DONATE
TO AYUDA
Help us achieveour goals.
Client Stories
Why we come to work every day...
May 17, 2012Hope is defined as "the feeling that events will turn out for the best." At Ayuda, we are very familiar with this concept.
Gabriel (not real name) is one of those people that came to Ayuda in search of hope. After suffering a lifetime of discrimination and abuse based on his sexual orientation, Gabriel left his native Guatemala in search of safety and the opportunity to achieve his dreams in the U.S. However, his dreams turned into nightmares. The family members he sought support and guidance from promptly turned their backs on Gabriel. They kicked him out of his house and forced him to live in the streets for one simple reason: he was gay. Eventually, after much struggle, Gabriel got back on his feet and found a support network with local organizations that serve the LGBT community. Through these channels, Gabriel learned that, because of his sexual orientation and history of suffered abuse, he could qualify for permanent asylum in the U.S. Fearing deportation to a country where he faced further abuse, Gabriel began seeking legal representation that would help his life turn out for the best.
Farid faces separation from his sisters with no where to turn except Ayuda...
April 19, 2012Farid (not his real name) and his family, mother and father and two sisters came to the United States. Farid was 11 at the time. Farid's family came to the US from East Africa where they were extremely poor and lived in the dangerous outskirts of a large city. Farid's family came seeking economic opportunity, education, safety and a place to call home.
However, after still facing extreme poverty as they moved around Canada and the US Farid's mother and father returned to Eastern Africa leaving Farid and his two sisters behind with a relative...
Mary Kay Gives Ayuda and My Sister's Place Clients an Afternoon to Remember
January 4, 2012Often times during the holiday season we generously donate to food and toy drives to benefit children of domestic violence survivors and low-income families. However, we sometimes forget their nurturing mothers, who rarely ask for anything during the holiday season, as they often struggle to find ways to provide for their children so they can enjoy the magic of this time of year without the fear of violence. However, last December 15th, 2011, Mary Kay wanted to ensure that some of the many brave women who experience so much senseless violence and suffering are able to truly have a day for themselves. Mary Kay provided 30 female domestic violence survivors the opportunity to be pampered for an afternoon. This event gave the brave clients of Ayuda and My Sister's Place an afternoon dedicated solely to them.
The participants were picked up from Ayuda and My Sister's Place in limousines and taken to The Liaison Capitol Hill. Once there, the excited participants received various packages, gift cards, lunch and were even serenaded! 5 participants...
Ayuda helps a brave trafficking survivor set her life on a new course
December 12, 2011While you are enjoying your Holiday Season be sure not to forget those who most need your help like "Elena" (not her real name). Elena was a 50 year old woman from Honduras. She was coming to the US to visit a man she loved. Sadly, her dreams were dashed upon by deceit by the man she thought was going to make her dreams come true. Upon arriving to the U.S., Elena was turned into a prisoner...
Ayuda Helps Client Obtain Something Better than Temporary Protected Status...
September 9, 2011"Fransica" is a 23 year old from El Salvador who came to Ayuda during our weekly walk-in consultation hours to see whether she qualified for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a temporary status that provides short-term protection from deportation as well as employment authorization. As a result of her consultation with a paralegal, Ayuda determined she was not eligible for TPS, but...
Big Case Win by Ayuda Staff Attorney!
August 22, 2011Carolina fled Honduras in 2008 with her two young children, Jorge and Marta, to escape her abusive husband. For more than four and a half years, Carolina suffered at the hands of her husband, who beat, strangled, stalked, and raped her...
A New Life for A Mother and Her Two Children
January 21, 2011"Glenda" is a Guatemalan woman who first came to Ayuda in the mid '90s. She found herself in an abusive marriage and had fled her home country because she feared for her life. Ayuda assisted her in winning asylum as an abused woman--a rather difficult feat at that time. Ayuda later assisted her in petitioning for her children and obtaining permanent residence for herself.
This summer, Glenda completed five years of being a permanent resident, which is the necessary time needed to apply for US citizenship. Ayuda assisted her in preparing her application and it is currently pending. We are hopeful that she will be granted US citizenship. If that happens, it will bring to a close a more than ten-year odyssey through the US immigration system with the assistance of Ayuda.
Human Trafficking Survivor Escapes Exploitation
July 23, 2010Daeng was brought to the US by the lure of economic opportunity. He had been offered an appealing agricultural job that promised to pay him significantly more than he could hope to make at home in Thailand. He incurred a significant amount of debt to pay for the arrangements, however he left home for the US optimistic.
When he arrived to start his new "job" however, it turned out to be far different than promised. Daeng's passport was immediately confiscated and his access to the outside world was cut off, leaving him completely isolated...
Domestic Violence Survivor Overcomes the Odds
February 1, 2010At 32, Martina came to the United States on a tourist visa and met Alfonso. On the eve of Martina's departure, Alfonso proposed, and Martina happily accepted. Soon after the wedding, however, Alfonso became controlling...
Protection from Persecution: An Asylum Success Study
January 1, 2010?Ben? is a Baptist Christian from Chin state in Burma, where the government has limited tolerance for religious freedom and harsh restrictions abound. While participating in a worship service in a remote area, Ben was arrested for distributing Bibles written in his native dialect - a crime that carries a seven year sentence in a hard labor camp...
Protecting Immigrant Youth: An Immigrant Juvenile Success Story
January 1, 2010Until the age of ten, Enrique and his siblings lived with his parents in a small house in Guatemala City. Enrique?s alcoholic, drug-abusing father would come home and beat each of the children with tree branches, electrical cords, or whatever other weapon he could find. Twice he forced them to pile all of their belongings in front of the house, and he set fire to the pile. The second time, the house caught on fire, leaving them homeless...
Empowering Crime Victims: A U Visa Success Story
January 1, 2010?Arturo? is a 23-year old Mexican man who came to the Washington, DC area to join his older brother, ?Juan Carlos,? after many years of separation. Just two weeks after he arrived in the area, Arturo and Juan Carlos were held up at gunpoint, assaulted and robbed. As the robbers fled the scene, one of them fired his gun several times...
Protecting Immigrant Dreams: A Family Visa Success Story
January 1, 2010Fatima, a bright young woman from Pakistan, first came to the United States at the age of eighteen to pursue an undergraduate degree. During her freshman year of college, Fatima fell in love with an American classmate and the two dated for several years. In the summer after her junior year, Fatima went to Pakistan for a short vacation; while she was there her parents told her that they had arranged for her to marry a male stranger twice her age. Before the summer was over, Fatima and this man were wed...
Securing Freedom from Modern-Day Slavery: A Trafficking Survivor's Success Story
January 1, 2010Tanya, a 24-year-old woman from India, came to the United States to work as a housekeeper for a family in Maryland. She was eager to earn money and support her family back home. She never suspected that her arrival in the US would mark the beginning of a living nightmare for her...