When I was in my 30’s I took a couple years off from homelessness to work on other issues.
For about a year I was the Executive Director of a nonprofit law firm for immigrants in Washington D.C.
That experience taught me that my calling is homelessness.
Perhaps just as importantly, I learned a lot about immigration in the United States and met a lot of amazing immigrants.
One of the most memorable conversations was with a woman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
She had been kidnapped by a warlord who made her his “bush wife” (a term that tries to put a nice spin on sexual slavery).
She had a couple children before he was killed in combat and another warlord claimed her.
She was able escape in the middle of night with her children in the back of a pick-up truck driven by a soldier who took pity on her.
She walked hundreds of miles—two young children in tow—to escape to another country.
She was eventually granted asylum in the United States.
She was—needless to say—a VERY impressive individual.
The Migrant Crisis
The current migrant crisis started long after I had returned to homelessness.
Since I don’t understand it very well, our team found an expert who can help you and I make sense of the headlines.
Next week I will be interviewing Sherry Laigle, Director of Social Services at HAIS, an organization that serves refugees and asylum seekers around the world.
In a pre-interview conversation, we discussed multiple things:
- The current migrant crisis is caused by a confluence of at least four factors. Neither the ‘liberal’ nor ‘conservative’ media are doing a great job of explaining its multi-faceted causes.
- Most organizations are operating on a few unhelpful stereotypes in trying to serve migrant families.
- The legal status (and thus work opportunities) of migrants is much more complicated than the overly simplified stories presented by most media outlets.
If you want to listen to our interview, the information is below.
- If you work at an organization with a membership to our trainings, you should get the zoom link from your organization. This allows you to ask questions.
- If your organization does not have a membership, you can still join via Youtube, but you won’t be able to ask questions.
Have a fantastic day!
Peace,
Ryan
