Corporation for Public Broadcasting Fiscal Year 2009

Nashville Public Television showed Nashville as a destination city for immigrants and refugees through a series of four Next Door Neighbors documentaries, a project Web site at wnpt.net, community forums, screenings, and literacy outreach. The first two installments were on the Kurdish and Somali communities in Nashville, which claim the first Kurdish mosque in the United States. The third program explored the city’s Hispanic community, which has grown eightfold in the last 15 years. The final program examined the birth of Nashville’s Bhutanese community, providing a picture of the initial refugee resettlement experience through the stories and challenges the Bhutanese faced. Next Door Neighbors was funded by CPB’s Local Services Initiative in 2007, with additional support by the HCA Foundation and the Nissan Foundation. Community partners included Vanderbilt University, Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Charities, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and the Welcoming Tennessee Initiative.