Our Mission at Council of Peoples Organization (COPO) is to assist low income immigrant families, South Asians and Muslims, to reach their full potential as residents of New York City. COPO empowers marginalized communities to advocate for their rights and understand their responsibilities as Americans.
It helps to build community relations between Muslim and non-Muslim community groups. It continues to establish connections between the communities and various government agencies.
Our History COPO, formerly known as the Council of Pakistan Organization, began in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy. Several business owners in Central Brooklyn responded to the backlash faced by South Asians, particularly Muslims, in the neighborhoods of Midwood and Kensington. After extensive brainstormingamong neighborhood representatives, COPO opened its doors on February 1,2002 to support families impacted by this crisis. As a wider cross section of theneighborhood appealed to the organization for assistance, our name was changed to the Council of Peoples Organization to represent all that are served.
During the first year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, community members reached out to our CEO, Mohammad Razvi, for assistance. The FBI was detaining and conducting mass arrests on men in South-Asian, Muslim communities who had Muslim names; such as Mohammad, Ali and Hassan, and believed had ties to the terrorist organization behind the attacks. Our CEO acted as a liaison between the affected families and the governmental agencies and helped the community members receive the answers and help they were in need for.
Originally, COPO was only meant to be open for six months to provide legal aid to the community members.However, realizing that there is an increasing need in the community for social services, our CEO decided to permanently offer not only legal aid, but also other social services such as SNAP, Health Insurance, English classes, and Older Adult Services to the community.
COPO’s formation addressed these issues at a time when very few organizations primarily served low-income South Asians and Muslims in Brooklyn.
