Dec. 13, 2018 -- Draupadi Pradhan, a CH-UH parent who serves as an interpreter and advocate for Nepali refugee families in the community, has been honored as a Door Opener by the Heights Library Foundation. 

The honor recognizes those who have made a sustained, outstanding contribution to the Cleveland Heights-University Heights community by promoting literacy or by educating through literacy. 

From the Heights Library Foundation: "Pradhan, a Nepali refugee, works tirelessly to help the refugee community in Cleveland Heights. She has served as an interpreter, advocate, and liaison and has been instrumental in working with the Noble Neighborhood Branch Library staff to offer services for refugees."

 

The awards were inspired by the Heights Libraries’ mission of “Opening Doors, Opening Minds.” A Door Opener is someone who provides access to education, literature, and opportunity through literacy. A Mind Opener is someone who stimulates the minds of community members through literature and thoughtful discussion, or connections with though provoking ideas or individuals. 

 

Pradhan and her fellow award recipients, Suzanne De Gaetano and Rachel Wayne Nelson, were officially inducted at a dinner banquet in November.