We are moving.
After two amazing years, we have outgrown our space next to Community Action House's Food Club location.
Please help make our new home at 412 West 24th Street a reality! We'll be packing up in April and May - and would love your help to paint, clean, and prepare!
We Need Your Help
Schedule by VolunteerHub
Handy Volunteers: The full schedule of volunteer times is now available on VolunteerHub - review the needs and times, and then sign up!
Group Registrations
If you’d like to register as a group, please use this link to register (and leave the “Group Leads” checkbox checked") or email David at dlee@lia-michigan.org, or call (616) 834-0191
Sign up at http://vhub.at/lia-move
Volunteer to Paint walls, Spruce Up Everything, and Unpack!
Amazon Wishlist: Purchase what we need to move in fully - lightbulbs are a big priority! Please send items to our current office address at 735 Paw Paw Dr, Holland, MI 49423 until May 11th - and afterwards, to 412 West 24th Street, Holland, MI 49423.
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1VND3BC68DA40?ref_=wl_share
Please Donate to our Moving Fund: Please help us cover the moving expenses! In total, we’re anticipating about $15,000 in total expenses. Every dollar helps!
UPDATE 4/26 - DONATIONS MATCHED! From now through May 11th - a generous supporter will donate an additional $1 for every $2 donated to the moving fund, up to $2000 total. Please make the most of this opportunity - your $10 becomes $15 - $50 becomes $75, and $100 becomes $150!
Donate online at this link, Venmo us @liamichigan with the message “LIA is Moving!”, send in a donation by mail (with the memo “Move!”), or contact us! Thank you!
Bring in Moving Boxes
It has been a while since we last moved. We’re in need of banker’s boxes, and boxes to store all of our other stuff - materials, decor, equipment. If you have sturdy boxes, please drop them off at our office by May 1st.
Why is LIA moving?
As our work and efforts have increased and adapted to the needs of our community, we’ve made big moves in a short span of time. When we moved into 735 Paw Paw, we were just four and a half full-time staff. We remember thinking, “What are we going to do with all of this space? We’re never going to use it all!” That was at the end of 2020.
Within a year, our staff had grown to nine full-time staff. That summer, we housed sixteen - yes - sixteen - amazing interns in our legal services program.
The 735 Paw Paw office has served us well - amazingly well. We crossed our 2000th case milestone here. Nearly 400 new Afghan clients were served in the space of months, most of whom have applied for asylum far ahead of most other communities, not just in Michigan, but across the whole of the United States. More than a hundred clients were granted U.S. Citizenship during our time here. We were able to do things in this space that never would have been possible at our old Butternut or 136th offices.
Today, with three full-time attorneys, two DOJ-accredited legal representatives taking on their own cases, legal assistants, interns, and volunteers needing space to hold confidential and private conversations, we are limited in our scheduling ability.
About the new location
At 24th Street, we’ll have double the conference room space, plenty of restrooms (six!), a large-group meeting space, and even a full kitchen to host workshops, clinics, and partner organizations!