From Afghanistan to Cleveland

Cleveland has always been shaped by people who brought a piece of home with them. You can taste it in the restaurants and markets along West 117th Street, see it throughout the Cleveland Cultural Gardens and experience it all in one place during One World Day. For Surraya, who moved here from Afghanistan with her husband and six children in 2024, those connections helped make a brand-new city feel like theirs.

For Surraya, Cleveland feels most like home when her family is together on their front porch. When she can watch her children play safely. When she goes to work. When her children head to school. When her family can plan for the future instead of worrying about what comes next.

“We can still be Afghan, keep our culture and traditions and at the same time feel that we are building a life here in Cleveland,” she said.

Pieces of Home, All Around Cleveland

One of the first things Surraya noticed about Cleveland was how green it was. We aren’t called the Forest City for nothing. The trees, parks and open spaces stood out immediately. Now, her family joins the rest of Cleveland at Edgewater Beach on any given sunny day, no matter the season. When they’re showing friends and family around their new hometown, the iconic West Side Market is another favorite.

Cleveland has given Surraya new places to love without asking her to leave the familiar behind. The stretch of Lorain Avenue West 117^th and West 130^th streets, international markets, halal stores and restaurants make it possible to try something new while staying connected to familiar foods and traditions. For some, it’s the place to try something new. For many others, it tastes like home. Surraya shops at Kabul Market and Holyland International Market and stops into Reef Al Yemen and Ohio Kabob Grill (further west) when she wants a taste of home.

“I like that in Cleveland we can build a new life without having to completely leave those parts of ourselves behind,” she said.

Melaak Rashid works with international newcomers through Smart Development and knows these seemingly small discoveries can mean everything to someone who has left nearly everything familiar behind. A favorite ingredient, a shared language or another family with a similar background can help an unfamiliar city begin to feel like their own.

There’s No ONE Way to Be a Clevelander

Being a Clevelander isn’t measured by how long you’ve lived here or how many winters you’ve survived, although making it through one certainly helps. It happens through the life you build, the people you meet and the ways you show up for your community.

“Welcome is what happens when you arrive,” Melaak said. “Belonging is what happens when people begin to recognize that this city is theirs too.”

For Surraya, belonging means working, raising her children and creating a future here while holding onto the culture and traditions her family brought with them. She wants people to see what happens after families receive their first round of support.

“Sometimes people only hear about refugees or newcomers when they first arrive and need assistance,” Surraya said. “They do not always see what happens afterward. Families begin working, children grow up here, parents become homeowners, people start businesses and eventually they help other families who arrive after them. I think those stories are an important part of Cleveland too.”

They aren’t separate from Cleveland’s story. They are helping write what comes next.

Where Cleveland’s Cultures Come Together

Culture isn’t something Cleveland saves for special occasions, but we certainly know how to throw a party. Since arriving, Surraya and her children have attended World Refugee Day, an Eid celebration at Cleveland Public Library and One World Day at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens.

One World Day begins with one of its most meaningful traditions as new U.S. citizens take the oath and officially begin their next chapter. Then, the party gets going. The Parade of Flags fills the Cleveland Cultural Gardens with color and pride while music, dancing and live performances keep the celebration moving. Add food from around the world, art, family activities and plenty of chances to join in, and it’s easy to see why she attended with her family last year and plans to return.

The free celebration takes over the Cultural Gardens on Aug. 30, 2026. Come hungry, bring the family and get ready to experience a whole world of culture without leaving Cleveland.

Home, Little by Little

“Cleveland began to feel like home little by little,” Surraya said. “There was not one single moment.”

Her advice to anyone beginning again is to be patient, accept support and not judge the future by the difficulty of the first few months. Two years later, she and her husband are working, their children are settled in school, and their family can plan for what comes next while holding onto the traditions they brought from Afghanistan.

Sometimes becoming a Clevelander doesn’t happen in one big moment. It happens little by little, until one day you look around and realize The Land is yours, too.