[act-ma] 9/19 Welcoming party for kids from Central America and request for help

[Charlie Welch]

Greetings from the Alexandra Early of the Chelsea Collaborative,

*I am contacting you to ask for help supporting the hundreds of young 
people from Central America who have arrived in the Chelsea and Boston 
area fleeing the violence in their homes countries in Central America. 
* They were permitted to leave the detention centers near the border to 
be reunited with their families who were already living here in MA. 
Although they are now with their family members, their struggle is just 
beginning because they have pending court hearings to determine if they 
can stay in the country and in many cases their relatives here are also 
undocumented. The path ahead is uphill and mighty confusing so I hope 
that you can join the Collaborative and other organizations in opening 
our hearts to these young people and their families and showing them 
that in Massachusetts we believe that every human being is valuable and 
has the right to live without fear.

_What we need:_

·*Clothing and Food Donations*- clothing, toys and school supplies  for 
babies and children aged 2 to 18. Only lightly used items. You can drop 
off items at the Chelsea Collaborative (318 Broadway St) or call us and 
we will pick them up.

·*Gift cards*from supermarkets, clothing stores, book or stationary 
stores, etc

·*Legal resources*- We have a _growing list of over 150 people _who need 
legal assistance so we need more pro-bono lawyers to take these cases 
and help the kids and their families prepare for upcoming immigration 
hearings. We also need legal interpreters and volunteers to help us with 
our legal intake days, which we would like to have twice a month

·*Psychological help*- psychologists or counselors who want to help 
these kids and mothers with the trauma of their crossing and detention 
by immigration

·*Teachers or childcare professionals- *so we can offer workshops and 
English classes to young people, especially while their parents or 
siblings are meeting with a lawyer

·*Volunteers at the office*-to help outreach to legal services  or 
coordinate our donation effort or to do intake and outtake with 
immigrants on our legal intake days

·*Help with Transportation*-migrants need ride and accompaniment to and 
from Burlington where they have bi-monthly hearings. Most families have 
to take a two hour bus ride to check in with ICE in Burlington.

_Help us Spread the Word!_

·*Please pass this email on to friends, coworkers, family, etc*

·*Help us Set up presentations at your local church, university or 
organization.*We want to elevate the voices of these brave young people 
who have struggled so much to get here and raise the cry for 
comprehensive immigration reform and changes in U.S. foreign policy in 
Central America. (And get more donations and volunteers in the short term)

_Save the Date- Sept. 19^th 4 to 7pm -  Welcoming party for the kids and 
their families_

The Collaborative wants to provide these young people and their families 
with a warm and fun environment and give out donations.  We need folks 
to help out at the party by bringing  food or drinks, donations of 
clothes, canned food or school supplies, and helping to lead games for 
children. Also if you or your awesome band want to play music for the 
party that would be a great contribution.

Exact Location TBD but the party will be at a park in Chelsea.

_If you can help:_

Contact Alexandra Early at 617-889-6080 ext. 112 or at 
alexe at chelseacollab.org <mailto:alexe at chelseacollab.org>. Please explain 
what you would like to help with and what your schedule is like. For Ex. 
If you can help with transportation to Burlington on Mondays and 
Wednesdays from 10 am to 4pm or if you are  available provide legal 
translation on Thursdays and Fridays.  If you have other ideas of how to 
help, let us know!

*Thank you for your time and generosity!*