Volunteer to Help Women and Children in Detention

May 4, 2015

Last year, nearly 70,000 unaccompanied children and 68,000 families fleeing extreme violence in Central America were detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. While some were able to pursue asylum, thousands were deported or detained in for-profit facilities in the southwestern United States. Are you wondering how you can help?

We invite you now to volunteer with the Refugee and Immigration Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), a UUSC partner, and help detained women and children secure asylum in the United States.

This program, a partnership between UUSC, the Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice, and RAICES, will connect Spanish-speaking volunteers with unaccompanied children in need. It will also connect legal professionals with asylum-seeking women and children held in detention centers near San Antonio, Texas. Volunteer placements start on June 7 or 28 and last between one and eight weeks.

Please join us in this lifesaving work. Families in detention face undue trauma. A number of children and their mothers are showing signs of malnutrition and hair loss due to the unsuitable food and water. The conditions violate their basic human dignity, liberty, and rights.

Applications for this program will be reviewed on a rolling basis with final deadlines of May 10 and May 30 so, apply today! Please e-mail Hannah Hafter at hhafter @ uucsj.org with any questions.