Dear Friends,

Just Neighbors has enjoyed a good start to the Fall season, as we have assisted many clients with compelling stories and have received much-welcomed financial grants to support our work.  Here is our October roundup: 

Client Story
Just Neighbors began working with an Ethiopian refugee in September to help him apply for his green card.  He was so pleased with our help that he began spreading the word to fellow refugees, most of whom needed the same type of assistance.  At first, the original client came to our office along with his friends, as their English was not good and they were nervous about obtaining assistance from strangers.  However, after visiting us, each refugee or refugee couple has felt comfortable enough at Just Neighbors to encourage other friends to get help from us.  A bond of trust has been formed and continues to strengthen.

In some cases, the work with these refugees’ cases has been quite complicated.  For example, one couple needed to go to a health department to acquire their immunization records.  However, the health department stated it was not their role to obtain or complete the necessary immunization immigration form.  The clients, unsure how to proceed, called Just Neighbors.  After research and several phone calls from staff and volunteers, we learned that it was, in fact, the responsibility of the health department to acquire and fill out these forms.  After explaining to the health department its responsibility and pointing out the laws that stated it, the department was happy to help these refugees and was grateful that Just Neighbors clarified the issues to them. 

An Ethiopian refugee couple’s first client appointment with Just Neighbors happened to be the one-year anniversary of their arrival to the United States.  The couple was already planning to celebrate the anniversary by visiting the George Washington home in Mount Vernon and a Smithsonian museum, followed by an early dinner. They then decided to finish up their day with an evening appointment at a Just Neighbors community clinic!  The appointment's timing was particularly significant for this refugee couple, as refugees are eligible to apply for a green card exactly one year after arriving in the United States.  Once they have their green card, the couple is eligible to naturalize and become U.S. citizens five years after entering the country as refugees. 

Refugees
A refugee is someone outside of their home country who is unable or unwilling to return for fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.  Representatives of United States Immigration determine one’s refugee status based on interviews overseas of people that have fled persecution.  In 2006, the United States agreed to accept 70,000 refugees, but only funded 54,000 refugee “slots”.  Only 42,000 were processed for entry, largely because of additional security screenings implemented as a result of the terrorist acts of 9/11.  These refugees came from dozens of countries, with a large number from Laos, Liberia and Somalia.  At the start of 2006, there were 8.4 million refugees worldwide.   More information can be found at the Website of the U.S. government’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr).

Out of 51 new clients seen in September and October, Just Neighbors has started green card application cases for thirteen refugees from Ethiopia, Iran, and Sierra Leone.  

Volunteer News
Just Neighbors has always thrived from the involvement of volunteers throughout our community.  In 2006, our staff of four has been able to accomplish a tremendous amount of work thanks to volunteer support.  Through September, Just Neighbors had received 2,326 hours of non-professional volunteer help in 2006.  This included students, interns, paralegals, translators, church members, former clients, teachers, and many others helping both at our community clinics and at our office.  In addition, we logged 854 hours of professional volunteer help- primarily from attorneys- to assist with clients. 

In addition to providing an amount of assistance equal to what two full-time staff members could provide in a year, volunteers embody the purpose of what we do, helping to form a bridge between the immigrant and non-immigrant community.   Our volunteers fill the critical role of being welcoming, compassionate neighbors to immigrants who often have few connections or resources in this country.

This month, we would like to thank Pat Onufrak for being such a volunteer.  Pat has been working eight hours per week at our Arlington office for the past three months to interview clients, conduct research and database entry, file, and help out in whatever way she can.  She has been a welcoming presence to many of our immigrant clients, including the Ethiopian refugees mentioned above.  We are glad to provide her with a donated $50 gift certificate to Lebanese Taverna as our Volunteer of the Month.

Fundraising
Just Neighbors is thrilled to receive a generous grant from the Meyer Foundation (www.meyerfoundation.org) to support our work in the coming year.

We are also excited to receive a grant from the Arlington Community Foundation (www.arlcf.org) to support our work in Arlington County. 

Donations from supporters like you enable us to continue serving refugees from Ethiopia and immigrants from around the world.  Please consider making a donation today online at www.justneighbors.org or with a check.  Thank you!

Sincerely,
Rob