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In 2011, Denise* arrived in Boston, visa in hand and excited about big change and fresh opportunities. Although the plane ticket from her home country Haiti was expensive, and money was tight while she stayed with relatives and found her footing, she did not let that dampen her entrepreneurial spirit. Denise came here with a dream to use her fashion buying and selling experience to build a life in Boston and contribute to her new community.
Along the way, Denise met and began to trust someone who eventually became her husband. She felt lucky to welcome a much treasured son after getting married. Unfortunately, the relationship became a place that was not safe for Denise. Relatively new to the country, with limited financial means and a child to consider, this left her vulnerable and in need of accessible, external support.
Making the brave decision to leave her unsafe situation, Denise accessed secure housing at a local shelter, began the process of divorce, and sought support to figure out a path to permanent residency. Someone recommended she connect with Rian to find the help she was looking for.
Rian is dedicated to establishing a foundation of trust with courageous clients like Denise. After getting to know her, we determined her eligibility for VAWA, or Violence Against Women Act, which offers a path to permanent residency for survivors of battery or extreme cruelty committed by a family member. Our relationships with VAWA clients are formed across years-long preparation and processing of their sensitive cases. Using compassion, careful attention to detail, and technical expertise, Rian’s legal team works to build a clear timeline of the client’s experience, tracking down key corroborating documents and testimonies.
After working with Denise for years, we are thrilled she now has permanent residency and a place of her own. Her dreams have shifted somewhat over time, but she is still devoted to helping her community and is in school to become a nurse.
Rian has dozens of active VAWA cases like Denise’s at any given time, but there are more VAWA-eligible neighbors than can currently be served with full representation. Our partner of over a decade, Rosie’s Place, offers women emergency shelter and meals, and invests in connecting their clients to helpful legal assistance. Rian is invited to host a full-day legal clinic at their premises every single week, and we meet many VAWA-eligible clients through this partnership. Together, with our tapestry of partners like Rosie’s and supporters like you, we can continue to deliver on the promise of a safe city for survivors to call home.
VAWA cases are time-intensive, non-linear, and under the current administration, increasingly arbitrarily delayed. With your gift of support now, we can continue to grow our levers of assistance for immigrant neighbors like Denise, who flourish with a trusted, helping hand. And just maybe, when her hard work pays off and she celebrates stepping into her role as a nurse, she could be the person to offer a comforting, helping hand to you one day, too.
With gratitude,
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