See Ya, September!
This September, our Immigrant Justice Program has been especially busy. With DACA ending soon, the Clinic hosted three separate DACA days to help those eligible to renew complete their paperwork before the Oct. 5 deadline. In a recent blog post, Executive Director Chris Purnell shared his thoughts on how we ought to Abide with the DACA Youth through these uncertain times.
Meet Our Summer Interns!
Alexis Bullock found the Clinic through Career Services at Franklin College, where she'll enter her senior year in the fall. "I love the intersection of nonprofit work with legal services," she says. This summer, she'll be assisting Project GRACE and loves having the chance to connect the work she wants to do with her faith. "There's so much more that the Clinic does for this community that I didn't even know about and I'm really excited to help," she says.
Until We Meet Again, May!
This May, Executive Director Chris Purnell shared some of his thoughts on the concept of peace. We also celebrated Mother's Day by learning the stories of three different Clinic clients who are fighting to give the best possible life to their children.
A Heart for Refugees
Emily loved teaching at Exodus Refugee, but in January things changed rapidly. “A week after the inauguration, the first Executive Order happened, and that’s when the ball started rolling,” she says, “We realized we were losing funding; we were losing clients in general, and we were going to be losing staff as well.” Exodus was forced to downsize drastically, and Emily lost her job in the shuffle.
Celebrating Motherhood
The gangs in Honduras began harassing Ana* when she was only 14. But after being abandoned by both of her parents when she was young, Ana’s support system was minimal. Beta Martinez, who works in the Clinic’s Immigrant Justice Program, says that the gangs waited for Ana to leave school in the afternoons. “They were telling her, ‘You need to be ours,’” she says.
Seeking Asylum
For some time, Mario and his friend were harassed by a local Narco group led by the town’s own Mayor. “[The Mayor] tries to recruit all the boys to be murderers and vigilantes for him,” says Rachel. But Mario and his friend both resisted. This refusal came at a high price, and when Mario was only 16, the Narcos killed his friend in front of him. Mario barely escaped with his life.