a day, but a specific, special day for Thanksgiving?" Mohammed declared. "To whom? To God! And I say, God bless America."
As a man who arrived in New York with a sixth grade education, there are many thanks to give as his children gather around. Aisha, 28, holds a degree from Brown while her brothers 25-year-old Mahmood and 22-year-old Abdul earned theirs from Emory and Harvard, respectively.
"Even going to middle school, completing that, secondary school, completing that, we were already the first to do that in our family, so it was kind of just like this is the next thing," Abdul said.
Mohammed's wife Zainab Umar eventually joined him, and three kids later, their living situation was growing tight as they all slept in a friend's extra room.
"We needed an apartment that we can raise our kids," Mohammed emphasized .
Finding their home in Harlem
They found out about an opportunity at the Dorothy Day Apartments, owned by the nonprofit Broadway Housing Communities.
"They asked us to come see the building," Mohammed remembered. "That day, I'm very, very happy."
The children cheering after choosing their rooms, the welcome was even warmer when staff at the building brought them the first fixings for a Thanksgiving feast for free.
At the time, the BHC model to include early childhood education and arts programming on site was considered groundbreaking.
"Families become stabilized and they can actualize a lot of their dreams in these settings," explained BHC executive director Charlene Melville.
Melville said what started as supportive housing for the formerly homeless evolved into holistic support, encouraging everyone in the Mohammed family to explore their talents.
"Despite her not finishing elementary school and stuff like that, I remember my mom helping me with math," said Aisha, "and she's really good at math, which is really amazing to see."
Workshops at the apartments allowed Aisha to help renowned Harlem artist Faith Ringgold build a quilt that still hangs on the first floor, where she now works in the front office.
These days, the organization's Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Storytelling showcases exhibits that encourage conversations around complex cultural concepts.
"We really believe by taking those steps now we're building future activists, the ones who will advocate for us later on," Melville said.
Mohammed dropped out of school at age 11 to help raise his siblings when his father died. Now his children are living his wildest dreams.
As a business consultant, Abdul still channels his creativity through poetry. Mahmood manages multimillion-dollar bank accounts.
"We know the foundation our parents laid," Mahood said. "Now it's just about taking that foundation and creating a legacy from that."
"I'm so happy," Zainab said. "I'm so proud of all of them."
"Thanksgiving, it's not a religion," added Mohammed. "It's appreciating. We appreciate what God gives to us. Thank God. Thanksgiving. To whom? To God!"
Now grandchildren fill the air with laughter, a new generation growing in the home they made in Harlem.
The Mohammed family is one example of what is possible with access to enriching engagement within affordable housing. Right now across New York, the city is building its own new public housing developments that follow this model, while implementing innovative sustainability solutions to address climate change as well.
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