Two and a half years ago, Just Neighbors had a great volunteer who
interned with us for her last semester of college. She referred her
friends, Juan and Louisa, to us for help. Juan and his wife Louisa came
to the U.S. six years ago, leaving behind their three small children,
because they could not afford to feed their family back in Honduras.
After finding work here in the U.S., Juan worked very hard and he and
his wife were finally able to support their family.
One night, Juan was riding his bike home from a long day of work when
a car ran a light and hit him.
Juan flew off his bike and landed on
his head, but the driver never stopped. Juan was taken to the emergency
room and hospitalized for days. He suffered a brain injury, making it
difficult for him to work ever since the incident. His wife had her
fourth child just days before the accident and began working to help
support the family. Juan sought to help the police find his perpetrator
after his release from the hospital.
Because Juan was a victim of a violent crime and cooperated in the
investigation of that crime, he was able to apply for a U visa for
himself as well as his wife and their three children back in Honduras.
In September of 2008 Juan was so grateful for the assistance he was
receiving from Just Neighbors that he helped us move our office when we
relocated! Juan's U visa was approved last year and he was overjoyed.
However, Juan and Louisa still had their three children far away and
wanted the whole family to be together. One of Just Neighbors'
volunteer attorneys, Cynthia Ingersoll, took over the consular
processing phase of the children's cases and worked diligently- along
with the children's grandmother and caretaker in Honduras- to process
the children's cases through the maze known as the U.S. Embassy.
Two weeks ago, we received a phone call from both Juan and Louisa.
The children had arrived, just in time for Father's Day! The family is
overjoyed and will be coming by the office this week to celebrate. It
is always a rewarding experience to help an individual legalize his or
her status here in the U.S. However, it is infinitely more rewarding
when we can reunite an entire family- legally- and help break the bonds
of separation. We are so glad Juan was able to spend his first Father's
Day in six years with all his children beside him and we wish the
family all the best.
Volunteer of the Month
We are extremely fortunate to have the help of Julia Bizer this
summer. Julia, a law student at the University of Richmond, learned of
us through Annandale United Methodist Church. In addition to assisting
with casework, she has made incredible headway in our long-term effort
to scan all our client files that are more than five years old. In
fact, she has made as much progress over the past six weeks as we had
made over the previous six months. This is a complicated process, as it
also requires document review in order to identify the pages within old
cases that are necessary to scan. Thank you Julia!
Welcome!
We are thrilled to welcome Ana Corson, our newest full-time
immigration staff attorney who will fill in for Allison Rutland Soulen
while Allison is in Scotland over the next fifteen months. Ana has been
practicing immigration law for the past several years, most recently at
a nonprofit in North Carolina.
Get Involved
Come join Just Neighbors at a high-energy exercise class set to
salsa, samba, merengue, reggaeton, hip-hop, and more! On Sunday,
July 18th, from 1-3pm, Just Neighbors will receive 100% of the
proceeds from the dance class at Kadaxe located at the ABGC Bingo
Auditorium at 6200 D Little River Turnpike in Alexandria (behind the
Little River Plaza with the Shopper's and Bally's). Admission is just
$10 for this high-intensity workout. And don't worry, there will be
many of us who have never tried it before! For more information, visit www.azuka-bom.com. Please help us spread the word-- we hope to see you there!
Just Neighbors is looking to add to our list of French translators
as we continue to serve more French-speaking African immigrants. If you
would be available to occasionally translate documents from French to
English (from home), please email Rob Rutland-Brown at
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.
Around the Office
Just Neighbors bids farewell
to Nancy Sharpe, who has served as our Legal Assistant for the past two
years as a Service Worker through the Mennonite Central Committee. This
was a newly-formed position when Nancy started, and she has now become
invaluable.
Nancy writes:
It has been a pleasure and a joy to work with Just Neighbors
through a partnership created by Mennonite Central Committee over the
past two years. I have had the opportunity to experience many aspects
of a non-profit organization through my various roles as office manager,
legal assistant, interpreter, and volunteer coordinator. The
experiences I have had through this unique position have shaped who I am
as a person and who I will become. I will attend Catholic University
this fall to pursue a Master's in Social Work with the end goal of
resourcing immigrants as a bilingual social worker.
It has been extremely rewarding to work with low-income immigrants
and refugees. I came into this position not knowing a thing about
immigration law and now have a much greater respect for the complexities
of immigration law and for those who practice it on behalf of the
low-income population. Just Neighbors is truly a unique organization
that molds to the needs of its clients and staff. Thank you all for
your passion toward immigrants, which sustains Just Neighbors' important
work. Keep in touch!
We also say good-bye to Bryn Karaus, a recent graduate of UVA Law
School who served full-time as a fellow here since February. Bryn, who
speaks fluent Spanish and picked up things very quickly, has taken on a
paid position at the federal government--we will miss her!
We are grateful to receive continued funding for the next twelve
months from both Fairfax and Arlington Counties and for a first-time
grant from the Arlington County Bar Foundation. In addition, we thank
the Arlington Community Foundation for a Prompt Response grant that
enabled a domestic violence victim stranded with her infant son in
Bolivia to return home with her family to Arlington.
