Dear Friends,

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and it is only fitting that we share a success story about a client who experienced domestic violence.  Just Neighbors gets calls from shelters and from victims everyday needing assistance.  The majority of these immigrant women (and men, occasionally) have nowhere to turn for immigration legal help with their situation.  They do not know their options and are scared of what lies ahead.  We seek to inform them, assist them through a difficult process, and provide them with some hope for the future.  As the calls for help among victims of domestic violence continue to escalate, we are hopeful that this is not a sign of an increased prevalence of abuse but rather of a growing awareness among the immigrant community that there may be options and that Just Neighbors can be a source for help.

Client Story

Sue came to Just Neighbors in November 2006 in a desperate state.  She had entered into an arranged marriage in her home country of Indonesia the year before.  She had then come to the United States with her husband, who was from the U.S., on a conditional green card.  This means that as long as the couple could demonstrate to Immigration that the marriage was legitimate, she could eventually receive a permanent green card. Sue was nervously excited about coming to the United States with her husband; she held high hopes for their lives together.  However, three months after her arrival here, Sue’s husband began to abuse her.  The majority of the abuse was psychological and verbal, which made her case harder to prove to Immigration.

When Sue came to Just Neighbors, she had already been forced out of the house and had lived in various shelters before getting an apartment.  She was in the process of a divorce, but was fearful that her husband would report her to Immigration and she would become out of status here.  Moreover, Sue was becoming ostracized by the Indonesian community both here and in her home country.  Since there were no physical signs of her husband’s abuse, Sue’s family and fellow countrymen expected her to stay in her marriage.  In the months that followed, we helped her find a counselor and family law attorney.  Sue began to regain some of the self-confidence she had had before her marriage.

Sue’s case was difficult for several reasons.  We needed to get a written testimony from a psychiatrist and also needed to translate her own personal testimony into English.  We coordinated with several other providers before submitting her application.  In a seven month period our staff attorneys Pallavi and Linda logged 51 case notes in the database updating her case as it progressed.

Two weeks ago Sue’s green card finally arrived in the mail!  This will allow her to live and work in the U.S. without any ties to her husband.  She can also visit her family back home freely, and she already has a ticket to fly home to see them.  Sue brought in roses, flowers, and a cake to her attorneys here as an expression of gratitude.

Around the Office

Our Board of Directors has recently voted on its new officers for the coming year.  Anne Ledyard will serve as Chairperson, Dave Franke as Vice-Chair, Kelly Koeppl as Secretary, and Marilyn Traynham as Treasurer.  We are looking forward to a strong year under their leadership.

The entire Board and staff of Just Neighbors would like to thank outgoing Chair Jim Peters for his years of service to the organization.  Jim served on the Board through times of crisis and periods of growth, helping us remain focused on our mission throughout.  Just Neighbors truly would not be where we are today without his steadfast leadership and commitment to our work.  Thank you Jim!

Just Neighbors is excited to receive a generous grant from the Arlington Community Foundation, which will be funding us at their highest level for the coming year.  We are also grateful for a large grant from the Meyer Foundation, which will continue to support our work in 2008.

Get Involved

Just Neighbors invites you to join “A Conversation About Faith and Immigration” on Thursday, November 15th from 7-9pm at Culmore United Methodist Church, 5901 Leesburg Pike in Falls Church.  The forum will present legal, historical, and faith viewpoints on immigration, as well as testimony on the state of Northern Virginia immigrants themselves.  Allison Rutland Soulen, our Director of Legal Services, has been invited to present during the forum.  Other speakers include Bill Mefford, the Director of Civil and Human Rights for the United Methodist Chruch General Board of Church and Society and Ileana Rosas, the Director of Hispanic/Latino Ministries for the UMC Virginia Conference.  For more information, call (703 820-5131) or (703) 536-4876.

Volunteer of the Month

Once again, we are grateful to many volunteers for their help this month.  We hope all will be around throughout November to vie for next month’s honor!  We would like to recognize Adela Rivera in particular.  Adela has spent the last three months doing a bit of everything here during office hours, including translation (she’s originally from El Salvador), TPS outreach, phone intakes, database entry, and much more.  We don’t know how we could have survived this busy time without her!  Thank you Adela.

Happy Halloween!

Rob Rutland-Brown
Executive Director