I went to visit RISSE (the refugee and immigrant support center of Emmaus Church) Monday afternoon in Albany, and a bunch of beautiful young women came up to me asked if I would take a “girls” photo with Alexis, one of their counselors. I was happy to oblige, this was not a shy group, they love to be photographed.
It is always touching to see the love between these kids and their counselors, and also their love and connection to one another.
A lot of these children have harrowing stories to tell, their community has sustained and nourished them, they feel completely safe and loved at RISSE. I am grateful to RISSE for opening up their program to me, everyone there is anxious to show the true nature of the refugee and immigrant experience in America, these families work very hard to contribute to our society, and none have come her to harm us.
Since I began writing about RISSE, a number of people have started sending checks or payments to me or to Ali (Amjad Abdullah Mohammed), and thanks for that. But that is really not the best or most efficient way to help RISSE. You can donate directly to RISSE and its child and adult classes here, and there are many ways to do it easily.
When I walk into the day care center, a half dozen kids come running up to me, to welcome me and give me a hug. It is a powerful experience.
You can make the donation directly using Paypal or major credit cards if you wish. In the next week or so, I will be meeting with RISSE officials – Rifat Filkins, the executive director, and Brother Francis Sengano. They will be setting up a special Paypal account or web page for direct donations to Ali’s soccer team.
We will be focusing on individual children and their needs – one young man needs help to enroll in day care, which he loves and his parents desperately want him to have. Another would love to take art classes and needs tuition. In cases like that, I will be writing about these kids and talking specifically about what they might need and what it might cost. I have also suggested an Amazon gift page much like the one for the newly arriving immigrants at the beginning of the year.
If you wish to contribute right now, please donate on the RISSE site. If you want to help the kids on the soccer team, or children in the program with special and urgent needs, please be patient a bit and I will offer more information, as I have with the Mansion residents.
Ari has a birthday party for every child on the soccer team, and we have already raised money to buy the first two children birthday gifts. That may be something we want to continue. More on that later.
Sending money directly to me or to Ali is complex, and is a bookkeeping nightmare for everybody, and I don’t make a good bookkeeper.
The organization needs just about everything, and so do many of the children. If you donate to RISSE, some of the money will go to the children, of course. If you donate to the soccer team, it will only go to them. We should be ready to do that next week, and I hope to focus some of my writing on this program, and talk individually to some of the immigrants and refugees and tell their stories.
Rifat has asked whether I might write occasionally for their website, and I said I will be happy to when I can find the time.
RISSE is where I was meant to be right now. It is about my spirit as well as theirs. These people are not demons come to steal our jobs and harm us, that is for sure. I hope to convey who they really are.
For me, this issue is about the heart and soul of America, and when I see these people, and the adults working so hard in the crowded classrooms, it stirs my heart. So if you want to come along, stay tuned, I hope to be spending a lot of time there.