Helping people without a high school diploma earn their GED certificate 20 years ago, the downtown Waukegan-based Urban Muslim Minority Alliance (UMMA) soon moved into providing food and teaching individuals the technology needed to use their education.

Since its beginnings, Hamaas Ibrahim, UMMA’s executive director, said the organization has found ways to help people find meaningful work, get healthy food, find appropriate housing and is now starting to further grow from its roots.

From learning how to seek employment, Ibrahim said the UMMA started to help with job placement, provided rental assistance to refugees and started offering affordable housing for families.

UMMA closed its food pantry on Grand Avenue, where it gave people prepackaged containers of groceries and opened the Ha

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