Bhutanese Response Assistance Volunteer Effort (BRAVE)

The Bhutanese Response Assistance Volunteer Effort (BRAVE) is a volunteer-led crisis response organisation founded in 2020 by young Bhutanese-American refugees in Cleveland, Ohio. Created during the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver food, medical supplies, and public health information to immigrant families, BRAVE grew from a local initiative into a multi-city network spanning 13 cities across the United States. The project later incorporated as Connecting Cleveland Community (3C), a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and developed a custom mobile application through the founders' software company, Nebham LLC.

BRAVE was conceived by seven young Lhotshampa refugees who had arrived in the United States as children through the third-country resettlement programme. Its co-founders, brothers Hari Dahal and Gagan Dahal, had previously collaborated on community projects while students at Lincoln-West High School and Lakewood High School in Cleveland, where they launched the bilingual newspaper Connecting Cleveland in 2014. The ethos of youth-led service that animated the newspaper carried directly into the BRAVE project six years later.^[1]

Origins and Founding

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, Bhutanese immigrant families in Greater Cleveland were disproportionately affected. Many worked in frontline jobs in the service, logistics, and manufacturing industries and lived in congregate housing — conditions that heightened exposure to the virus. Language barriers made it difficult for families to access accurate public health information or navigate testing and vaccination systems.

The seven co-founders, drawing on their existing networks from the Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio (BCCO) and the broader Cleveland Bhutanese community, mobilised volunteers to deliver groceries, medical supplies, and multilingual COVID-19 guidance directly to families' doors. Volunteers were assigned roles as nurses, drivers, supply-chain workers, and shoppers. Within months, BRAVE had served over 300 Cleveland-area families, with more than 250 youth volunteers participating.^[2]

Expansion Across Ohio and Beyond

BRAVE rapidly expanded beyond Cleveland. Chapters were established in Akron, Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati across Ohio. The model was replicated in additional cities, eventually reaching 13 locations nationwide: Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, Erie, Pittsburgh, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Richmond, Aurora, Rochester, Nashville, and Charlotte. Each chapter operated with local volunteers who adapted the BRAVE framework to their community's specific needs.

In Akron, the chapter partnered with the North Akron Community Development Corporation to serve immigrant families in North Akron's diverse neighbourhoods. The Akron BRAVE chapter ran its own fundraising campaigns and coordinated with local agencies to distribute emergency supplies. The Nashville chapter, led by Middle Tennessee State University students, focused on the Bhutanese-Nepali community in the Nashville metropolitan area.^[3][4]

Technology and the BRAVE App

A distinctive feature of the BRAVE project was its purpose-built mobile application. Hari Dahal, who had been hired as a software developer by Microsoft, led the technical development. The app enabled new volunteers to register, receive role assignments, and coordinate deliveries. It was designed to be HIPAA-compliant, reflecting the sensitive nature of the health information being shared with families.

To sustain the technology effort, the founders established Nebham LLC, a software company intended to build similar volunteer-coordination platforms for other nonprofit organisations. The BRAVE Project app was made available on the Apple App Store and served as a proof of concept for Nebham's broader mission.^[5]

Incorporation and Legacy

The BRAVE project was formally incorporated as Connecting Cleveland Community, Inc. (3C), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The organisation received grants from Neighborhood Connections, Global Cleveland, and Refugee Response, enabling it to expand beyond emergency pandemic response into broader community-building programmes.

BRAVE represented a generational shift in the Bhutanese refugee community: it was conceived, led, and operated entirely by young people who had arrived in the United States as children and were now mobilising their bilingual skills, professional training, and community networks to serve their elders and peers during a crisis. The project demonstrated the capacity of the "1.5 generation" — those who immigrated as minors — to bridge the gap between their parents' refugee experience and American civic life.^[6]

See Also

• Connecting Cleveland (newspaper)
• Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio
• Bhutanese Diaspora in the United States
• Bhutanese Refugee Crisis

References

1. Spectrum News 1. "Cleveland Immigrants Launch BRAVE to Connect Families with Resources." December 2020. https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2020/12/02/cleveland-immigrants-launch-brave-to-connect-families-with-resources-during-pandemic
2. Spectrum News 1. "Cleveland Immigrants Launch BRAVE to Connect Families with Resources." December 2020. https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2020/12/02/cleveland-immigrants-launch-brave-to-connect-families-with-resources-during-pandemic
3. GoFundMe. "Akron's Bhutanese Response Assistance Volunteer Effort." https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/braveakron
4. MTSU News. "BRAVE MTSU women helping Bhutanese/Nepalese community in Nashville." May 2020. https://mtsunews.com/brave-nashville-project-may2020/
5. Apple App Store. "BRAVE Project." https://apps.apple.com/lc/app/brave-project/id1506019248
6. Spectrum News 1. "Cleveland Immigrants Launch BRAVE to Connect Families with Resources." December 2020. https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2020/12/02/cleveland-immigrants-launch-brave-to-connect-families-with-resources-during-pandemic