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THE IMMIGRANT RELIEF FUND

Why give?

The Immigrant Relief Fund (IRF) is a program in partnership with Matthew 25 The Gorge and is designated to help our immigrant neighbors as they navigate the legal system, are struggling to make ends meet because of the pandemic or while their spouse is being held by ICE. This fund is also available to help DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients with renewal fees as well as help with legal filing fees for other immigrants with financial need.

One of our MAIN goals is to humanize this process.

Since the IRF is, in a sense, a last-resort for assistance, we recognize that the person in need of assistance has already endured the rigorous application processes of many other organizations. Providing an advocate is our attempt to prioritize relationships over red-tape. Advocates provide an emotional buffer for those who have already taken the brave, but often humiliating, step of asking for assistance. We also believe that these relationships represent our best hope of gaining a greater understanding of the immigrant experience in our Gorge communities.

HOW IT WORKS: Our current IRF board consists of Latinx and Anglo members of varied faith communities, who are working together in direct relationship with the Hispanic community to strengthen understanding and action in the Gorge around issues of immigration justice.

This team evaluates each application for assistance to determine if, and how much, to provide. Applications are submitted on behalf of an individual or family by an IRF Advocate. These community advocates are trained to assist the applicant in exploring available resources already in the community. If other alternatives are not available to meet the need, the advocate, with the input of the applicant, completes the IRF application and submits it to our board for review.