Justice For Our Neighbors (JFON) provides immigrants with free and low-cost legal services. The organization, also known as the Immigration Law and Justice Network, also promotes advocacy events to educate the public on the rights of immigrants. Tessa Lemos Del Pino, Executive Director of Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, tell us more about JFoN’s history and mission.
Transcript
Tennessee Justice for our Neighbors is essentially a not-for-profit law office that provides free or low-cost legal representation to individuals who are immigrants seeking humanitarian forms of relief.
We also educate the public about immigration and we advocate for immigrant rights. It might mean, you know, safety from an abuser. It might mean a child who's been abused or been or neglected by a parent, now has a way to access college, might, you know, have a way to access their driver's license or get that social security card that is everything for so many people.
J-FON came out of a project that was started at UMCOR. Now, there are 19 sites throughout the country, it's known as the Immigration Law and Justice Network now. As Christians, it's our responsibility to take care of our neighbors.
While the bulk of our funding comes from grants and foundations, we know that at the heart of things we started in the church, or a lot of our individual donors are church members, but the most growing area where we're engaging volunteers is in our advocacy work, so we have started having “Day on the Hills.” Last year was our first Day on the Hill.
If you want to learn more about Immigration Law and Justice Network as a whole, in terms of how we're serving thousands of immigrants every year, you can also go to ILJ and you can donate it at the Advance at www.UMCOR.org.
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The JFON network grew out of a legal assistance program started by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Donations can be made to Advance # 901285.
Watch a video about Richard and Kathryn Spry, who are long-time United Methodists and stained glass artists. Their passion for immigrant rights led them to establish the Chimes for Justice initiative, through which they donate all of the proceeds from their artwork sales to Tennessee Justice for our Neighbors. They’ve raised more than $80,000, and they plan to continue to create, sell and assist individuals and families in need.
This video was published on January 28, 2025. The contact is Joe Iovino.
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