This year, we will be slowly transitioning to a new name, “United to Heal,” from our original name “Children of Abraham.” To maintain brand equity and ensure a smooth transition, we will temporarily refer to the program as “COA: United to Heal” until we can re-establish name recognition. Some members have expressed confusion regarding this change, and I am writing this entry in order to clarify our decision.

 I would first of all like to note that this decision was made with neither haste nor ease. This topic was heavily debated, and the final product reflects our commitment to the long-term growth of the program. As former COA President Moustafa Moustafa summarized well in an address he made this past April:

“We feel that the name [United to Heal] is more [1.] original, [2.] inclusive, and [3.] reflective of our interfaith, interdisciplinary, and medical nature.”

1. Original:

The new name is not meant to be shocking; it is meant to be direct, inclusive, and informative. Actions speak louder than words, and the amazing work that we do is more powerful than anything we could name this organization. The fact is that we are an interfaith team of volunteers that successfully comes together to collect and ship recycled medical supplies. That is where we stand out. The scale of our operation and the practicality of our mission is what makes this program special.

Not to mention, we were not the only group named “Children of Abraham.” There is a “Children of Abraham Project” based out of Michigan. Also, there is a national “Children of Abraham Institute.” The website www.children-of-abraham.org/ is home to a national interfaith dialogue. Try a Google search just to see how many names pop up. Since we look forward to expanding our program to the national level, we would unfortunately need to compete with these other like-named organizations for attention and potentially diminish the brand equity we wish to build into the name of our organization.

“United to Heal” is a unique name in this regard. We currently account for 3 out of the top 5 Google search responses, and there are no other programs with this name in the entire country.

2. Inclusive:

“Children of Abraham” contains powerful symbollism. It represents the need for  Muslims, Christians, and Jews to put aside historical differences and come together for the common good. But what about the rest of the people in the world? A secular person or a person of non-Abrahamic faith who might otherwise support our cause may be turned off by the exclusivity of the name. (I have personally had multiple Hindu students share this exact complaint with me this past year.) Our feeling is that we all need to come together for the greater good, people of all faiths.

We welcome any person who wishes to join forces as an interfaith team and help us send these surplus supplies to the people that need them around the world. In that regard, the former name is in fact exclusive to a substantial portion of our potential supporters and limits the capacity of our program.  Thus, with the new name we hope to appeal to much larger audience of potential supporters.

3. Reflective of our complete mission:

The name “Children of Abraham” merely reflects one (very important) aspect of our program: religious pluralism, or the active engagement of religious diversity. On the other hand, “United to Heal” incorporates that aspect as well as the other very important half of our mission: humanitarian aid. We unite as a diverse group of individuals, working towards a common goal. Depending on your personal interpretation of “healing,” the word can either hold a strictly medical definition or hold a metaphorical religious connotation. In this sense, the name is what you make of it, and again is meant to appeal to a broader group of potential volunteers.

Feel free to share your oppinions as comments on this post. If you wish to discuss this issue with me directly, feel free to email me at smithjac@umich.edu.

Thank you for having an open mind and supporting a wonderful cause,

Jacob Smith

President, COA: United to Heal

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