Category Archives: Immigrant Rights

Community Development, Immigrant Rights, LGBT, People of color, Philadelphia, Women

ACLU

Founded in 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is the nation’s foremost guardian of liberty. They are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending and protecting individual rights and personal freedoms.

Through advocacy, education and litigation, their attorneys, advocates and volunteers work to preserve and promote civil liberties including the freedom of speech, the right to privacy, reproductive freedom, and equal treatment under the law. They stand in defense of the rights of women and minorities, workers, students, immigrants, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, and others who have seen bias and bigotry threaten the rights afforded to all of us in this country by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Because the ACLU of Pennsylvania is a nonprofit organization with limited resources, they rely on volunteers and interns to accomplish their work. Most of their volunteer and internship opportunities are in one of their offices in Philadelphia. Some volunteers make a regular weekly commitment to volunteer; others help out on an as-needed basis.

The Philadelphia local chapter is made up of volunteers who help further the mission of the ACLU by alerting staff about civil liberties violations in their area, holding local events, and raising awareness in their communities about civil liberties and the ACLU-PA.

Have skills you’d like to volunteer, such as photography or graphic design, but don’t want to commit to regular schedule in the office? Email them at volunteer@aclupa.org to set up a time to discuss how you can get involved!

Website: https://www.aclupa.org/takeaction/volunteerintern/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aclupa

Contact: 215-592-1513, volunteer@aclupa.org or info@aclupa.org

Location: 1401 John F Kennedy Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Immigrant Rights, Location, Philadelphia

Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC)

The Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC) is a diverse coalition of over 50 member organizations and hundreds of individual members. Our membership is interfaith, interethnic and interdisciplinary and includes community groups, service providers, mutual assistance associations, unions, faith communities, concerned individuals and immigrant groups of different backgrounds to share information and resources, identify common problems, and advocate for solutions.

We believe that immigrants, refugees and other new Americans make significant contributions to our nation, state, region, and our local communities. They pay taxes in our local economy, revitalize neighborhoods as renters and home owners, consumers and business owners, and bring a rich cultural diversity.Our mission is to represent the needs of immigrants, migrants, refugees and other New Americans living in Pennsylvania to policy makers, public officials and the general public. We seek to advance immigrants’ rights and to promote their full integration into society by advocating for fair policies that welcome and sustain immigrants.

Website: http://www.paimmigrant.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PAImmigrant/

Contact: (215) 832-0636, admin@paimmigrant.org

Location: 2100 Arch Street, 4th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Community Development, Immigrant Rights, Location, People of color, Philadelphia

JUNTOS

JUNTOS is a Latino immigrant community led organization in Philadelphia fighting for our human rights as workers, parents, youth, and immigrants.

JUNTOS combines leadership development, community organizing, and focused collaborations with other community-based and advocacy organizations to build the power of our community so may be active agents of change.  We believe that every human being has the right to a quality education and the freedom to live with dignity regardless of immigration status.

Website: http://vamosjuntos.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VamosJuntosPhilly/

Contact: 215-218-9079, Info@vamosjuntos.org

Location: 600 Washington Ave, 2nd Fl, Unit 18UA, Philadelphia, PA 19147

Community Development, Immigrant Rights, Labor Rights, Location, Media, Philadelphia, Youth

Media Mobilizing Project

MMP exists to build a media, education and organizing infrastructure that will cohere and amplify the growing movement to end poverty. We use media to organize poor and working people to tell our stories to each other and the world, disrupting the stereotypes and structures that keep our communities divided.

MMP grows out of two histories of anti-poverty, human rights and communication organizing – Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s Campaign and Indymedia. From these histories, we learned core lessons: that in an era of consolidated media that doesn’t tell true stories about poor and working people, we need a community-based media production and distribution infrastructure, and that new communications technologies offer vital platforms for disenfranchised communities to share stories and unite across powerful lines of division.

Building on these insights, MMP formed in 2005 and has since strengthened dozens of existing and emerging grassroots struggles and organizations through narrative and resource development, media collaborations, and training; educated over 1000 immigrants, low-wage workers, and youth in audio/video production, digital literacy and human rights; launched radio, TV, and web platforms reaching nearly 50,000 people; shaped the public debate around poverty locally and nationally (including producing a PBS documentary on American poverty that has been seen by over 7.5 million viewers); and led a coalition to win Philadelphia $18 million in federal stimulus funding to break the digital divide.

Website: http://www.mediamobilizingproject.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mediamobilizing/

Contact: (215) 821-9632

Location: 4534 Baltimore Ave, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

Community Development, Immigrant Rights, People of color, Philadelphia

Boat People SOS

BPSOS – Delaware Valley is the local branch of a national Vietnamese American community organization with the mission to “empower, organize, and equip Vietnamese individuals and communities in their pursuit of liberty and dignity.”

Since 1980, one in 10 Vietnamese Americans has received assistance from BPSOS while still in Vietnam, on the high seas, in a refugee camp, or after arriving in the United States.

Through our 11 office locations in the U.S. and four office locations in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, we provide a web of services to support individuals, families, and communities. BPSOS-Delaware Valley works to promote a vision where Vietnamese American and immigrant individuals and families live in thriving, connected, communities which are free from violence.  We commit to this work through developing projects under four key areas that strengthen families and our community as a whole:

Southeast Asian Youth Empowerment Program (SEAYEP) : Programs during the school year and summer season focused on  youth including School-Year Youth Leadership Chapters for high school students;  after-school tutorials; Summer Youth Career Exploration Project; Journey Home and numerous short-term community service opportunities for Southeast Asian youth.

Citizenship Initiative in Vietnamese Immigrant Communities (CIVIC): Program to support eligible Vietnamese community members, and other legal permanent residents, through the citizenship process so that they will receive the benefits of citizenship including increased access to educational and employment opportunities, engage to a greater degree both politically and socially, will be less at risk for deportation, and will be able to reunify with family members.

Health Awareness & Promotion Program (HAPP): Informing and empowering Vietnamese-Americans to take health prevention into their own hands and become health advocates in the community. We are specifically working to tackle the issue of breast cancer, cervical cancer among Vietnamese women by reducing barriers to breast care.

Community Building Projects: Each year, we work with community members, leaders, and organizations to host our “hallmark” events in Philadelphia and South Jersey, which focus on building strong community connections through culture-based celebrations and engagement. Since 2009, these have been “Da Hoi Tinh Yeu (Love Festival)” in Philadelphia which celebrate strong families, and our “Tet Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Moon Festival) in South Jersey). These events also act as fundraisers for BPSOS-DelV–with monies coming from our most important constituents–our community members!

BPSOS-Delaware Valley is invested in building and developing community-oriented leadership within the Vietnamese communities and allied partnerships in all of our work. If you are interested in working with the Vietnamese community–whether you speak Vietnamese or not–we need you! There are many opportunites and they change frequently, so please check back here.  Please note that these are generally volunteer and unpaid positions.

Contact: (215) 334-1500, philly@bpsos.org
Location: 600 Washington Ave., Suite 18U-A, Philadelphia, PA 19147