Save the date: Wednesday, 12/6, at 6:30 pm, at Alki UCC.
The Immigrant Welcoming Congregation Core Groups of Alki UCC and Fauntleroy UCC are co-presenting the documentary "Which Way Home" in Anderson Hall at Alki UCC. The evening includes Admiral Theater popcorn and a facilitated discussion. More info soon--but get the date on your calendar. It's the first of several events we hope to offer as we learn more about what it really means to be an Immigrant Welcoming Church.
Do you have a couple of hours a week to help refugee and immigrant individuals, families, and/or youth and children in need? The Immigration Task Force is exploring a partnership with Neighborhood House, which is based in the High Point Neighborhood Center. Potential volunteer opportunities include conversational English, teaching or tutoring ESL, and making it possible for ESL students to attend classes at Neighborhood House by helping with childcare at their facility and offering rides to classes. Or come up with your own idea on how to help The 15-year-old neighborhood center is a gathering place that offers Head Start programs, youth tutoring and enhancement programs, Seattle Housing Authority’s Job Connection program, English tutoring for refugees and other services. High Point has been described as a vibrant mixed-income neighborhood with an emphasis on environmental sustainability featuring many parks and community gardens. It has a rich mixture of refugees including many from East Africa and Somalia. The Immigration Task Force in just in the early stages of exploring how it could help and it would appreciate assistance from anyone interested in the reward that comes from helping others. To learn more, reach out to Ev Eldridge.
Fauntleroy is coordinating with Alki UCC to aid four refugee families from Peru, and we are close to finding sustainable housing for two of them.
All four groups have family and relational ties with each other. Three are living with the generous single occupant of a house near Westwood Village, the fourth is an older couple who have found temporary space in another incredibly crowded house near Morgan Junction. All need better, safer, more permanent housing. Mary and Bob Code have offered to lease a three-bedroom house (under market value) in Alki on the condition that the church guarantee the rent (that’s a common arrangement in a situation such as this).
The Immigration Task Force is working to prepare the necessary documentation and finances to present the proposal to the church Finance Ministry, executive committee and Council. In the meantime, the search continues for options to house the remaining two families.
About $5,000 has been raised from West Seattle individuals and such churches as Alki, Fauntleroy, Peace Lutheran and St. John the Baptist. We NEED so much more as the families arrived here almost penniless.
Fauntleroy has a $2,500 Neighbors in Need grant pending with the UCC, and ITF members will meet shortly with the Finance Ministry to discuss more fundraising ideas. Many furnishings and household goods have been donated, including from Fauntleroy’s 2nd Time Sale and the Microsoft warehouse donation. Storage space is also needed. More VOLUNTEER HELP IS NEEDED. And if you feel moved by the plight of refugees, perhaps you’d like to join the ITF. Please contact Bob Wyss (401-447-3628) or Dianne Sprague (401 447-4421) if you can help.
Finally, and most importantly, the offer from Mary and Bob Code has been incredibly generous and heartfelt because, to truly help these families, we need to keep them here in West Seattle, where our volunteers live. Let us hear from you if you have a lead on housing in this area. Bob Wyss and Dianne Sprague, co-chairs of the Immigration Task Force
