Dear Fellowship family,
Our Fellowship community has committed to fighting for immigration justice, and one way we have done that is by helping three people seeking asylum find a safe and loving home in the Fox Valley. They fled violence and horror in their home countries, and our commitment to them continues.
While their host family is very generous in their love and support of these two young women and toddler, we need your help to continue support their family.
• We are giving the host family $300 per month for housing expenses, food, basic needs, and a small amount of spending money.
• We also pay for school supplies, winter clothing, and other seasonal expenses.
• The young mother was given $3000 by a couple who helps people seeking asylum reach the United States. She wants to repay this debt, so this couple can help others in the same way.
• We also help a Fox Valley young man who holds DACA status with bus passes and medication, which costs around $100 per month.
We are asking you to consider a one-time financial gift or ongoing support for our compas. See below for details on how to do this.
The young man we have been helping struggles with mental health issues. His father was deported two years ago after living and working in the United States for over 20 years. We are helping with medication costs and bus passes to allow him to attend classes and appointments.
We welcomed a young mother and her son to our area in March, just as the country shut down. The mom is seeking asylum after fleeing her home while 8 months pregnant and traveling for over 20 days to get to the US. She has not had her court hearing yet and lives in limbo, while our government keeps putting up more and more roadblocks. In the meantime, she is taking classes to study nursing, and her son is a thriving and active one-year-old. They live with a loving family locally.
This family also offers a home to a young teen who was left in the United States alone. She and her mom fled violence in their home country and arrived in the US together. They presented themselves at the border, and were immediately separated when she was only 12. Her mom was deported and she stayed in detention for 8 months by herself. Now after being removed from two different foster homes, three different schools, in two different states, she arrived in the Fox Valley in early May, where she has finally found a stable and loving home.
Both of these young women are enrolled in school and are actively learning English with the help of Fellowship members and our local Literacy Council. They are smart and determined and working hard to learn English and continue their studies. See these two Scroll articles to read about their life in the US and their dreams for the future.
Our initial financial support came from one-time donations, special collections, and a concert raising funds for legal fees. We now need to replenish our funds and need your help. We will keep you updated on the lives of our four friends as much as possible.
To give: Go to fvuuf.org/give - Choose Online Giving or GivePlus Mobile, then select Immigration Justice Fund. To text a donation, text 833-278-1690, enter the amount, space, IMJ (ex: 50 IMJ) Or mail a check to the Fellowship with “IMJ” in the memo line.
Thank you for your generosity,
The Immigration Justice Team
