AUISP Awarded the Art Gish Peacemaking Award

On Thursday, October 6th, board members Anne Sparks and Joanna Mitchell accepted the award from the Appalachian Peace and Justice Network on behalf of AUISP.

AUISP's work would not be possible without the partnership of other nonprofits and organizations in the area like APJN.

Recent Fundraisers & Upcoming Expenses

Throughout the month of August, Casa Nueva generously chose AUISP as their charity of the month - patrons at the restaurant donated a total of $368 which will go directly to assisting the people we serve with housing and legal expenditures. Thank you Casa and diners!

We had a delightful time of community at Uncorked in October. We owe so much to community friends, old and new, who attended; and to the excellent musicians who shared their talents. We were light on program, and heavy on networking and relationships. It was also an occasion to bid a sad farewell to Kerri Shaw who, while she has valiantly hung on from her new home in Dayton, has found plenty of immigrant support work there. Our net from the Uncorked event was $600.

It’s always enlightening to consider specific expenses that we encounter. Legal help toward the asylum process continues; and we expect the pending contract to cost about $5,000. Additionally - while we have secured excellent, free or discounted, medical services from both Marietta Memorial Health System and Hopewell Health - there will soon be an $1,100 bill for a root canal.

Stories From Our New Friends

Solange and Children - Solange sends all the people who donate to AUISP her never ending thanks and says she will be forever grateful.
Solange added that she feels blessed by God to receive this support and she wants everyone to know that she has applied for a work permit but it has not yet been approved.

Aracéli - Things are going well for Aracéli in the state of Delaware and she sent us this message:
Mi vida ha cambiado desde que Dios puso a personas de Ohio en mi vida, quiero agradecer por todo lo que han echo por mi.
(My life has changed since God put people of Ohio in my life, I want to thank them for everything they have done for me.)

Cesia and Juan - It’s been delightfully difficult to keep up with this crew! While John and Debbie manage to visit regularly at their house in Columbus, they do finagle around church, work and school schedules. It is so clear that this whole family have been - and stand ready to be - good citizens of wherever they live.

Anfah - For those of us who often feel that the needs of our world are too big for a meaningful impact, we are so lucky to have a daily contradiction! Share your home; invite to dinner; sit and listen - and there it is! The sweet reminder that - for one person - you can mean safety, health and a future. It’s the starfish story, of course, made human.

Anfah is learning English at a rapid pace. She loved the Honey for the Heart Parade, and all things Halloween. She tackled her own costume and, whether it was intentional or not, came out looking like (perhaps) the world’s first Muslim nun!

We are negotiating with a very busy attorney in Cincinnati to take her asylum case. While she waits for her future to happen, Anfah speaks regularly to her friends and family. She has also discovered her inner leaf-raking demon; Debbie & John are a little afraid that she might start scraping off their sod!

Shahadah - Shahadah is thriving in the state of Washington. She recently took a new job with PNC bank, which allows her to work from home and avoid the complicated commute of the previous one. Her new apartment is slowly becoming furnished - last we talked, she’d acquired a desk for work but no chair.

As always, we are endlessly grateful for your continued support of our mission and the people that we serve.

In solidarity,

The Board of AUISP