Author: Nadia Tavera

Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity’s Nueva Esperanza Accompaniment Team (NEAT) program trains San Francisco Bay Area congregations to form a team to walk alongside recently arrived immigrants for six months. The teams support the immigrants’ self-sufficiency by introducing them to local resources. By working toward families’ goals together, we create sanctuary, safety, and friendship in the community. 

We are creating beloved community. Since 2015, we have accompanied nearly 300 people from all over the world. We accompany recently arrived immigrants of all immigration statuses, sexual orientations, and gender identities. We have accompanied people from Cuba, Haiti, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Eritrea, Egypt, Mongolia, Philippines, Afghanistan, Brazil, Laos, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Russia, Ukraine, Fiji, Vietnam. All are welcome here.

• To learn more about families and congregations who have accompanied them, read our NEAT Stories or watch our video: “From Root Causes to Sanctuary”
• If you are interested in being a NEAT volunteer, you can form a team through your congregation!  Please review our introductory materials to get started.  

Questions? Comments? Ready to start? Contact our NEAT Coordinator, Nadia Tavera: ntavera@im4humanintegrity.org

*Calling bilingual Spanish-English speakers ONLY*

Have You Ever Stepped Foot in a Courtroom?

Imagine defending your case in a foreign language and unfamiliar environment, with the outcome determining whether you return to danger or find safety. This is the reality for asylum seekers at the new Immigration Courthouse in Contra Costa County.

Join the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (IM4HI) and the Contra Costa Immigrant Rights Alliance (CCIRA) as a Welcome Navigator at the new Concord Immigration Courthouse!

Help provide comfort and clarity to families arriving at immigration court. As a Welcome Navigator, you can:

• Give basic directions within the courthouse
• Connect migrants to the attorney of the Day -on site-
• Be a friendly face in a time of fear

Interested?
To become a Welcome Navigator, please follow these steps:

Step 1) Watch our updated online info session with general information about the Concord Immigration Court (50 mins)

Step 2:  Watch our video training on Important Principles of Accompaniment, since being a Welcome Navigator is a form of Accompaniment (36 mins)

Step 3: Register using the form below and contact Sergio Jaime at sergio@cocoira.org to schedule an in-person training.

Our Pro-Se Legal Orientation Program offers basic legal orientation and pro-se clinics to empower and provide tools for immigrants to apply for asylum.  We’re thrilled to have the skills and leadership of Pablo Guerrero, a train legal preparer and asylee from Nicaragua, who has become an invaluable member of the IM4HI community. Through Pablo’s consultations and workshops, families from the Concord Immigration Court and our Nueva Esperanza Accompaniment Teams Program are receiving support they may otherwise not have access to.

Want to volunteer?

If you are interested in volunteering, Pablo will train you and support you to assist families to fill out their own asylum applications. We ask all volunteers to be bilingual in Spanish-English. We are constantly building our volunteer team and invite you to join us.

Please contact Kelly Younger, Accompaniment Manager, at kyounger@im4humanintegrity.org to sign up or learn more about our Pro-Se Legal Orientation Program

Pablo’s Journey with IM4HI: Serving Fellow Migrants

At IM4HI we believe that immigrants, especially those who have experienced the challenges of our immigration system firsthand, know best how we can collectively protect and serve immigrants. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pablo reached out to us with a passion for supporting his community and raising awareness about the situation in Nicaragua. IM4HI was able to support him to bring his children from Nicaragua through our I-134a Reuniting Families program, and he is now happily reunited with them. As a former attorney in Nicaragua, he began volunteering with us, assisting asylum seekers with their applications through our NEAT Accompaniment Program, demonstrating unwavering dedication to helping others like himself.  Pablo also became the lead volunteer for our Newcomer Housing summer program at the University of San Francisco for two years, ensuring that 10 asylum seekers had filed their asylum applications in eight weeks so they could move with confidence into their next venture.

On November 19th, 2024 Pablo completed his Legal Preparer Training with the Paralegal Institute of the Americas. He has since spearheaded and designed our Pro-Se Legal Orientation program, which will have a lasting impact on the lives of hundreds of immigrants facing deportation and uncertain futures.