WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sunayana Dumala’s husband, Srinivas Kuchibohtla, was killed in an alleged hate crime incident. She was invited by her local congressman to attend the State of the Union address by President Donald Trump.
She wanted to use that opportunity to raise awareness.
Hopeful her voice will be heard by members of Congress in Washington D.C., she’s also hoping to help those who have less of a voice.
She started a program to help communicate with those who are or want to be in this country.
“What is it we can do? There is this misconception that foreign nationals are taking jobs - or this is a misconception that led to Srinu’s incident. What is it we can do to bring that awareness,” she said.
Sunayana, in partnership with her employer, Intouch Solutions, just announced a response to her tragedy: Forever Welcome.
Forever Welcome holds a goal to help ensure the U.S. is a safe place for current and future immigrant generations to pursue their dreams. The initiative, designed to raise awareness of immigrants’ contributions to our society, shares immigrants’ stories through social media storytelling.
It imparts to them that they are “forever welcome” in the United States.
They have a Facebook page set up to communicate with others about this effort. It is www.facebook.com/foreverwelcome1
Rep. Kevin Yoder and Sunayana wear Forever Welcome buttons
Sunayana and a member of her work team created makeshift buttons for her to take to Washington. They didn’t want to miss the opportunity to debut their new initiative.
Their plan worked.
Congressman Kevin Yoder wore one of the buttons and he said at least a dozen congressional members asked him about it. Sunayana wore hers, too, and talked about it when she got the chance.
Yoder worked to get Sunayana a moment of time with several congressional members: Speaker Paul Ryan, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Congressman Patrick McHenry, and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
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