Associate Professor in Practice of Urban Planning Harvard University / Graduate School of Design

On behalf of the entire second semester MUP core studio, I would like to sincerely thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to our review last Wednesday. I'm sorry we didn't overlap much, but I know that the students learned a lot from your thoughtful feedback. We hope to see you back in Lowell in the near future!

Greely Scholar for Peace Studies

I was so moved and inspired by the community work I was able to witness. A multi-generational and multi-national group, learning together, speaking openly and honestly of difficulties and challenges, and supporting each other through them. 

The center has so many programs -- after-school tutoring, refugee assistance and community integration, mediation, and is also dedicated to sharing the rich cultures and knowledge of African community members with the rest of Lowell. Gordon is a true community member and leader -- so warm, enthusiastic, thoughtful, and tireless in his dedication. It’s a gift to know him, and to see all the African Community Center of Lowell has been able to accomplish already.

University of Ghana

The idea of an African Community Centre comes as a great innovation and a clear understanding of the challenges, drawbacks and hopes of the African who finds oneself uprooted from home in the wilderness of exile and migration. 

The African Community Centre has become a rallying point, a family house, for Africans, Americans, Asians etc. migrants and natives, and those suffering from as well as those benefitting from migration. It has created a warm forum for discussing and helping people to deal with the myriad of problems relating to displacement.

Assistant Professor of Psychology, UML Peace and Conflict Studies Program

The African Community Center of Lowell is an impressive example of grassroots civic and community advocacy that is responsive to the cartographies of people’s struggles. The African Community Center of Lowell serves a very critical need in the local community as a cultural and community center that is anchored in the experiences of those it purports to support. While the emphasis is on providing direct services to families whenever possible for connecting them to appropriates resources/services, the center is steadfast in its commitment to peace and conflict advocacy and involvement/solidarity with social justice struggles in the wider community. It is inspiring to see a new center with few resources navigate complex issues while unwavering in their work with refugee families.

Founder and Executive Director, Mr. Gordon Halm has used his own experiences of being a immigrant in this country to emerge as a highly respected and beloved community leader in the African diaspora in the greater Lowell area. I have had the honor of having Mr. Halm in my class, which offered a glimpse into his trials and tribulations as a refugee and how he continues to draw upon those experiences to work relentlessly to build the kinds of supports and structures for new refugee families. I recently brought my graduate Advanced Community Dynamics class to ACCL where Mr. Halm facilitated an interesting and educational session on migration. Students learned a lot from the session and were especially struck by the ways in which he constantly engages people and communities, including his detractors. They recognize the authenticity, the genuine care for fellow humans, and the skills that are necessary to engage people what appears to be an effortless manner, and hope to aspire toward these ideals in their own community engagement. 

.

Tutor and Summer School Teacher

I very much enjoyed working with the students at the ACCL summer school. I taught students about science. It was challenging to use basic words to describe complex ideas. We worked on vocabulary as we read and talked about measurement, electricity, magnets, and astronomy. We did hands-on activities such as testing conductivity of materials, building circuits with LEDs, and finally building a pinhole viewer for the upcoming solar eclipse. I enjoyed meeting students and watching them read and speak English with more confidence.