Currently, there is a great deal of mistrust between immigrants and the wider US society. In this period of xenophobia and attacks on immigrants, people in our communities are afraid and do not know who to trust. We want Proyecto Faro to be an organization immigrants can trust, and one that fosters trust between vulnerable immigrant communities and mainstream society. Weaving communities of support between immigrants and allies, we will continue to strengthen our network of faith communities, legal professionals, helping agencies, and vulnerable immigrant populations, and work together to respond to immediate needs.
We will expand the number of immigrants we support at our Legal Empowerment Clinics by recruiting and training more volunteers and lawyers. We aim for our legal clinics to become a reliable and effective space for trust-building and empowerment. These clinics not only will respond to immediate needs (e.g. assistance by immigration lawyers) but also provide opportunities for political education, story sharing, and building morale.
We will organize parents, students, and allies to achieve educational justice for the students in the East Ramapo Central School District. This district, primarily serving students of color, has been systematically de-funded by an all white school board, who then funnel that funding to their private schools serving only white children. Education is a human right; Proyecto Faro will continue to partner in multiracial coalitions, build parent and student power, and ensure NY State reinvests and repairs these schools.
We will continue to strengthen our mutual aid work to provide immigrants with material support. While we work to end economic injustice and racial discrimination, we will continue to encourage community members to act in solidarity by donating to our free store, running our food distribution program, filling our community refrigerators, and working in our Community Cultures Garden.
We will develop our work on housing justice for immigrants and advocate for safe, affordable homes for all. In the interim we will also keep trying to build the Romero Housing Circle, a sheltering network to assist with short-term housing. There is a need to shelter people released from detention, made housing insecure due to a detained or deported loved one, and those who wish to enter sanctuary instead of cooperating with an unjust and abusive system.
We will continue to develop our solidarity network of immigrants and non-immigrants who share information, aid, and support. We want to foster a sense of security and empowerment for vulnerable immigrants to build more secure lives here among us until something changes for the better in US laws, or in their country of origin. We want to carve out places in which people living under strain and fear because of their immigration status can unburden themselves, and feel normal, useful, creative, and safe.