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During a 2024 visit to Santa Fe, Dr. Alireza Nurbakhsh, founder of the Sufi Service Committee, set out a vision: to grow food for the local American Indian community. To make it happen, the SSC formed an Agriculture Land Use subcommittee, knowing from the start this would be a long-term effort in the challenging high-desert climate.

Throughout 2024 we shaped the vision, mission, and goals, and in 2025 we began building a small local farm, working with three permaculture specialists to design greenhouse growing suited to the area.

Now in 2026 our first crops have arrived, and our first food gifts are going to the Santa Fe Indigenous Center. Our next delivery will include lettuces, spinach, carrots, radishes, bunching onions, snow peas, sugar snap peas, and fresh herb bundles.

The Nur Foundation, the social-work arm of the Nematollāhí Sufi Center in Mexico, has begun working with CASA, the Center for Adolescents in San Miguel de Allende.

With help from volunteers, many of them Sufis from different countries, we assist with feeding five- and six-year-olds under a nutritionist’s guidance, teach English classes, and provide entertainment, school supplies, and walkers. We also helped renovate and repaint the library.

Founded 40 years ago, CASA supports women facing domestic violence, low-income families, and teenagers steered away from violence through art and music. It runs entirely on volunteers and donations.

There’s a new birthing room at the Centre de Santé Javad Nurbakhsh (CSJN) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. This welcome addition will strengthen our pre- and post-natal care program.

We’re happy to share that the Fondation Dr Javad Nurbakhsh has completed the renovation of the Centre de Santé Javad Nurbakhsh (CSJN) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The buildings have been modernized, with new work and storage areas added.

By purchasing a small neighboring plot of land, we were able to expand the vaccination center and add a small car park. We also upgraded the drainage system, which has finally solved the recurring problem of water infiltration.

The Fondation Javad Nurbakhsh sponsored an Open House Day at the Centre de Santé Javad Nurbakhsh (CSJN) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. We invited our neighbors to join us, learn how to improve their health, take advantage of discounted health check-ups, and find out more about the Fondation’s work in the area.

It was a wonderful chance to spend time with the community we serve.

A concert of Persian Sufi music and poetry will take place on Saturday May 12, 2018 at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. The concert will feature two master musicians Houman Pourmehdi (tanbur) and Javad Butah (tabla).

All proceeds will benefit the Santa Fe Indian Center, which provides essential services and support for Native American youth and families in Santa Fe County, New Mexico.

Children’s mental health is a serious issue of public health concern that has been largely ignored.  A national surveillance conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from 1994-2011 on the mental health in children shows that about 13% to 20% of children in the United States experience mental and behavioral health disorders in a given year.  This is an important public health issues, which if not addressed appropriately and early on will have more severe consequences later on.  The sad reality is that currently, suicide is amongst the most common causes of death in children 12-17 year-old in the United States.

To address this societal challenge, SSC – Wisconsin has launched a program to provide small grants to support individuals who pursue an education to develop careers which would ultimately support the mental health development of children and youth. These small grants are intended to cover either a portion of the tuition or the cost of books for one term and is paid directly to the applicant. They are meant for individuals who lack appropriate funding to support their education.

To learn more about the grant program, CLICK HERE.

December saw a tremendous amount of clothes sorting for Sufi Service Committee and conveniently so, considering the winter season. For the first three Sundays of December, volunteers gathered at Noor Oriental Rugs to partake in the proprietor’s delicious brunch servings as well as to sort donated clothes by age, gender, and size. The clothing donation project is of particular importance this month as many of the city’s homeless are in dire straits due to the combination of homelessness and frigid weather. After sorting the clothes on the first Sunday of December, volunteers descended upon the streets of downtown Boston to distribute clothing for those in need. Steve, Danny, Bill, Michael, Peter, Stephen, and Aiden were some of the core volunteers of this charitable and praiseworthy endeavor. In addition to the clothes, they also sorted donated kitchenware, bedsheets, and toys. Steve provided some musical accompaniment on guitar to help while everyone worked. After sorting, volunteers took clothes, sheets, toys, and silverware to the corner of Mass Ave and Melnea Cass Boulevard, where another organization was running a soup kitchen. People were thrilled with the donations, particularly the blankets and jackets, which disappeared very quickly. Other involved organizations that day and throughout the month were Second Chances, Heading Home, and Housing Families.