April Email News
Hello!
I'm writing this email while sitting in our new offices, where volunteers and helpers are right now painting and getting this big space ready for our move-in on May 11th:
Much brighter, and almost ready to house the future work and impact of Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates for years to come. We've been sharing move updates day by day on social media (like these videos).
Tonight, I'd like to invite you take part in an exciting opportunity to have your donations matched! Between now and May 11th, every $2 in donations to help us move will be matched by another $1 by a generous LIA supporter! And as of today, we are just shy of $3,000 away from our $15,000 goal for moving funds in pledges and donations. This is the final push to reach our goal! However you give (online at this link, email me back here with your pledge, Venmo @liamichigan, or by mail), just add a note/memo that says "Move!"
Those donations will cover expenses like the paint for the walls and this mural, replacing literally-decades-old light-bulbs, hiring professional movers for the big stuff, installing secure networking infrastructure, and all of the little things that moving entails. We are still astounded by how quickly donors responded to help buy a new sign for the new office - fully funded in less than 12 hours!
I am so deeply grateful for all of the folks who have helped by sending us an item (or ten) from our Amazon Wishlist - every day is a day with new packages full of the items we need to finish the move. Thank you.
Another big thank you to all of the volunteers who have prepped and painted more than half of the rooms in our new offices! I've been humbled to meet them, and glad that they know what they are doing (and especially because painting is not one of my gifts, truly). Thank you for donating your time and expertise, and even lending us your professional-grade painting equipment (like these amazing rolling scaffolds, wow!)
Through this week, and a few days next week are additional open volunteer times (including for groups), and then a break during Tulip Time (except moving day on the 11th), and then moving in during the week following - it's all coming together. We're grateful to be hosting volunteers for the West Coast Chamber of Commerce's 2023 Community Impact Day too!
In the meantime, I'm afraid to report that we're running a bit behind on sharing LIA's Annual Impact Report this year, as we've had our hands full with moving and leadership transitions. Please bear with us! Here are a couple key highlights about 2022:
- 45 Approved Naturalized U.S. Citizens
- 92 Approved employment authorization cases
- 188 total cases approved, with a 99% approval rate
- 876 clients served! (wow)
- 37 unique countries of origin for 2022 clients
- 18 Michigan counties of residence
- $127,845 spent on translation and interpretations for Afghan clients
A big milestone we're looking forward to in 2023: Opening our 3,000th case!
Finally, I wanted to let you know about an article we recently published on migrant child labor exploitation, and how it shows up in West Michigan. It covers the heavy reality of the world we live in - an important bit of writing prepared by our own team of advocates.
As this email grows long, I just wanted to share my view at the new offices:
Thank you for all of this, and more.
With my warmest regards,
David Lee
Co-leader at Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates