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Neville Powell with his U.S. Citizenship certificate.

In 2022, the CCF embarked on a multi-media educational and informational campaign designed to raise awareness of the work and impact of the Foundation and the Chaldean community in general. The campaign, in motion at this time, also seeks to underscore the inclusiveness of the community and how it is interwoven into the very fabric of Metro Detroit – including serving more than 40,000 individuals each year from 58 countries of origin.

Neville Powell was one of those over 40,000 individuals visiting CCF, seeking assistance in becoming a U.S. Citizen. Neville, a culinary wizard and Sterling Heights entrepreneur whose first love is food, goes by “Chef Nev.” Growing up in Jamaica, he learned about food by observing his grandparents, who were herbalists cultivating a farm, known for their cooking skills.

At first cooking was simply a hobby as Chef Nev earned an engineering degree and began working full-time. Looking for more opportunity, he emigrated to England and eventually the U.S., finally landing in Michigan. Gaining a job by utilizing his engineering degree, Chef Nev found work with a local Chaldean owned business. His employer suggested he visit the CCF and take the steps to become a U.S. Citizen.

Chef Nev shared he had a restaurant, Caribbean Authentic Cuisine. The restaurant is located on 16 Mile Road and features a variety of Caribbean traditional dishes including braised oxtail, curry goat, curry chicken, yams, coconut rice and the Jamaican staple – fried plantain.

Every individual that enters the CCF doors has a story, a background, a journey. We capture where that person came from, how many people are in their family, and their employment, along with other general information. Often, CCF clients and their families enroll in programs and the staff gets to know a bit more about them. Congratulations to Chef Nev, Neville Powell, on achieving his dream of becoming a U.S. Citizen.