Identity, Community, and Mental Well-being Among Ethiopians in Spokane, Washington
Faculty Mentor
Andrew Mitchel
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
4-14-2026 9:00 AM
End Date
4-14-2026 11:00 AM
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Anthropology
Abstract
Immigrants and their children who settle and grow up in non-gateway cities face unique challenges: they have limited access to culturally appropriate services, they live in neighborhoods with few fellow co-nationals, and they experience social isolation due this weaker co-ethnic support system (Jiménez, 2008, Birman & Salo, 2013, Green et al., 2024, Hasnain, et. al, 2024) Immigrant youth have less access to cultural spaces, and this impacts their identity formation; I will focus especially on its impact on mental health. This project will examine the cultural spaces that create and promote Ethiopian identity in Spokane, Washington. I will focus on the following questions: How does access to cultural spaces promote better mental well-being? How do ethnic enclaves and opportunities for community interaction within one’s ethnic group contribute to the formation of how someone culturally identifies? To explore these questions, I will compose a literature review to showcase the varied experiences of immigrant communities and the spaces created to promote cultural transmission and connection. Additionally, I will travel throughout the Spokane County and visit explicitly Ethiopian spaces throughout the area, including three restaurants and a church to take photos and observe these spaces. I will travel to these spots to show how representations of Ethiopian identity are conveyed to wider audiences and the variation between each place. The goal of this research is to highlight the importance of community and how access to these spaces designated to specific cultural groups can strengthen mental well-being.
Recommended Citation
Tadesse, Addiswa, "Identity, Community, and Mental Well-being Among Ethiopians in Spokane, Washington" (2026). 2026 Symposium. 13.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2026/ps_2026/p1_2026/13
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Identity, Community, and Mental Well-being Among Ethiopians in Spokane, Washington
PUB NCR
Immigrants and their children who settle and grow up in non-gateway cities face unique challenges: they have limited access to culturally appropriate services, they live in neighborhoods with few fellow co-nationals, and they experience social isolation due this weaker co-ethnic support system (Jiménez, 2008, Birman & Salo, 2013, Green et al., 2024, Hasnain, et. al, 2024) Immigrant youth have less access to cultural spaces, and this impacts their identity formation; I will focus especially on its impact on mental health. This project will examine the cultural spaces that create and promote Ethiopian identity in Spokane, Washington. I will focus on the following questions: How does access to cultural spaces promote better mental well-being? How do ethnic enclaves and opportunities for community interaction within one’s ethnic group contribute to the formation of how someone culturally identifies? To explore these questions, I will compose a literature review to showcase the varied experiences of immigrant communities and the spaces created to promote cultural transmission and connection. Additionally, I will travel throughout the Spokane County and visit explicitly Ethiopian spaces throughout the area, including three restaurants and a church to take photos and observe these spaces. I will travel to these spots to show how representations of Ethiopian identity are conveyed to wider audiences and the variation between each place. The goal of this research is to highlight the importance of community and how access to these spaces designated to specific cultural groups can strengthen mental well-being.
