The Florida chapter of America’s largest Muslim advocacy group is creating a new office in the Panhandle.
Hiba Rahim is CAIR Florida’s Northwest Florida Regional Coordinator. CAIR stands for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which already has three offices in Central and South Florida.
Now, Rahim says a fourth is needed.
“There’s been a sort of void in the Northwest Panhandle, and the office that we just established will be servicing Pensacola to Tallahassee and all the regions in between,” said Rahim.
Rahim says while it’s not an extremely diverse area, there are thousands of Muslims who live in the Florida Panhandle. And, her job will be to build bridges with outside communities as well as help provide an outlet for those in need.
“Personally, I’ve had a number of times—two or three times this past year—where somebody has yelled some verbal abuse in my direction, and I know that that same thing has happened to numerous other individuals, probably dozens,” she added. “But, without there being a very, visible office for them to call and complain to and document that incident, it just kinds of gets buried under the carpet.”
The Panama City Beach office—which is now open—is located at 8317 Front Beach Road, Suite B.
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