The daily prayer can be heard over the crackling speakers reverberating off walls lined with ornate fabrics in the Global Mall, one of many Somali business hubs based in the Linden neighborhood.
Linden has the largest Somali community in Columbus, said Mahdi Taakilo, CEO of Somali Community Link and publisher of the Somali Link Newspaper.
It’s because of this that Taakilo is planning to open the newest and largest Somali Community Link office at the end of June at 3431 Cleveland Ave. Services will include business development, housing assistance, after-school programs, translation, legal assistance and more.
Taakilo explained that the community center has helped most of the Somali-owned local businesses in the area, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Asad Ahmed, who owns a local trucking business, said the center has helped him. He’s looking forward to the new location.
“[It’s] very nice,” Ahmed said. “Beautiful place.”
Somali Community Link’s newest office will employ 17 full-time employees and serve as a corporate headquarters of sorts.
The organization’s Banadir Shopping Center location at Britains Lane is surrounded by Somali clothing businesses, barber shops, cafes and resources for families to send money home to Somalia. It consists of five full-time employees, and Taakilo said about 850 people have received rental assistance in two months through this location. Funding comes from donations, endowments and governmental agencies.
Taakilo said the organization’s after-school programs include food assistance, which serves 600 to 800 students a day. Additionally, about $2.8 million has been distributed through the rental assistance program. Taakilo said he often sees a long line each morning at the offices, with people from of many ethnicities.
The Somali Community Association of Ohio estimates there are about 45,000 to 50,000 Somalis in Columbus, making it a city with one of the largest Somali populations in the United States. Other Columbus-based Somali resources include SomaliCAN, which works to address concerns such as lowering high school dropout rates and establishing scholarships, and Buckeye Ranch’s Somali youth program.
