Saying Goodbye to ACC's Resettlement Manger, Mani Dahal
ACC’s Resettlement Manager, Mani Dahal, stepped down from his position in December and has left the organization for a new opportunity. He will be greatly missed. Please read along to learn more about Mani’s refugee story and his impressive twelve year history as a staff member and manager at ACC.
Mani was born in Bhutan- a small country surrounded by the Himalayas, just east of Nepal and north of Bangladesh. In 1992, he was forced out of Bhutan and was relocated to a refugee camp in nearby Nepal. He stayed there until 2008. Throughout his sixteen years in Nepal, he awaited news of resettlement to a third country - somewhere that would grant him an official, permanent status.
Mani arrived in Colorado in the spring of 2008 and was resettled through ACC. Within a few months, ACC’s Job Developer, Hussen, secured him an entry-level job at a hotel. He accepted the job, not knowing that he’d soon become colleagues with Hussen and other staff at ACC. Mani, like many refugees, was educated- having received a Bachelor’s degree from North Bengal University in India before resettling to the U.S. The staff at ACC reassured him that this entry-level job at the hotel was temporary- just a first step.
Mani was a part of the first wave of Bhutanese refugees that arrived in Denver. He soon began volunteering to help his community, leading him to eventually be hired as an ACC Case Manager in 2010.
Mani explains, “From 2008-2014, Bhutanese were the main population- the majority of our arrivals were from this group.”
After three years as a Case Manager and a short period as a Job Developer, Mani moved into a management role in 2015 as the Employment Programs Manager. He then served as ACC’s Resettlement Programs Manager from late 2019 up until December 2021.
Mani was known for his peaceful, calm presence at the ACC office - an impressive feat considering the high-stress nature of his job. Most recently, he used his language skills to help many of the newly arrived Afghan families- explaining to them in Urdu the details of the refugee resettlement program.
Throughout the years, he continued to serve as a leader for the Bhutanese community in Colorado. In an ACC video clip, he discusses his journey towards home ownership, explaining how once others in his community saw him take the leap, it inspired a wave of Bhutanese homeowners across the Denver area.
Our Questions for Mani:
What was your favorite part about working at the ACC?
“I’m a people person. I continuously have a connection to people from different backgrounds, I’ll continue to love people.”
What’s next for you?
“ I am leaving ACC to work full-time with my businesses: Everest Home Care and Namaste Transportation. While I was at ACC, my co-founder, Som Baral, was running the businesses, so now I am joining him. Soon, we will also be starting Everest Adult Day Care.
We have 22 different ethnic groups in Everest Home Care right now. Because I have a good connection with different communities, I know everybody, not only my community, I know communities from different backgrounds. That was the key for this business. I have to know the people. While I was at ACC, I developed skills in human services that are helping me now in my businesses.”
We are grateful for Mani’s twelve years of service to ACC and to the refugee communities of Colorado, and we wish him all the best in his next chapter.
