(Fort Wayne, Ind.) -- The Board of Directors of Crime Victim Care of Allen County, Inc. (CVC) is pleased to announce that it has completed the first phase of its rebranding initiative and adopted a new name for the organization. The change serves the purpose of identifying the expansion of its services over the years and highlights its role in multicultural family services.

The new name is Amani Family Services with the tagline “Supporting Our Multicultural Community.”

The rebranding process was led by a board/community committee which included: Mary Tyndall (Board member and committee chair), Jane DeHaven (Board member), Steve Hoffman (BrightPoint), Marcia Haaff (Lutheran Foundation), and Meg Distler (St. Joseph Community Health Foundation).

The rebranding committee considered the opinions of Board, staff, community, and clients through several focus group meetings and surveys. The overwhelming consensus was to adopt a new name for the agency that better reflected the depth of its programming. The name Amani Family Services provides a strong opportunity to emphasize multicultural family services with a word, “amani,” which means “peace” in Kiswahili and “aspirations” or “wishes” in Arabic. It also recognizes the language spoken by the agency’s founder Dr. Saneta Maiko, originally from Kenya.

Amani Family Services Inc. is a private nonprofit organization serving more than 500 families and individuals from around the world who have made Allen County their home. It’s one of the largest nonprofit agencies serving immigrants and refugees in the area, offering four programs, and employing approximately 45 multilingual staff members and contractors. Amani Family Services has also updated its mission and vision to reflect the growth and changes in services.

The new vision is: “Immigrant and refugee families and the community working together to build a secure, vibrant, and cohesive society.” The new mission is: “We partner with immigrant and refugee families and the community to promote safety, encourage personal growth, and foster a spirit of belonging.”

“We’re excited about the way this new identity reflects our work and supports our distinctive role within the community,” says Amani Family Services Board President Tom Trent.

“While our name has changed,” says Amani Family Services Executive Director Irene Paxia, “this is not a change in direction. Over the past 10 years the agency has shifted organically from a victim service provider to, more comprehensively, a family service provider devoted to promoting understanding between cultures, safety, and well-being.”