Hi there! So much has changed since we sent out our last newsletter and we hope these updates find you well wherever you are. The Solidarity Room Project is evolving so that we can continue to support each other and asylum seekers in these unknown times. We are excited to share some updates!
If you're just joining us, The Solidarity Room Project is an all-volunteer run organization that fund-raises to provide living costs and helps coordinate other support for individuals and families navigating the asylum-seeking process in New York City. Sign up for email updates here. Or get more information on our website.
Project Updates
The last few months have brought some big milestones! In April, the asylum-seeking family that we have been supporting since June 2019 celebrated their child’s first birthday! We celebrated from the safety of home quarantine with Tres Leches cake topped with coconut, mangoes, and bananas.
In order to keep our costs down, the family whose support has been The Solidarity Room Project’s main focus has moved out of the cooperative house in Downtown Brooklyn and into a shared apartment in Bed-Stuy, which has cut our fundraising costs by half.
We have also been contacted by multiple other asylum seekers who need our help. If you have space in your home and heart to welcome an asylum seeker into your life, please get in touch. We can help crowd-source financial help but need your solidarity to reach more people!
Updates on Fundraising
As you might know, we have raised the majority of our support through fundraising events such as film nights, parties, and comedy nights. Because of COVID-19 we had to cancel several exciting fundraising events in March and April, which was a huge disappointment on many levels, and we’ve needed to make adjustments to our project to compensate for the reduction of giving opportunities.
But, there's good news too! We partnered with ioby for an online fundraiser that gives contributions tax-exempt status. Ioby is a community-oriented crowdfunding sponsor whose acronym stands for In Our Back Yard. For a few short days, all donations were matched by the ioby National COVID-19 Community Response Fund, which helped us successfully make up some of the funds lost from canceled events. Contributions are no longer being matched, but you can still make a tax-deductible donation to The Solidarity Room Project through IOBY through May 31st. If you haven’t heard, 2020 tax law has changed so that everyone can deduct up to $300 of charitable giving, so this likely matters to you even if it hasn’t in the past.
Asylum Process in the News
COVID-19 has NOT stopped ICE from conducting raids, keeping people who are asking for our help locked up in unsafe conditions, or deporting people. The pandemic has also NOT stopped the danger people flee their homes to get away from. Here are a few selections of news to keep you informed about this issue. For more news updates, follow us on Facebook.
'The Peak Of This Mountain Is Like A Mirage': Pandemic Leaves Asylum Seekers Stranded
Viral Injustice: How The Pandemic is Unmasking The U.S. Economic, Racial, and Immigration Systems
ICE declines to release asylum-seekers as coronavirus spreads through jails
Leaked Border Patrol Memo Tells Agents to Send Migrants Back Immediately — Ignoring Asylum Law
Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, ICE Has Life-or-Death Power to Release Detainees
Children Grappling With Remote Asylum Hearings? With COVID-19, That’s Now the Norm.
Virtual Raffle II
The raffle is on! If you haven't bought tickets yet there's still time; due to the pandemic, we have pushed back the ticket drawing by two months. All tickets are only $2 each online and the website is donating all processing fees back to The Solidarity Room Project. If you've already bought tickets, mark your calendars—we're planning a virtual drawing party on June 20th in honor of International Refugee Day.
Where Donations Go
Thank you to friends, family, coworkers and comrades for your continued support! Through your generosity an asylum-seeking family has continued to receive support through the uncertainty of the last few months. The Solidarity Room Project plans to support the family through September 2020 at which point the parents will have legal working papers, unless things change. Your contributions in the form of a one-time donation, a sustaining membership (more about this below), or buying a raffle ticket will directly cover the family's living costs in the coming months. Expenses include rent, toiletries, food, diapers and baby supplies, new clothes for mom who has lost some weight since giving birth, and new clothes for a growing baby. If you have clothes or supplies that you'd like to contribute directly, please send us an email to coordinate the donation.
Some specific needs:
baby bicycle helmet and child bike seat
toddler socks
pajamas for children up to 18 months
diapers (email for updates in size)
baby wipes
size ~4-8 petite women’s clothing
baby books in Spanish
Become A Member
The activist and writer Naomi Klein says, “During extraordinary historical moments—both world wars, the aftermath of the Great Depression, or the peak of the civil rights era—the usual categories dividing 'activists' and 'regular people' became meaningless because the project of changing society was so deeply woven into the project of life. Activists were, quite simply, everyone.”
In these uncertain times a monthly contribution goes a long way to help a family feel welcome in their new home and community. We hope that over time The Solidarity Room Project can support multiple asylum-seeking families and people. Your monthly contribution helps provide the stability to do so. Your support—big or small, financial or otherwise—helps remind us that this is a project built on community.
If you want to join The Solidarity Room Project as a monthly member, please do so at the following link: https://withfriends.co/the_solidarity_room_project/join
That's all for now! Stay in touch by signing up for email updates: https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/solidarityroomprojectupdates.
We smile to think of the day we can all see each other again in person. In the meantime, stay well!
The Solidarity Room Project team <3
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