CRETE – It took ten years of work, but now the city of Crete has been awarded a national designation that recognizes efforts to improve the lives of everyone who lives there – regardless of where they come from. It’s a significant achievement, especially in the face of a national push against ideals like diversity and equity.  

A ten-year long journey for the city of Crete culminated in a celebration at the end of February, where the city was officially christened a 2-star Certified Welcoming City by nationwide organization Welcoming America. Crete is the first city in the state of Nebraska to earn this distinction, which is a reflection of the city’s commitment to the values of equity and inclusion for all of its citizens. 

“The Certified Welcoming designation certifies that a community has in place the type of policies, practices and programs that you would expect in order for a community to be welcoming for all of its residents, including immigrants, to feel that they belong and can thrive, and that they are committed to continuing that work, not just in the effort of earning the designation, but in expanding on that work over time,” said Briana Broberg, Welcoming America’s senior Midwest regional manager. 

Not only is Crete the first city in Nebraska to attain this status, it’s the first place in this part of the Midwest to do, and it’s by far the smallest, most rural entity to earn the recognition – most of the two dozen other recognized communities across the country are massive U.S. cities like Baltimore, Dallas or New Orleans, and the only other recognized places close to Nebraska are Tulsa and Champaign, Illinois. 

Broberg said evaluators consider many standards when awarding this distinction, including a city’s economic development, equitable access, and government leadership, and cities can apply to re-certify their status every four years. Crete’s efforts earned them a 2-star distinction, and Broberg described their rating process as less like a Yelp review – where one- or two-star ratings are failing grades – and more like a Michelin rating, where earning even one star is a major accomplishment. 

Crete has been working towards this distinction since 2015 – and now, this recognition is the result of a collaborative effort from within the Crete city government working alongside local organizations as well as statewide initiatives such as Nebraska Appleseed, which works with local communities to help them become more inclusive, or Nebraska’s Commission of Latin Americans, which serves as a link between Nebraska’s Latino citizens and their local governments. 

“Sometimes we work with nonprofits, city governments, health industry professionals, and they always ask how can we be more welcoming and inclusive, either to people who are new to the community, or maybe they’ve been here for a while but they still don’t know how to navigate certain services, or get connected to community events like this one,” said Eric Garcia-Mendez, one of Nebraska Appleseed’s welcoming coordinators. 

“We serve by providing information back and forth, providing the point of view of the Latino community which is sometimes complicated to do because we in the Latino community are pretty diverse,” said Maria Arriaga, executive director of the NCLA. “But we try to do the best that we can to provide accurate information for the government to know what is happening and how we can improve the life of the Latinos [in the state]. At the end of the day, they are constituents of Nebraska, they are Nebraskans, growing with the values of Nebraska.” 

Latino Americans make up a large portion of Crete’s population, but in working to earn this recognition the city also joined forces with groups that serve many other citizens – and prospective citizens – of all different ethic backgrounds. That includes working to offer citizenship classes with the Lincoln-based Asian Community and Cultural Center, which serves emigrants from all across Asia, Africa and Europe. 

“Our teachers are really great about walking them through that, helping them study for the 100 civics questions on the rest, helping them practice the interview questions and skills. We help them practice reading, writing and speaking in English as well, because they’re going to have to do all of that in front of the interview officer,” said Joy Oyebefun, an essential resources program manager with the ACCC. “At naturalization ceremonies, I cry every time, because the students have worked so hard to get there, and just seeing them achieve that is really special.” 

Crete might be the first city in Nebraska to officially earn this status, but there are many other similar plans in place going on across the state. Lincoln is actively in the process of applying for this particular recognition, and other larger cities like Grand Island have many initiatives to help support their diverse local populations. But all the guests at Friday’s celebration said there was something special about this part of the state, and the people in it.  

“I’ve been seeing a lot of hard work, initiatives, projects, programs that are created for everyone, to be accessible for everyone, and I think that is very important, because even though this is not a super big city, it’s example that if there is a group willing to do the work, it’s going to happen,” Arriaga said. “Crete has been implementing all these different events, but not just events for the sake of having an event or to celebrate, but events with meaning, bringing in important speakers to provide resources for the community, the parents even. That is something that more communities need to replicate in order to feel more welcome around the state.” 

“Crete has been doing this work for a while now. And one thing that Nebraska Appleseed always talks about is, there must be something in the water in Crete – they just have this innate welcoming and inclusive spirit, and we just have noticed that while partnering with and working with them along this pathway,” Garcia-Mendez said. 

This newly-awarded status serves to highlight the work accomplished at the local level to make citizens of all backgrounds feel like they belong, a significant step in the face of a national push away against immigration and diversity.  

“I think what it demonstrates is what we see at Welcoming America every day – there is welcoming happening across communities, that people have been and will continue to be welcoming of immigrants and all residents of their community,” Broberg said. “Even if the national narrative is saying something different, we see at the local and state level all across the country, that people really do want to be welcoming, they want all of their neighbors to feel that they belong in their communities.” 

“There’s a lot of noise out there, but right now the momentum – you just look around this room and people feel like they belong, and that’s what matters, right?” Garcia-Mendez said. “None of that is changing. There might be other stuff that is changing, but the fact that we’re going to be inclusive and welcoming, that’s not going to change.” 

And Crete’s commitment to inclusivity and acceptance for all of its citizens isn’t likely to change anytime soon either.