Why RILA Offers Holistic Support
By Emily Williams
In the year since I began serving as RILA’s Program Director, I’ve learned that sometimes, in order to provide excellent, pro-bono immigration legal assistance, we need to do more than just meet clients’ legal needs. Let me explain that a bit.
It all began back in March, when I was attending court with my client, Sasha. The last I heard, she was receiving prenatal care and excited to be welcoming a little boy sometime in April. So, as we sat outside the courtroom, waiting for her turn in court, Sasha and I chatted in my limited Spanish to pass the time. I asked her what she still needed to get ready for the baby, thinking maybe we could buy her diapers or something, but she looked away as she replied, “I need everything.” The next day, after a phone call from her case worker, we learned that she meant this quite literally. She had no place for the baby to sleep, no ride to or from the hospital, no car seat, no baby clothes. She had literally nothing to welcome this baby but the love in her heart. RILA staff and volunteers came together to meet her key needs. And through caring for Sasha, we uncovered a whole realm of needs among the most vulnerable of our clients.
In the last year, RILA has cared for seven pregnant clients, both directly and in partnership with local churches and RILA supporters. In many cases, the support that we provided had direct bearing on our clients’ legal cases. We have worked with our clients to reschedule court dates and ICE check-ins, which if missed, could have serious repercussions for our clients’ asylum cases. But even more importantly, we’ve been able to educate our clients about how having a baby in the U.S. might be different from what they saw or experienced in their home country. For example, the hospital won’t let a baby leave without a car seat. Or, children can’t stay overnight in many hospitals, so any other children in the family need to be cared for appropriately while mom and baby are still in the hospital. What has been so encouraging is seeing our clients understand these requirements and be empowered to make these arrangements themselves.
Last month, when Lupita came for her first RILA appointment, she was eight months pregnant and desperate. Her living situation was unsafe for herself and her children, and she had no care for her ten-year-old daughter while she was in the hospital for her delivery. After going through RILA’s pregnancy screening with one of our volunteers on a Friday afternoon, we identified a number of areas of need, and frankly felt perplexed about how to meet them. We were able to reschedule her ICE check-in that was actually scheduled on her due date, but we weren’t sure how to cope with her living situation or her child care needs. However, after a follow up call the next Monday, Lupita had found a new living situation, organized friends to help her move, and found someone willing to take her daughter when she went into labor. Several weeks ago, I visited her in her new home the day after she left the hospital with her beautiful baby girl. I had brought diapers and baby clothes, but Lupita had already made such a sweet home for her little girl. As we oohed and awed over cute clothes and hand-made baby blankets, it struck me what a change had happened in Lupita’s life since our first meeting with her. And the amazing thing is that this change wasn’t because of RILA, it was God at work in her life!
Getting involved in our clients’ lives allows us to be the best possible advocates for them. We listen to their stories, earn their trust, and show them by our actions that we want to be more than just a sympathetic, listening ear. Every time I have had a conversation with one of these women over the last year, this is the verse that came to mind:
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. - James 2:15-17 (ESV)
If I congratulate our clients on their new babies, but don’t do anything to help meet the very real needs they have as a result of these babies, what good is that?
RILA has made it a strategic priority to focus on holistic support for our clients. In the last year, our focus has been directed towards new mothers because they have emerged as those with the greatest need. But we have so many clients who struggle with other material needs like safe housing, enrolling children in school, providing nutritious food for their families, and finding safe and dignified employment. Our hope is to expand our holistic programming so that clients are empowered to live with security and dignity while they wait for their legal cases to be processed and heal from the trauma they left behind. You can help us do this in the following ways:
Make a one-time donation to RILA’s benevolence fund, or consider becoming a monthly donor through our Giver of Hope program so that we can continue providing material support to pregnant women.
Do you have any baby items, especially for newborns, that are in good condition, but not needed for your family anymore? Let us know what you have available! Also, if you’d like to purchase any new items, please reach out, and we’ll let you know what our current needs are.
Are you a social worker or social work student, or do you know someone who is? We are keen to find partners in the social services fields who can connect our clients to services, or help with case management and assisted referrals on a volunteer basis. Email us for more information!
Please pray for God to raise up more public and private services that are available to asylum seekers. While some counties do serve asylum seekers, others do not provide any services unless an immigrant is a lawful permanent resident.
Pray that God will take care of the needs of our clients, that they would feel cared for by Him and by others here in the U.S.