Immigrant Solidarity Team

The Immigrant Solidarity Team is concerned with helping immigrants and refugees to adjust to life in the United States. We work with local organizations to achieve this goal, including the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and RefugeeOne. We also engage in legislative advocacy and learning opportunities for the congregation. The IST welcomes all who are interested in working to build a better world for immigrants in the United States. We meet on the 3rd Saturday of the month at 4:00pm. At present we are meeting on ZOOM. Contact Maggie Wilson or Michelle Novak through REALM or at admin@ucevanston.org.

The Immigrant Solidarity Team (IST) works to establish and nurture long-term partnerships with local immigrant communities and organizations. UCE seeks to:

Provide appropriate resources for their unmet needs,
Be a useful connector among organizations, and
Educate and mobilize UCE members about immigration related events, projects and actions.

The IST has recently expanded its work to include the support of refugees as well. Here are some of our most recent projects:

In the summer of 2021 the IST encouraged UCE members to donate backpacks and gym shoes for refugee children by partnering with Refugee One.
In the fall of 2021 we sponsored a film viewing and discussion of La Bestia, a film about the dangers refugees face trying to travel from southern Mexico to the US border.
In the fall of 2021 and winter of 2022 our refugee team has raised over $10,000 to help a Syrian refugee family pay their rent. Some of the rent money was funded from the UCE Endowment.
In the winter of 2022 we have also begun to help out a family from Afghanistan as well.
Prior to the pandemic, members assisted with voter registration after citizenship swearing-in ceremonies in Chicago

Updates from Immigrant Solidarity Team

Update: Syrian Refugee Family: August 27, 2021

Five years ago, UCE sponsored a Syrian refugee family—the Haj Khalafs. We learned recently that Fatoum (the mother) will welcome her sister Ghufran Bakir, to the U.S. on September 2 along with her three children Ryaan, 13; Hatty, 12; and Talib, 8. Ghufran, was widowed in the war, and has spent the last eight years in a refugee camp in Turkey. They are delighted to be reunited.

A few members of the congregation and the Immigrant Solidarity Team would like to help the new family. Our goal is to raise $5000 (or more) that will help them pay their rent for 4 or more months. The settlement agency that works with them has a very limited budget for 2 months of rent. Ghufran will need to learn English and get a job so she can provide for her children. The young adult Haj Khalafs will try to help the family out, but their finances are quite limited. Any amount, large or small will help them

To donate to the refugee family

Send a check made out to UCE to the church and write Refugee Family Fund in the memo line.
You can also go to the Web site and choose GIVE in the top line (donate here). Follow the directions and put the amount in the Refugee Family Fund box.

After the family arrives, we’ll have a better idea of exactly what they’ll need outside of rent. The immediate need will be school clothes and supplies. They will no doubt need help learning English. We will keep you posted as to specific needs in the newsletter and on the UCE Facebook pages.

Thank you in advance for your generosity. May it bring joy to you. Reach out to one of us with any questions (our email addresses are in Realm).

By Jeanne Kerl and Jane Kenamore

August 26th, 2021|Categories: Immigrant Solidarity|

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