Kirsta Benedetti

Founder

In 2009, Kirsta and her husband moved to Egypt to establish a non-governmental arts organization with the purpose of teaching art and self-expression as a means of peacemaking. As they settled into their new home, they were quickly humbled by how little they knew and how limiting that can be. In the midst of this new struggle, their language teacher became a close friend and wonderful guide to help them navigate Egyptian culture and make them feel at home. After experiencing what a difference the help of locals can make, Kirsta committed to paying it forward to people new to America whenever she returned to Columbus.

When Kirsta and her husband moved back to the United States in 2012, Kirsta met an Egyptian woman who had lived on Riverview Drive for many years. This woman told Kirsta of the many struggles she and other immigrants at Riverview face—the men working long hours and the women living in isolation, limited by the lack of transportation and English competence.

A few years later, Kirsta met Bruce Bernard, the owner of many Riverview apartments, who wished to serve the neighborhood on a more personal level. Through Bruce, Kirsta connected with a small group of people with the same vision, discussing ways to help and eventually proposing the creation of a resource center in the heart of the neighborhood. This group then became the official board and filed to be registered as a non-profit with 501c3 status. Bruce agreed to let the team rent one of his apartments and two extra rooms to use for the center, thus beginning the journey of building what became the Riverview International Center.