Monthly Archives: May 2022

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Doula program at El Centro Comunal Latino

El Centro has a birthing support doula program, designed to help pregnant mothers, deliver their baby with confidence, and a minimum of distress.   

The Refugee Support Network also has volunteer supporters that are experienced doulas. 
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El Centro tiene un programa de doula de apoyo al parto, diseñado para ayudar a las madres embarazadas, dar a luz a su bebé con confianza y un mínimo de angustia.   

La Red de Apoyo a los Refugiados también tiene voluntarios que son doulas con experiencia. 

Llame al Centro Comunal Latino
812-355-7513 (elcentrocomunal@gmail.com)

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Hoosier Hills Food bank has a wonderful Neighborhood pantry

Hoosier Hills Food bank has a wonderful Neighborhood pantry,
Where: Heatherwood Community Building
3660 South Leonard Springs Road (take bus 4 West)
When: every 3rd Monday, 2-4 pm
Who: all are welcome!

No questions asked, no need to provide

El banco de alimentos Hoosier Hills tiene una maravillosa despensa para la comunidad,
Donde: Edificio Comunitario Heatherwood
3660 South Leonard Springs Road (tomar el autobús 4 West)
Cuando: cada 3er lunes, 2-4 pm
Quién: todos son bienvenidos!

Sin preguntas, no hay que aportar

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Support our community efforts to help asylum seekers, refugees and other displaced migrants

A wonderful music performance group, the Chasqui Quartet has organized a concert tour that includes  Bloomington, Franklin TN and Nashville TN. 

Following a successful Colorado residency in 2021, Chasqui Quartet presents “Journeys,” a musical trek crossing centuries and continents. Music of Florence Price, Franz Josef Haydn, and Gabriela Lena Frank depicts travel on foot and on horseback, up mountains and into the spiritual realm. 

Playing together since 2019, Chasqui Quartet is known for their commitment to the storytelling power of music, creating immersive concert experiences rooted in local communities and causes.     Several of the members are very active and well known in our community.   

This group is very supportive of our community efforts to help asylum seekers, refugees and other displaced migrants, and they are donating a portion of the proceeds from this tour to the Bloomington Refugee Support Network.      

The concert in Bloomington is 5/31/2022, at 7pm at the First United Church. 
Please review the attached poster as well as a press document detailing their concert and locations. 

Thanks to the First United Church for hosting this event.   
Please share with your friends and family, and I hope you can join us being part of this spectacular musical journey. 
Please come and celebrate this musical journey.  Tuesday May 31,  7pm.  First United Church, 2420 E 3rd St, Bloomington, IN 47401

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Reducing Immigration Harms America’s Economy 

Donald Trump’s immigration policies were harmful to America’s long-term economic future. That becomes clearer as one compares the Trump administration’s actions to the projected increase in the number of immigrants under recently introduced immigration legislation. The U.S. Citizenship Act, developed by the Biden administration, would aid long-term economic growth by increasing the number of legal immigrants by 28%. In contrast, Trump administration policies would have cut legal immigration in half. The immigration policy path America chooses in the long-term will make a significant impact on economic growth and future labor force growth, of which immigrants are a vital part.

Read Forbes article here

and Insider article ”immigration would help curb both inflation and the labor shortage”

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About 6 million U.S. adults identify as Afro-Latino

Afro-Latino identity is a distinct one, with deep roots in colonial Latin America. As a result, it can often exist alongside a person’s Hispanic, racial or national origin identities. The life experiences of Afro-Latinos are shaped by race, skin tone and other factors, in ways that differ from other Hispanics. And though most Afro-Latinos identify as Hispanic or Latino, not all do so, according to new Pew Research Center estimates based on a survey of U.S. adults conducted from November 2019 to June 2020.

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Social media suggests that getting food stamps for your US citizen child (when you are not citizens) will cause problems with your immigration process.   NOT TRUE! 

The Public charge has never applied to asylum seekers applicants, but was intended to apply to those seeking status as a family members of someone with a green card or citizen

USDA and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a letter clarifying that applying for or receiving SNAP does not make someone a public charge and will not be considered in a public charge determination. 

Applying for or receiving SNAP will not affect someone’s ability to:
– Remain in the United States
– Get a Green Card/Permanent Legal Resident Status,
– Keep a Green Card/Permanent Legal Resident Status, or
– Become a U.S. Citizen.
– SNAP Logo Guidance

You can also apply for SNAP on behalf of the eligible immigrants or U.S. citizens in your family, even if you do not want to apply for benefits for yourself, without affecting your or their immigration status. For example, if a parent is not eligible for SNAP because of their immigration status, they can still apply for their eligible children. The SNAP office is not allowed to ask for immigration documents for people who are not applying to receive benefits themselves.

If you need food help, and you or members of your household qualify, please apply for SNAP for yourself or your family. Do it for your family’s good!

For more information relating to general immigration information in English or in Spanish, please call USCIS at 1-800-375-5283. 

For general information about SNAP, please call 1-800-221-5689 (English only) or 202-720-2791 (English and Spanish) to be connected to your state’s SNAP hotline.

For more information, visit https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/joint-letter-public-charge (Spanish and English language versions are attached below). 

NEW: Applying for or Receiving SNAP Does Not Make Someone a Public Charge – Feeding Indiana’s Hungry (feedingindianashungry.org)

There are income limits associated with being eligible for SNAP/  
Find Free Food and Groceries | Feeding America

-So, if you have questions,  reach out and we will put you in touch with local organizations who can help you walk through this. 

Similarly,   having Emergency Medicaid does NOT jeopardize your immigration process

” Applying for or receiving Medicaid or CHIP benefits, or getting savings for health insurance costs in the Marketplace, doesn’t make someone a “public charge”. This means it won’t affect their chances of becoming a Lawful Permanent Resident or U.S. citizen.” 

The one exception is if you are in a long term care facility (nursing home), at government expense.   But not routine medical treatment. 

Health coverage for lawfully present immigrants | HealthCare.gov