Podcasts about refugee services

Two of Michigan's refugee resettlement agencies help us understand what's happening on the ground in the midst of federal funding cuts, and the suspension of refugee admissions to the U.S. GUESTS: Lukas Ziomkowski, VP of Refugee Services for Samaritas Mira Sussman, Resource Development Manager and Impact Coordinator for Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are delighted to welcome Fr. Alberto Ares, SJ, who is the regional director of Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) in Europe. JRS is an international Catholic organization with a mission to accompany, serve, and advocate on behalf of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. With the US perspective on immigration so tied to the southern border, Alberto offers us a different perspective by sharing the dynamics across Europe, which can vary greatly by country. He reflects on the uncertainties of the moment as development aid is being drastically cut by the United States. He shares how a lifetime of ministry accompanying poor and marginalized communities has inspired his faith and gives him hope.Brian and Joe also share stories of the ways the migrants they accompany have evangelized by sharing the Good News of the Gospel. Joe shares the story of Milagro, a three-year-old girl from Honduras, who would fold her hands and gently bow her head as he prayed over her. After the prayer, she would raise her head up as a big smile spread across her face, showing the joy that comes from our faith. It is a joy reflected in Milagros, and in countless other children who have regularly participated in our Masses. Brian reflects on the catechism classes the Jesuits started offering in one of the shelters, since people are stuck on the border that is completely closed to vulnerable migrants. Catalina, the mother of four kids who are now preparing for baptism, sat on the edge of her seat during the first catechism class. She made the point clear to Brian, “I am here to learn!” May we all have such an enthusiasm for learning more about our faith and growing closer to God.

Luke 6:17-26[Jesus] went down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. They came out to hear and to be healed of their diseases, and all those who were troubled by unclean spirits were cured. All in the crowd were trying to touch Jesus, because power came out of him and healed all of them.Then Jesus looked up to his disciples and said, “Blessed are you who are poor now, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and persecute you and defame you on account of the Son of Man, rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven. For that is what your ancestors did to the prophets.But woe to you who are rich now, for you have receive your consolation. And woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. And woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what your ancestors did to the false prophets. Pastor Cogan confirmed a rumor we've heard about that new construction going on at the southeast corner of U.S. 40 and Mt. Comfort Road these days. Apparently, it's going to be a WaWa – another convenience store/gas station out of Philadelphia. WaWa also has food, with enough of a menu that you can get breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as part of your gas station experience. But that's also true of the Speedway across the street and the Leo's just up the road on your way to Greenfield. (I was hoping for a restaurant NOT attached to a gas station and something without a drive-thru, but no one asked me.)But did you know there's some marketing and social science behind the decision to put a gas station across the street from another gas station? That there's a logic to the capitalistic tendency to put a Lowe's hardware store very near to a Home Depot; to build a CVS kitty corner from a Walgreen's; to put a Burger King next to a McDonald's, next to a Wendy's, next to a Taco Bell, next to a Chik-fil-A?The logic, as I understand it, is that it changes the questions that potential consumers ask themselves as they drive around town. When only one potential option presents itself, the question is simply, “Do I need gas, or something from the hardware store, or something to eat?” Those are simple, yes/no questions and easier, cut-and-dry decisions to make.But when there are similar options available to us, our minds are more inclined to engage the nuance of the potential decision before us. We no longer wonder so much about WHETHER we want or need a particular thing – a simple yes/no question. Instead, we wonder WHICH ONE of the available options is more appealing, and are more inclined to choose SOMETHING, accordingly, whether we need it or not. Sneaky, right? Clever, don't you think?It could very well be just me – and my struggle with the Beatitudes whenever they show up – but I feel like Jesus might be up to something similar with this portion of his “Sermon on the Plain,” today, and all of his talk about “Blessings” and “Woes.”Blessed are you who are poor, who are hungry, who are weeping …If Jesus ONLY gave us the blessings to wonder about, it would be easy for each of us to see ourselves as recipients of the healing, hope, comfort, joy, and favor, he promises. Who among us doesn't or hasn't wished for “more,” to the point that, without some perspective we might think we know what “poor” feels like? And who among us doesn't know what it is to weep, or to hunger for something other than food, or to be left out, excluded, and misunderstood where faith – or something else may be concerned?I'll take that blessing every time and I'll live in that hope whenever and wherever I can find it, thank you very much.But Jesus gives us more than one option to think about – more than one perspective to consider – this morning, doesn't he? To use my gas station example, Jesus sets up this little shop of BLESSINGS right next door to this little factory of WOES, does he not? He proposes this litany of BLESSINGS right across the proverbial street from that other list of WOES so that it's harder to just drive on by, encouraging us to think more deeply about how they show up in our lives – whether we may want to go there, or not. And, truth be told, I'm equally – if not more – convicted by the woes than the blessings in Jesus' beatitudes. I'm not wealthy by the standards of many, but I am rich in ways most of the world cannot fathom. (Woe to me.) I am filled to overflowing – literally and figuratively – and have never known the kind of hunger – literal and figurative – with which so many struggle. (Woe to me.) I find opportunities for joy and light and laughter in this world, even though there is so much to be dismayed about and despairing over, for sure. (Woe to me. And to most of you, too, from what I can tell.)So, again, if Jesus merely presented us with the WOES as he lays them out today, I could easily wallow in that shame, guilt and sadness, like a pig in slop. Woe, is me.But, again, Jesus builds this house of WOES, right next door to this little gift shop of BLESSINGS, and inspires me to do more than just drive on by, or to say “yes” or “no” to my first instinct or inclination about how they apply to my life and faith in this world.And it's important to notice that this is a conversation and that these are choices meant and made, very specifically, for Jesus' disciples. Yes, there were multitudes there from all over Judea, from the big city of Jerusalem, and from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. But when Jesus looked up and started saying these things in particular, we're told he was speaking directly to his disciples – to those who wanted to follow in his footsteps, to do his bidding, to walk in his ways.And that's you and me on our best days, right?Our lives are a swirl of blessings and woes so extreme that they can be difficult to reconcile – and God knows that. And God knows, too, that we find ourselves on either end of the spectrum of these blessings and woes, depending on what day or minute or moment we decide to take a good, hard look, as Jesus invites us to do, today.How can we look at the world around us and not wonder who are the rich and privileged? (Global Refuge, which used to be Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, had 97% of their funding frozen in the last week or two, leaving refugees stranded instead of saved, as planned. They've laid off ¼ of their staff and couldn't make payroll this week, either so it's not getting better anytime soon.)How can we see the poverty of food and the scarcity of resources that exist for so many and not wonder how we might pray and advocate for something better? (The recent halt to USAID funding will impact everything from AIDS testing and education to contraceptive healthcare to food and medical assistance for some of the most vulnerable people on the planet – including our friends in Haiti.)And how can we see the weeping and mourning of others and not do whatever we can to provide comfort, peace, and hope in its place? (This is why we plan things like advocacy training workshops around here so that we might make a difference on behalf of people without homes in our own neck of the woods.)See, I think Jesus lays out these two competing realities – these blessings and woes – side by side before us, as he does – so that we won't just go about our lives of faith asking simple “yes” and “no” questions, like blind, happy capitalists, on our way to the gas station, or the drive-thru, or the voting booth, or even to church on Sunday morning.I think Jesus knows and wants us to assume that most of us will have blessings and woes aplenty in this life. And he wants us to wonder about how our blessings impact the woes of others, and vice versa, so that we will see our wants and needs, our blessings and woes, in the context of and in connection with the multitudes of neighbors – all children of God – in the wide world around us.And I think Jesus wants us to ask better questions. Not merely IF or WHETHER we'll step up and step out in faith to love our one another, for God's sake, but WHEN and WHERE and HOW. And he wants to watch us do something to turn the tables – to create more blessings where there seem only to be woes – for us and for others, on this side of heaven, in his name.Amen

In this episode of Metropolis Rising, we're thrilled to welcome Lilian "Lili" Jimenez, an attorney and advocate fighting for greater justice and equity in public policy. With a wealth of experience in direct services, community organizing, and policy advocacy, Lili is dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrant populations and communities of color. Lili's work focuses on ensuring that government and non-profit programs genuinely serve the needs of their communities. She's been a passionate advocate for immigration rights, health justice, workers' rights, and criminal justice reform. Her impressive career includes leadership positions with Workers United (an SEIU affiliate), the Illinois Department of Labor, the Illinois Office of Immigrant & Refugee Services, and more. Now, Lili is running to represent Illinois' 4th District in the State House of Representatives. Join us as we explore her inspiring journey and vision for a more equitable future.We apologize in advance for an audio glitch that arose during the episode.

PAIN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @painnonprofit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Founder Flindt Andersen and Media Director Jason LaChance sat down to discuss The House Judiciary Committee who held a hearing September 10, 2024. The hearing, "The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victim Perspectives," which examined the effects of the Biden-Harris Administration's open borders policies on American families and communities. WITNESSES:  Anne Fundner, Mother of Weston Fundner, Victim of Fentanyl Poisoning - testimony  April Aguirre, Crime Victims' Advocate - testimony  Patty Morin, Mother of Rachel Morin, Victim of Criminal Illegal Alien - testimony  Mike Boudreaux, Sheriff, Tulare County, California - testimony  Tammy Nobles, Mother of Kayla Hamilton, Victim of Criminal Illegal Alien - testimony  Alexis Nungaray, Mother of Jocelyn Nungaray, Victim of Criminal Illegal Alien - testimony  Melissa Lopez, Executive Director, Estrella del Paso (formerly known as Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services) - testimony  Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, Ph.D., Affiliated Researcher, Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation University of California San Diego - testimony  Flindt and Jason discuss this topic and more on this episode. Intro 00:00 What did Mike Boudreaux, Sheriff, Tulare County, California say at the hearing? 03:20 How has fentanyl made illicit drug use a game of Russian Roulette? 08:00 How has the open borders allowed criminal activity including fentanyl dealing and human trafficking increase? 14:45 What is the Granville Home Of Hope and how can you win a home and help PAIN in the process? 20:10 How is it that we haven't learned from the past when it comes to border and public safety policies? 26:35 Why do we have to prove to recovery addicts that they 4-minute mile is possible? 34:48 For more on the Granville Home Of Hope: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://gvhomeofhope.com/⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or call our office at 559-579-1551 For more on Parents & Addicts In Need: If you or a loved ones need our services, to follow on social media, the Don't Hide The Scars Podcast, to get involved, or to donate ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/painnonprofit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more on Flindt Andersen, to have him speak at your organization visit⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.flindtandersen.com/⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

We are excited to welcome Amaya Valcárcel, International Advocacy Officer with Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) in Rome, who also works in the area of research and reflection in the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development at the Vatican. Amaya helps to broaden our perspective beyond the US-Mexico border to recognize the harsh reality of forced migration around the world. She echoes the words of Pope Francis calling for a culture of encounter as a remedy to the globalization of indifference that causes societies to build more policies of resistance rather than welcoming for refugees and asylum seekers.  This past Sunday, we celebrated Laetare Sunday (from the Latin for “rejoicing”) in the middle of our Lenten journey. Drawing from that theme, Brian and Joe share stories of joy that breaks through even the harshest of circumstances. Brian tells the story of Kayla, a 4-year-old girl who he baptized in Senda 2 in Reynosa. Despite the harsh conditions of the shelter and the desperation of a long wait to enter the US, Kayla's parents took advantage of their time at the shelter to have their daughter baptized, which was a moment of joy for all who joined in the celebration. Joe recalls the birthday/farewell party for Carlos, a migrant who was staying at Casa del Migrante in Reynosa. The joy reached a new level when Sor Edith, an 80-year-old Daughter of Charity, broke into dance to the delight of all. If you want to see her cut a move, there's got to be a Tik Tok video of her out there somewhere!

Will Watts with Coalition for the Homeless joins us for this month's hot topic: right to shelter. Host K-DiD and Will discuss the background of the right to shelter in NYC, including Callahan v. Carey, the current landscape with the policy, how it relates to housing, and more. The Legal Aid Society Homeless Rights hotline: 1-800-649-9125 Monday-Friday from 10 am -3 pm Email or DM us to share your story: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NYCHearOurVoices@gmail.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hear Our Voices on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ account links can be found on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linktr.ee/nyc_hov⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out the HOV resources packet: bit.ly/40pB4p8 Coalition for the Homeless https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/ Crisis Intake: Call 1-888-358-2384 Every weekday 9 am -5 pm NY SANE Coalition https://www.ny-sane.org/ About Callahan Consent Decree⁠ https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/our-programs/advocacy/legal-victories/the-callahan-legacy-callahan-v-carey-and-the-legal-right-to-shelter/ NYC311⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://portal.311.nyc.gov/   ⁠⁠⁠⁠DHS' Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing (PATH) intake center ⁠⁠⁠⁠- apply for shelter   https://www.nyc.gov/site/dhs/shelter/families/families-with-children-applying.page ⁠⁠⁠⁠Brochure⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dhs/downloads/pdf/path-brochure.pdf   ⁠⁠⁠⁠HRA Guide for Housing Instability⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.nyc.gov/assets/hra/downloads/pdf/BK-9-SOI-NewGuideForRenters.pdf      ⁠⁠⁠⁠About Source of Income Discrimination⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.nyc.gov/site/cchr/media/source-of-income.page ⁠⁠⁠⁠FAQ for Source of Income Discrimination⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.nyc.gov/assets/cchr/downloads/pdf/materials/FairHouse_FAQs-Tenant-English.pdf   ⁠⁠⁠⁠Unlock NYC⁠⁠⁠⁠ (support for discrimination) https://weunlock.nyc Housing Vouchers ⁠⁠⁠⁠Section 8⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.nyc.gov/site/nycha/section-8/about-section-8.page   ⁠⁠⁠⁠CityFHEPS⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.nyc.gov/site/hra/help/cityfheps.page   ⁠⁠⁠⁠FHEPS⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.nyc.gov/site/hra/help/fheps.page    ⁠⁠⁠⁠Special One-Time Assistance⁠⁠⁠⁠ (SOTA) https://www.nyc.gov/site/hra/help/sota.page   Programs for Refugee Services in NYS - https://otda.ny.gov/programs/bria/programs.asp

The huge humanitarian crisis at the southern border continues. More than 300,000 migrants were processed by US immigration officials just last month. And the repercussions of the crisis are far-reaching. Republicans in Congress are holding up aid to Ukraine and Israel until some kind of deal is reached about tightening border security in the US. Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, returns to the show to discuss the crisis.Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal. First – a conversation with Society for the Rule of Law Institute Board President George Conway. We talk about the organization and its mission. Then -we speak with Behnam Ben Taleblu, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He talks about Iran's role in the Israel-Hamas war and the state of U.S. relations with Iran. Plus - Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service talks about U.S. immigration policy and the asylum process. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Telly McGaha is the Interim President of the Georgia State University Foundation and the Co-Interim VP for University Advancement. In this role, he is responsible for leading the fundraising and engagement operations for the University and working directly with the President and Foundation Board of Trustees as the institution's Chief Development Officer.Prior to this interim appointment, Telly served as the Associate VP for University Advancement, working with a team of nearly 20 major gifts officers to raise funds for eight different GSU colleges and schools. Telly joined GSU in 2017 as the lead fundraiser of the Honors College, before being promoted to the Associate VP for University Advancement in 2020. Previously, Telly worked as the Senior Director of Development for the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He has amassed over 20 years of experience in securing significant philanthropic support for various organizations in Washington DC, Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky.Telly joined Georgia State University in 2018 to oversee the philanthropic outreach and support of the Honors College. Previously, Telly worked as the Senior Director of Development for the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He has amassed over 20 years experience in securing significant philanthropic support for various organizations and institutions, such as Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Services and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, among others.Telly is a native Kentuckian and has lived in Baltimore; Cincinnati; Montpellier, France; and Washington, DC. He enjoys cooking, reading, and traveling.

It's a musical battle! Gabe Baker, playing for The Center for Refugee Services, and Bettina Campomanes AKA Valiant Vermin, playing for For Our Farmers, take on some complex conundrums from the world of Encyclopedia Brown! Will their sleuthing skills match their melodic mastery? Listen and find out! Cases: The Case of Nemo's Tuba, The Case of the Toy Locomotive, The Case of the Black Horse, The Case of the Ring in the Reef Clues & Evidence: gossip, Wiz Khalifa, adults problems, Agent Cody Banks 2, Mystery Time & Architecture Corner, carousels, scuba-deep divable, tides concerns, too norma Stream Bettina's song I played: https://open.spotify.com/track/3xGk6qslEIF9MGEr7eaGje?si=ac58fa6d75bb419b Stream Gabe's song I played: https://open.spotify.com/track/1er7D7srRJ0u52uCtZambU?si=ac76afaeb98e427b — Thanks for listening to Meddling Adults! If you want to help the prize pool grow, become a member of our Patreon. If you want to learn more about the show or interact with us online, check out the links below: PATREON: patroen.com/meddlingadults ONE-TIME DONATIONS: paypal.me/meddlingadults  WEBSITE: meddlingadults.com TWITTER: twitter.com/meddlingadults INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/meddlingadults FACEBOOK: facebook.com/meddlingadults — CREDITS  Creator/Host/Executive Producer: Mike Schubert Producer/Editor: Sherry Guo Music: Bettina Campomanes, Brandon Grugle Art: Maayan Atias, Kelly Schubert Web Design: Mike & Kelly Schubert

Matthew 22:15-22Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and that you teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and that you show deference to no one, because you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”Jesus, aware of their malice, said to them, “Why do you put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” So they brought him a denarius. He said to them, “Who's head is this? And who's title?” They answered him, “The emperor's.” And he said to them, “Give, therefore, to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and give to God, the things that are God's.” When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away. I get that the Pharisees and the Herodians were out to “entrap” Jesus. It happens all the time in the Gospels, you may know. Religious leaders and others were always trying to trick Jesus and get him into trouble. They asked him hard questions about marriage and divorce and about which commandment was the greatest. They present him with seemingly impossible situations, like that woman they wanted to stone to death after catching her in adultery. They watch him spend time with tax collectors, sinners, the unclean, the outcasts and outsiders of all kinds, just waiting to pounce and prove him to be the fake and the fraud and the false prophet they believed him to be.But what he really shows along the way is that all of their questions, tricks and traps, reveal as much about them as they do about Jesus. What I mean is, they already knew what they wanted to hear – and they always thought they knew what Jesus would say or do. They didn't expect there to actually be a “correct” answer. In fact they knew there wasn't a single correct answer Jesus could give, which is why they asked their questions or posed their predicaments, like they did, in the first place.For the Pharisees, for example, the right answer this morning is, “don't pay the emperor's tax.” Faithful Jews should be beholden to God's higher authority, not that of any government. They weren't really supposed to even handle graven images like the coin they brought to Jesus, let alone use them for the work of the world's empire in Rome. That's the answer the Pharisees wanted to hear.On the other hand, for the Herodians – who were beholden to the politics and politicians of that same Roman empire – the right answer this morning is, “you absolutely should pay your taxes.” As subjects to the powers that be, it is right and lawful to obey and to pay, as the Emperor demands.So, in the minds of those who confronted Jesus today – according to their plans – in keeping with their respective world views – Jesus was, to put it theologically … screwed. If his answer favored the Pharisees, then the Herodians would be upset. If his answer favored the Herodians, then the Pharisees would have a bone to pick. And they were all there for it … to catch Jesus in a pickle, get him into trouble, add one more strike to use against him when the time came.And, of course, in this instance, it's all about money. And, of course, both sides of the fence want more of it for themselves. And, of course, Jesus amazes them with his response because he gives them an answer neither side expected or hoped for or believed could be true. Jesus tells them to do both.“Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's and give to God the things that are God's.” And I think the lesson in that response is pretty simple – and something neither side, and too many of us, too much of the time, want to believe: that there's enough to go around. That there's enough to do both. That there's plenty, and we all know it.It reminds me of a question I've been asked a million times – and that I've wondered about myself, along the way. The question goes something like this: “When I decide about my offering … when I do the math about my tithe to the church … do I make that decision based on the “net” or the “gross” of my income?” My snarky reply is to say something like, “If your giving is an expression of gratitude – as it is intended to be – for the grace of God and for the forgiveness of your sins – are you grateful and hopeful that God forgives the “gross” of your sins, or just the “net?”A more faithful and kind and thoughtful – less snarky – response, though, is to say something like Jesus implies … that there's enough to be more generous than we are inclined, and we all know it, so give accordingly.There's an old joke about Lutherans … that the reason we don't go down to the river to be baptized … the reason we merely sprinkle each other or cross our foreheads with water, rather than fully immerse one another as part of the sacrament … is because we don't want to get our wallets wet. In other words, the joke is that we want all the blessing and benefits and abundance of God's grace in our life, we just don't want to have to respond to that with our money.But again, Jesus would say, like he reminds us this morning, that there's enough, and we know it.There's another story about the pastor who addressed his congregation during their latest financial stewardship campaign, telling them about all they were trying to accomplish with their ministry. The pastor told his people, “the good news is that, as a congregation, we have all the money – and more – that we need to do what God is calling us to do through our life together. The bad news is, that money is all still folded up in your wallets, and stuffed in your purses, and stored away in your checking and savings accounts.”Again, as Jesus would say, and as Jesus showed, there is enough. There's plenty if we're faithful and honest and generous in the way God has already been so generous with us.What Jesus is really calling us to today – and every day – is to be clear about where, in whom, and toward what we put our allegiance. And it's about more than taxes to the powers that be, for sure. We are beholden to the IRS in more ways than some of us wish, but we are to obey the law, and we are to pray and work and vote in ways that move our government to deal with our tax dollars in God-pleasing ways – which can be a sad, frustrating, laughable proposition a lot of the time, as we know.Which is why I happen to think it's a gift to have somewhere else to give our money if and when our tax money doesn't make God smile.See, I hope you see the money you give to God through the ministry we share in this place as a blessing for the world around us that “the empire” can't or will not muster. I'm talking about supporting organizations like Zoey's Place – our Mission Sunday for the month, just as one example – that actually works alongside government organizations to do good work in the world…… and, I mean building houses in Haiti, a place whose government is so broken and impoverished it can't do the kind of work Zanmi Fondwa does with our help;… and, I mean supporting organizations like Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, Lutheran World Relief, and Lutheran Disaster Response, organizations where our offerings do the work of God in ways our tax dollars just don't;… and, I mean feeding people who are hungry by way of our food pantry;… and, I mean, generally creating a safe, welcoming, loving place of grace and good news and generosity and abundance for all people in a world that is full of so much to the contrary;… and I mean doing our best as a family of faith to educate, encourage and inspire one another about what God's kingdom can look like when we get it right in that regard.We are called to give in ways that bless the world – even when, maybe especially when, the world doesn't return the favor. We are called to give because we can, not because we have to. And we are called to do that through the Church – and in other ways and to other places, too – with the same kind of sacrifice and joy with which God has first given to us. And the truth, good news and holy challenge from Jesus today is that we have been blessed with enough abundance to do all of this, by God's gracious generosity and in Jesus' name.Amen

The situation is critical in finding temporary homes for refugees coming to Oregon. Natalie Wood, Executive Director at Catholic Charities of Oregon, joins David in asking for help from the community.Catholic Charities of Oregon.Subscribe to the Morning Blend on your favorite podcast platform.Find this show on the free Hail Mary Media App, along with a radio live-stream, prayers, news, and more.Look through past episodes or support this podcast.The Morning Blend is a production of Mater Dei Radio in Portland, Oregon.

Isaiah 25:1-9 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations;he will swallow up death for ever.Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name;for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin;the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt.Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you.For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm, the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place,you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds; the song of the ruthless was stilled. It was Friday, July 17, 2015. I was in Chicago, Little Village if you know the neighborhoods. Every Friday I went to the Marie Joseph's house of hospitality and spent time with the men who lived there. All of them were immigrants awaiting court dates and paperwork, waiting for the right kind of visa or documentation. Some had lived in the house for a couple years, waiting; others just a few weeks. When I walked into the house on that Friday, my mouth watered at the smells coming from the kitchen. This was a regular occurrence; Food was always being made and shared. I followed the delicious scent of spices and smoke coming from the kitchen that filled the house. Habbi, who is from Rwanda, was standing over a hot stove. I asked how I could help and the only thing he wanted me to do was test the food, which was fine by me. I started to realize, though, the vast amount of food Habbi was preparing; pounds of chicken, a giant pot of beef in a thick stew, multiple pots of rice, salad with vegetables from the garden out back. Habbi was a big man, but there was no way that was all for him! So I asked him, “Habbi, what's all this for?” With sweat gleaming from his brow he told me that today was the beginning of Eid, the celebration that occurs at the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer for Muslims. He continued, “many in the house went downtown to pray and they will be hungry when they return.” The food was almost complete when the men who were Muslim in the house came back, drenched in sweat, and in obvious need of water and food. To their surprise, Habbi, a Christian from Rwanda, had prepared a feast big enough for the whole house to join. I sat at the table with 12 or so men from at least 10 countries: Every shade of brown; Christian, Muslim, Buddahist, and nothing. All sitting around the table, enjoying a feast I won't forget.Nothing provides comfort or gives us hope, even, like a feast. They help us celebrate major holidays, weddings, funerals and everything in between. What was the last feast you had? What was served? Who was there? What was the celebration? Yet there doesn't feel like too much to celebrate these days. If you haven't seen the images and heard the reports about what's happening between Israel and Hamas, it's harrowing. The brutality is unforeseen in the region. Hamas using hostages of all ages as shields and bargaining chips, the indiscriminate killing, the lack of concern for civilian life is nothing short of evil. The blockade on water/electricity/food is inhumane. Israel will continue to be relentless in their response, as a ground invasion is prepped at the Gazan border. The pictures I can't get out of my head are of parents, tears streaming down their faces, wondering where their children are and if their alive.And because of this, all week I've struggled with the violence that abounds in this text. Isaiah praises God for laying waste to a city, destroying it till it's a heap, never to be rebuilt. Undoubtedly many have tried or will try to make a connection between this text and the strife in the Holy Land. Some even will say this is good news. Yet, context is always helpful. This passage is often called an apocalyptic text, meaning it deals with the end of time, because it doesn't refer to a specific event or moment in time. And while there is no explicit reference to what city is laid ruined, the text is clear; it was one that was ruthless against those who were weak, poor, and vulnerable. That's why God stepped in, to shelter those who needed refuge. However, what follows the destruction is the vision of hope and promise of peace our weary world needs now more than ever. After God brings low and humbles the ruthless and proud; God also raises them up to the mountain top, where God has prepared a feast. “On this mountain” Isaiah says, “The Lord will make for all peoples a feast” full of the best food and drink imaginable. But if it's a feast, what's the celebration? It's that War, violence and death are no more! The veil of mourning that weighs down all people and nations, God has finally removed. And while guests open wide their mouths to eat the finest of food, God does the same, swallowing up death forever. And those same people with tears streaming down their face because they don't know if their child, spouse, or loved one is dead or alive, God sits beside them at the table, wiping the tears until they fall no more. It is this promised feast that gives us hope in such times of unthinkable violence. You might say “that sounds too good to be true! It'll never happen.” And in our lifetime it may not. But I know for certain that hospitality and fellowship between radically different people is possible; Habbi's feast showed me that. We all know that true acts of love and forgiveness are possible through Jesus Christ; we've seen and experienced them firsthand. So I have to believe that somehow, the grace and love of God, made known to us in Jesus Christ, will one day bring together Israelis and Palestinians, Russians and Ukrainians, people of all nations at a feast where food and fellowship abound and tears and death are no more. It seems too good to be true, but it's that how the grace and love of God work? So until that day, what can we do over here, in the safety and privilege that we have. I can think of three things: First, as Paul suggests, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God: requesting an end to the violence, liberation for those held in bondage, and justice for all. In the words of Rabbi Sharon Brous, we must “dare to hold the humanity, the heartache, and the need for security of the Jewish people while also holding the humanity, the dignity, and the need for justice of the Palestinian people. For too long, these two have been set up as incompatible, but this is a false binary. The only liberation will be a shared liberation. The only justice is a justice for all.” So for all of that, we pray.Secondly, give to Lutheran World Relief or Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services. Aid is needed and the need will grow. People will flee from both Palestine and Israel and need a place to go. These organizations help in both those areas.And lastly, protest all of this violence and war with a feast! Practice what it will be like at that great banquet on the mountain. Invite and sit with people who are different from you. Make lavish meals full of good food as signs of hospitality and abundance. Come to this feast that Christ has prepared for you in which we experience the fullness of his grace and receive a foretaste of the feast to come.There are too few feasts and far too many wars. And had it not been for that feast in Chicago on a hot Friday afternoon, I would say the promised feast in Isaiah is too good to be true. But there I experienced a portion of what it might be like when God makes that feast for all people and we sit together in peace with tears wiped away saying, “this is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”Amen.

Hear about current programs and activities at Refugee & Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus (RISSE) to welcome asylum seekers and others to the Capital Region. Daniel Butterworth, RISSE Executive Director, overviews projects, discusses the high number of people relocating to the Capital Region (from New York City relocations and others) and the complexity of their needs, and lists some of the many organizations coordinating services to help them. He also invites folks to volunteer to help with programs for kids & adults, and welcomes everyone to attend their annual celebration on October 12th at 240 W. Lawrence St. in Albany's Pine Hills neighborhood. For more information, visit www.risse-albany.org. Produced by Brea Barthel for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refuge Service, Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, discusses immigration policy and how the organization works to assist migrants and refugees.

IHMs celebrate 100th anniversary of teaching at St. James in Falls Church; Bishop Michael Burbidge celebrates the Mass.   Afghan refugees make a new home in Northern Virginia thanks to Catholic Charities Immigrant and Refugee Services. Read their stories of escape and rebuilding.   Special Youth and College Section details how a local college helps pregnant students; spotlight on campus ministers; and safety walks help campus security efforts.   Read more in this week's print issue or at catholicherald.com.

On this week's episode, Bishop Burbidge:   Previews the Diocesan pilgrimage to Emmitsburg, offers a save the date for the Diocesan Jubilee Festival in 2024    Shares stories and memories of growing up with Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who recently celebrated their centennial of service at St. James Parish   Read about the impact of religious sisters in our diocese over the years    Highlights why the Diocese prioritizes the celebration of National Migration Week — join him at the Mass for World Day of Migrants and Refugees    Learn how Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services is making a difference through education, advocacy and charitable works   Encourages young adults in their joy and zeal, along with parents of students   Bishop also answers the following question from the faithful:  September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. I've heard all sorts of rumors about whether those who commit suicide can enter Heaven. Can you clear this up? 

Asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border are often subject to arbitrary decisions made by border patrol agents who decide whether they can enter the country or not. And in Texas, a federal judge ruled Gov. Greg Abbott's floating barrier in Rio Grande. Reporter Lillian Perlmutter and Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, join us. And, as more companies return to in-office work requirements, the future of remote work is uncertain. Callum Borchers, columnist at the Wall Street Journal, joins us to explain what happens next. Then, the NFL football season kicks off on Thursday as the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Detroit Lions. With the return of football comes the return of sports betting, now legal in two-thirds of states. But there's a darker side to the industry. Professor Lia Nower, director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, joins us.

Almost everyone agrees that immigration policy in the United States is lacking, but despite decades of debate, Congress has not been able to pass comprehensive reform on the issue. For some, the primary issues are border security and economic concerns, and for others, labor needs and a commitment to humanitarianism take precedence. Why is it so hard to find common ground, and what are some visions for a different immigration future? NBC correspondent Tom Llamas moderates a panel of experts at the Aspen Ideas Festival who identify the key immigration pressure points and share thoughts on moving forward. Former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey joins Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, the head of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, U.S. representative Tony Gonzales from Texas and Mary Kay Henry, the international president of the Service Employees International Union.

A federal judge blocked President Biden's new policy that would make it tougher to apply for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, joins us. And, there's an ongoing, deadly heat wave in Texas, and the state approved a 50% price increase on water bottles. Paul Flahive, accountability reporter for Texas Public Radio, joins us to discuss the danger of price gouging. Then, we talk with Miriah Nunnaley, director of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, about the care the coalition provides to the state's unhoused population. Among those receiving help is Ed Clair, a man who lived on the street throughout the winter and had to have his feet amputated after they froze in the cold weather.

Linda Hartke is currently serving as the Interim Vice President of Operations at CWS and is a consultant who supports not-for-profit organizations.  Her previous professional experience includes:  President and Chief Executive Officer of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service; Executive Director (founder) of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (Geneva, Switzerland); Deputy Executive Director of CWS; Country Director of CWS Cambodia; Chief of Staff to Congressman Chet Atkins; and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.  In a volunteer capacity, Linda has served on several not-for-profit Boards of Directors, including:  the Center for Migration Studies; the World AIDS Campaign (chair); Amnesty International USA (chair); and the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (on behalf of the ELCA).  Linda graduated from Smith College with a double major in Government, and Religion and Biblical Literature (New Testament) and she is active in a local congregation in Massachusetts where she lives.   Many of the guests are asked to come up with song that reminds them somehow about CWS, these selected songs are part of a special Playlist #CWSsongs.   Please let me/us know via our email innovationhub@cwsglobal.org what you think about this new series. We would love to hear from you.   Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org.

“We've seen women who have not gone outside the door in six months," said Margaret Constantino, executive director of the Center for Refugee Services in San Antonio. "How does anybody stay healthy in that kind of environment?”

The refugee system in Texas and nationally is still recovering from major cuts under the Trump administration. The latest casualty is Texas' largest resettlement agency, Refugee Services of Texas.

Title 42, the Trump era effort to restrict asylum seekers that was continued during the first two years of the Biden Administration, ended last Thursday. With the policy's end, immigration experts expected a surge of migrants at the U.S. southern border. Bu that hasn't happened. Last week, before the regulation was rescinded, U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended as many as 11,000 migrants a day. Over the weekend, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, those numbers went down to 6,300 on Friday and 4,200 on Saturday. Tom's guest on this issue is Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, the President and CEO of Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service, a non-profit organization that helps resettle refugees.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We sit down with Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, to discuss what led her to serve the immigrant community, her five years in the Obama administration, and working with companies to help them invite immigrant talent.

Journey's End Refugee Services has found its charitable works more and more necessary with each passing day. As its clients flee repression and persecution in their home country, they desperately need the help of this network of volunteers and donors to help make their transition to a new life in the USA possible. And all of WNY benefits as a result.

Congress has not passed meaningful immigration reform in more than two decades. So when  President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he promised to craft immigration policies far more humane than those of his predecessor and to “reassert America's commitment to asylum-seekers and refugees.” But the realities of immigration during the Biden years have been far more mixed. In recent months, the administration put in place more restrictions on who and how people can claim asylum in the U.S. at the U.S./Mexico border. These rules are some of the administration's harshest asylum policies yet.  These tightened restrictions are coming just ahead of the end of the Trump-era border restriction, Title 42. Since 2020, Title 42 has allowed border security to turn away hundreds of thousands of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers attempting to enter the country through the southern border. Title 42 is set to expire when the Biden Administration lifts the COVID-19 national and public health order on May 11. And the White House has voiced concern with a possible “surge” in migration at the border. For more on this, we're joined now by Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. And Isabela Dias a reporter at Mother Jones covering immigration.

Congress has not passed meaningful immigration reform in more than two decades. So when  President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he promised to craft immigration policies far more humane than those of his predecessor and to “reassert America's commitment to asylum-seekers and refugees.” But the realities of immigration during the Biden years have been far more mixed. In recent months, the administration put in place more restrictions on who and how people can claim asylum in the U.S. at the U.S./Mexico border. These rules are some of the administration's harshest asylum policies yet.  These tightened restrictions are coming just ahead of the end of the Trump-era border restriction, Title 42. Since 2020, Title 42 has allowed border security to turn away hundreds of thousands of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers attempting to enter the country through the southern border. Title 42 is set to expire when the Biden Administration lifts the COVID-19 national and public health order on May 11. And the White House has voiced concern with a possible “surge” in migration at the border. For more on this, we're joined now by Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. And Isabela Dias a reporter at Mother Jones covering immigration.

Episode Notes Hello! Welcome to the first episode of Season 8: The Whole Picture! We're joined today by Marwa Al Ibrahim a program supervisor at Refugee Services of Texas (RST) and, herself, a refugee from Iraq. Jackie, your host, and Marwa, discuss her past life in Iraq, her move to Texas, and current passions and goals she has for her self as a supervisor at RST! Liked this episode? Let us know! Subscribe and leave us a review below! Connect With Us If you or someone you know would like to share their personal refugee story, send us an email at seekingrefugepodcast@gmail.com or SOSRPA@mailbox.sc.sedu, or connect with us on any of these social media platforms: https://twitter.com/refugepodcast https://instagram.com/seekingrefugepodcast Our Team for this episode: Jackie Burnett (host), Esha Hegde (editor), Victoria Halsey (editor).

Prisma grew up in Dallas Texas as a first-generation American not really knowing much about the U.S. much less the rest of the world outside Dallas. As you will hear she went to college in Indiana at Notre Dame for no more significant reason than she saw the movie Rudy and then applied. Her parents let her go off to Indiana since as Catholics they felt that Prisma could go there and grow. Grow she did. She received her Master's degree in Science and Entrepreneurship in 2010.   Since graduating Prisma has worked in marketing jobs analyzing company's data looking to learn how to market to them. After two years she left her position to move into more social oriented opportunities she will tell us about.   Prisma makes it quite clear that she is a social kind of person and very people-oriented.   During our conversation we talk about a variety of issues including discussing Trust, what it is and how we can better learn to be open to be trustful.   I hope you enjoy my time with Prisma. I believe you will find her fascinating and engaging.     About the Guest: Prisma Y. Garcia joined MoneyGram International in August 2021 as part of the Social Impact team. She was the Director of Capacity Building at Social Venture Partners Dallas from July 2017 to July 2021. Prisma worked at The Concilio, a Dallas nonprofit, as a Program Director. She also previously worked as a Fundraising Consultant with Changing Our World, Inc. based in New York, NY. She received her Master of Science in Entrepreneurship as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Science-Business with a minor in Latino Studies from the University of Notre Dame. Most recently, she completed a Certificate in Social Impact Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania. Prisma is a board member for Refugee Services of Texas, Community Does It, and other community organizations. She loves traveling and spending time outdoors with her dogs. She resides in Pleasant Grove (Dallas, TX), where she was born and raised.   How to connect with Prisma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prismagarcia/ https://www.prismagarcia.com/ https://communitydoesit.org/     About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:21 Well, and a gracious Hello, wherever you happen to be today. I'm Mike Hingson. And yes, you are listening to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. I love the unexpected part, I get to meet all sorts of people. And sometimes we even get to talk about diversity and inclusion and such things. And today, we get to do some of that, among other things, we get to speak with Prisma Garcia, who is a social impact strategist at money, gram Prisma has been involved in a variety of different kinds of diversity things. She has worked with a number of social venture and nonprofit firms. She's done a variety of things that I think will be very relevant for us to talk about. And I'm really looking forward to learning more about what Prisma has to say. So we'll get to it. Prisma Welcome to unstoppable mindset. How are you?   Prisma Garcia  02:19 Yes, I'm happy to be here. Michael, thank you for having me. I you know, everything you mentioned, as far as the work, you know, people ask me what social impact? What does that all mean? And you know, really, I've worked mostly with nonprofits, some social enterprises and done some consulting work. But I'll stop there, because I know you're gonna ask me some questions. And you can just let me dive in once we get there.   Michael Hingson  02:48 Oh, sure, we'll do that. Well, let's start with tell us a little bit more about you growing up and what you did and how you got into sort of the field that you're in from school, and so on? What, what made all that happen? So tell us just a little bit about young Prisma.   Prisma Garcia  03:06 Young Prisma? Well, you know, it's interesting, because I, you know, I don't know if this is really a career that at the time was taught in school, or people said, Hey, this is a potential career, right. And so, I think that's what I find most unique. And I, you know, I grew up in Dallas, Texas, I am, you know, first generation American first generation college student, I've, you know, essentially, you know, had the whole American dream, right, my parents came to this country, you know, probably, you know, in the 80s or so, and then, you know, I was born here in Dallas, Texas, and spent most of my life in Dallas, Texas, in a neighborhood called Pleasant Grove. And really, like, even though it has a very nice name, Pleasant Grove, really, it really shaped me because it was, you know, it's a primarily Latino community, African Americans as well. And, and really, you know, I lived in my bubble, growing up, and, you know, my parents were hard workers, and that was the, the ethic, right, we work hard to try to get to where we want to be. And so, when I think back, and you mentioned, what was young Prisma I think young Prisma was, you know, very similar to now in some ways, but, you know, just wanting to help people and give back and so, I was wanting to be a doctor, I thought maybe that was the only way and I went away to school, I went to Notre Dame, which, you know, it was very uncommon for a person like me, you know, that looked like me that had parents like me to, to go to a school with such prestige. And so, you know, coming back home, I started to realize had even been there, right? It was a culture shock. And so, you know, I think a lot of the career and the drive comes from that. It comes from, you know, having challenges along the way. And then also finding spaces that sometimes you feel like you don't belong. And so, you know, young Prisma is definitely still here. And, you know, I moved back to the community where I grew up. And so that's sort of the backstory, you know, we know, I work at MoneyGram, I do a lot of social impact work there. But a lot of what has driven me to have positions like this is because of my background,   Michael Hingson  05:34 what prompted you to choose Notre Dame to go to,   Prisma Garcia  05:37 you know, I mentioned I was a first generation college student, I, I didn't actually know anything about the college admissions process. And when I was in middle school, I saw the movie Rudy is not anything in particular that I was like, looking for at the time. And I said, you know, I'm gonna check that out, because I was like, one of the only exposures to college and so I just so happened to, to read about it. And I grew up Catholic, and I'm still Catholic, and it's a Catholic institution. So I, I thought, what a great place I'm gonna apply there. And so really, if I didn't know much about it, love the place now. But you know, that's how I ended up in Indiana.   Michael Hingson  06:17 So is this the time to tell you that my wife got her master's degree at USC, and we intend to make sure that Notre Dame achieves its rightful second place at the football game in November?   Prisma Garcia  06:30 Well, you know, Michael, we didn't we didn't kick off saying that before this interview. But, you know, I've heard a lot of good things about USC, obviously, when we're on a football field, I always cheer for Notre Dame.   Michael Hingson  06:43 It's a fun rivalry. And that's what's really neat about college football, although the more and more money's getting into it, but the college rivalries that are real rivalries, where people take them seriously as rivalries, and deal with football as a fun sport in college are, are always good. So it'll be a good game. as they as they all are this year, USC is doing pretty well for a change.   Prisma Garcia  07:09 So we'll see. We had a rocky start, Mike,   Michael Hingson  07:11 you did. You did. And you're doing you're doing better. But the tough teams, to some degree are coming. So we'll see. We'll see. Yeah, but you. But you knew it was a Catholic college when you went there, I assume?   Prisma Garcia  07:24 Yes, I did. I you know, I think that was actually when I think about it. People were like, how do you go from not knowing college to like, your parents, I had never even flown on the plane. And they let me go to Indiana. And I said, You know what, it was a counseling college. And they were like, okay, that they felt like they belonged in some way.   Michael Hingson  07:45 So they, I guess, you would say are risk takers, they they let you take risks, they let you do things that might be daunting in some way? did? Did you have more of those kinds of experiences growing up? Did they let you and I don't mean it in a negative way. But take risks? Did they let you stretch the envelope?   Prisma Garcia  08:06 You know, I think so in some ways, you know, obviously, they were, in some ways, you will always have that Catholic guilt. And we have the, you know, very, in some ways due to the environment, the neighborhood and some of the issues, you know, they had to be strict right. But I will say that in terms of risk taking, I have found, you know, and even growing up that, you know, some things can be scary and that and then usually that's why I want to do them.   Michael Hingson  08:36 Well, I guess risk taking in risk taking in the sense. Did they allow you to be adventurous? Did they allow you to explore and I can appreciate strict, my parents, I think were strict in a lot of ways, but at the same time, and I use the term very deliberately, they were risk takers. They told the doctors when I was born, and they were told no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. So you should just put him in a home and they said, No, we're going to let him grow up. And we're going to teach him that he can do whatever he wants. And they left me for five years, well, not five, because we were five when we moved, but for the time, I was able to walk, walk around the streets of Chicago in our neighborhood and then ride a bike out here in California and other things. So they allowed me to explore and develop while keeping an eye on what I was doing. Needless to say, so probably risk taking is is accurate, but they allow me to explore and I'm gathering they must have allowed you to do something of that because you develop that spirit.   Prisma Garcia  09:43 Yeah, yeah. I mean, I always remember there were things that they were not 100% comfortable, right? Like they knew that they would, you know, like take letting me go on certain school trips, letting me you know, We'll visit Notre Dame, when I was a senior, I mean, things that were sort of outside the box of work traditional cultural values, you know, especially being a girl. I mean, I hate to put it in that way, but I mean, it's, it's just, you know, as a Latino family, you know, that there's that protection, and we want we're very collective. And I think in some ways, it was like, well, you also have to be an individual, and you have to find these things, you know, and explore, explore things that are sort of out of our comfort zone to, to be able to do great things,   Michael Hingson  10:38 but they they let you do that, had they gone to college? No, you   Prisma Garcia  10:42 know, they didn't, they didn't go to college. You know, my parents probably have a, I would say, probably like, elementary school education. My, my dad, he's, he was in this country a lot longer than my mom, actually, when he was like, 15, he was already working, and you know, working a job here in in California, and then Texas. And so, you know, the idea of college was very, you know, very, almost distant, my older sister hadn't gone to college right away. And, you know, it's, yeah, so it was definitely risky. But I think that they saw the value in it, you know, to be able to do that, especially not understanding, you know, what, what I had to do, right. And, and even, I would say, even in high school, you know, my parents couldn't help me with some of my math with, with with English, you know, a lot of the things that they were trying to learn themselves, right. And so, I, you know, I think a lot of it was, was realizing like, they also took a big risk, right, coming to a different country is a huge risk,   Michael Hingson  11:52 of course, but again, they had a dream, and they wanted to fulfill it. And I hope they did what, what kind of work did your parents do?   Prisma Garcia  12:00 Yeah, so my, you know, what, I was blessed to have a mom that stayed home. Um, she was a homemaker. And I, I think growing up, I always felt privileged in that way, because a lot of the students, they, you know, we were working class or maybe even below that. And so, you know, some of their parents of my friend's parents had to work, you know, a couple jobs. And you know, my mom always got to stay home with me, my dad, he, he was working at a lumber company for about 20 years, and then transitioned into owning his own construction company. And so really, you know, he was, he's been so focused on on the next thing, so sometimes I'm like, Oh, my parents didn't go to college, but they have goals, even if they don't call it them.   Michael Hingson  12:48 Well, and that's fair, the, the reality is not everybody goes to college, and it is always still about what you are inside, whether you go to college or not. And obviously, your your parents had dreams and goals. And they found ways to achieve them, which is as good as it can possibly be. They supported you and your siblings, which is, which is also good. Has your older sister gone to college now?   Prisma Garcia  13:17 Yes. You know, what she, she was actually a great inspiration. You know, she, she says that I was an inspiration because she went to Notre Dame, and she said, Oh, my gosh, all these young people have, you know, are have goals, and they're at school. She had, she was a teen mom, essentially. You know, and a lot of people in my neighborhood were, and continue to be and, you know, she went back to school, and she became an attorney. And so now we have an attorney in the family as well. And so, you know, I think everyone sort of has their own journey, and is what I'm finding in life. And, you know, there's sometimes there's no right or wrong, but you're right, not everybody goes to college, and maybe they do, they don't, and then they go back.   Michael Hingson  14:01 And we've been seeing even on the news, more and more instances of significantly older people. I think there was a recently a report about a woman she was in her 60s or 70s, he was a grandmother or even a great grandmother. And she went back and got her doctorate, I think. But people do that. So if they choose to do that, then great because they're, they're satisfying their own ambitions and, and proving something to themselves as much as anything else. We can call it an inspiration to us, but really, it's internal more than anything else, and they're inspiring themselves. And that's what really makes it makes it a good thing. When you said you wanted to be a doctor.   Prisma Garcia  14:47 Yeah, you know, I didn't growing up. I didn't know very many careers. That was the other thing. I I said, Oh, you know, you go to the doctor, you know, and I felt lucky because not a lot of people in my neighborhood even did that and And, you know, I thought, well, doctors seem to be, you know, they're always helping people. Right. And so they're helping them feel better. And that was sort of a common theme. And I, I agree that sometimes it's not so much about, you know, proving things to other people, it's about being fulfilled for yourself.   Michael Hingson  15:20 So when you went to Notre Dame, what did you major in?   Prisma Garcia  15:24 You know, what I came in, I was I stuck to it, I was a science major, I was a science, it was a very unique major called Science business. So I actually took some of the introductory coursework in business, and then took a lot of science, so like, a lot of biology. And, you know, I think I was very, I don't know if it was determined or stubborn. And I said, you know, a lot of people change their major, and I was just like, Well, I'm gonna finish this major. And, you know, I would say, I probably would have done better another, you know, social science or something else, or even just business. But, you know, I think it was the, you know, starting something, I want to finish it. And so I did finish that I stayed at Notre Dame for a master's and, you know, really was more focused on the business side of things. And, you know, I think I got further and further away from the doctor. But I found other other dreams.   Michael Hingson  16:22 Yeah, I hate to use the pun, but you were like me, you wanted to be a doctor and didn't have any patients. Right. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Anyway, so you got your master's degree? And then what did you do?   Prisma Garcia  16:37 So I got my master's degree. And, you know, it was at the height of the recession, in some ways, like, I graduated college in 2009. And then can't, you know, was like, you know, there are not any, hardly any jobs out there, right. And so, I really jumped to a master's because I said, you know, what I'm gonna do, I wasn't getting too many interviews. And that was a tough experience. Because when you're, you know, a student in high school, I was sort of the big fish. When I went to Notre Dame, you know, it's a very prestigious and rigorous academically. And so, you know, I don't think I was used to rejection rejection, but when I was in the job market, I just wasn't seeing it. And a lot of times, you'd have students who had jobs before they graduated college. And so I was like, if I'm not getting a job, or, you know, I was always sort of curious of like, well, I'm not sure why I'm a science major anymore. So I thought I'm gonna get a masters. And so I explored careers in public health, and then decided to go with more master's level business, since I had already taken some of those introductory courses. And so I stayed at Notre Dame for a very intense year, and, you know, intense cold to Michael, I know, you know, what that's like, over there. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  17:59 Oh, yes. So, you, when did you get your Masters?   Prisma Garcia  18:04 So I got it right after I'm technically a double dome, or as we call them, and I have a master's and it was 2010 Whenever I graduated, and it's a Masters of Science and entrepreneurship, which, at the time, I was like entrepreneurship, like, I feel like you have to go build a business, right. But I think, now I've taken a lot of what I've learned, and sort of that mindset, and applied it to other things. Well, what is mindset, Mike?   Michael Hingson  18:34 Oh, there you go. What, what does entrepreneurship mean to you,   Prisma Garcia  18:39 you know, for having the background and in terms of like, these courses, having read a lot of case studies and things like that, I can only tell you, now that I've had years of experience, that really, to me, it's more of this mindset of like, you know, we you know, we live in a world where there are things that exist, and I think that we are in a can be more innovative in some areas, right. And that can apply to diversity, equity, inclusion, business, and, and so many areas of work and including nonprofits. And so I think it's more of that innovation, having that critical thinking mindset to apply new solutions to problems.   Michael Hingson  19:23 But you got your masters in 2010. And by that time, we had started to, I think, really come out of a lot of the recession. So what did you do? What?   Prisma Garcia  19:35 So I got out and I said, you know, I thought for a little bit there, I thought that I was going to follow my friends and move to Chicago and do all of that. But you know, I think once the winter came, I was like, you know, I'm from Texas, maybe I'll go back home. So I made my way back home. I started working in a marketing company, it was marketing analytics. I think when I looking at my resume from the time I had done a lot of service learning, I had spent time on the border, I had done research, I it seemed like it was not very related to my master's. And almost then my Bachelor's was in science. So, you know, I got this job. And I can tell you, it was, it was maybe not what I want to do for the rest of my life. Right. But it was, I did have a great manager. And so that was a big plus. And so we did like, you know, all that tracking, call tracking analytics things that were I think up and coming in that age. And I mean, now everybody does it. Right. And so, I spend a little bit of time there.   Michael Hingson  20:45 So when you were there, what is it basically you did? You You got information about companies? Or? Or what did you do? Exactly.   Prisma Garcia  20:53 So I actually would, you know, would work on these innovative products that I actually wasn't so sure about, you know, I had actually had a program where we would identify new business through phone calls. And so, you know, a lot of these products were getting built right in house. And then, you know, I would look at a lot of data, you know, I think whenever people see a science degree, they even if it's in science, or you know, biology, or, you know, it could be it could be any of the other STEM degrees, they think, oh, this person must, must be analytical. So, I was doing a lot of a lot of the backend things. You know, I worked in a lot of databases, I mean, very different work from from what I do now.   Michael Hingson  21:43 But what kind of things did you do for companies? So, what was the benefit of your work, I guess, is the best way to put it.   Prisma Garcia  21:49 Yeah, the benefit of the work is was, I mean, looking at marketing analytics, for example, we had call tracking numbers placed on advertisements, you know, you see numbers on billboards, you see numbers on websites, and you don't always know like, what the return on what's the ROI, right. And so, you know, if there's a number on a billboard of any deed, number one 800, you know, eat pizza, I don't know, I'm making this up. But the, it could be anything, we could identify how many people call them number, we could identify where they were calling from, we could identify, you know, just different things that were sold from that number. And so it was very interesting. I even got to be the voice of state farm for a little bit there. When you call one 800. State Farm, I would sort of I would even do the voiceover. So I would say, you know, whenever you if you're a new business, click one if you're, you know, existing customers click do so we did it all, essentially, it was a small company, but it actually blew up, it grew.   Michael Hingson  22:56 Well, back in those days, that was long before Jacot StateFarm came along. So you probably didn't know Jake, huh? No, no, no. You know, who Jake is?   Prisma Garcia  23:06 Yes, yes.   Michael Hingson  23:10 He's, he's evolved. It's been an interesting, interesting run for him. So you, you gave companies information so that they could see whether what they were doing was effective, and meaningful? Or how they could tweak it essentially?   Prisma Garcia  23:28 Correct. Correct. And, and, you know, I think, as the company evolved, and I wasn't necessarily a big part of that anymore, but, you know, they start to do a lot of search engine optimization, a lot of things tied to digital marketing. But at the time, you know, and I can tell you even now, like, you know, we use our phones, right, and so we, we could track, you know, how many times somebody, you know, called from a cell phone versus, you know, at the time there were still a couple of health phones, but um, you know, it's just, it would tell you all this interesting information. And so I was pulling a lot of that helping collect on a lot of that and analyzing a lot of it. And, you know, a lot of that was, was helpful for the companies to see, like, where do I need to invest more of my marketing dollars?   Michael Hingson  24:18 So how long did you do that?   Prisma Garcia  24:20 You know, I didn't do for very long, it wasn't like I said, I had a great manager that I still keep in touch with and, you know, I was there probably for about a year and a half, two years. So it was very early on before I you know, ran into somebody else and decided to jump to that.   Michael Hingson  24:39 So, what did you learn from that job? What did you take away that helped you in your career?   Prisma Garcia  24:46 You know, I think back and I have mentioned mentioned the Met my manager many times, but I noticed that he was very much about the person right. And so he wanted to build a relationship with me and People ask me, Why do you stay at the call tracking so long? And I say yes, because of the people. Because because of the manager, I and I think I've carried that with me throughout my career, I especially now working in a very social oriented, you know, position, and even the nonprofit work. And so the biggest thing I learned was, you know, that while that we're always being watched Michael, but then, but then I also learned that, you know, it's about people,   Michael Hingson  25:30 you know, you said something just now, that's extremely interesting. That strikes me we're always being watched. And as a as a person who happens to be blind. Intellectually, I know that I can be walking down the street. And don't even think about the fact that I'm probably always being watched. And a lot of times people may wonder, how does that guy do that? Or does that guy need help or any number of different things. But the reality is, we're always being watched. And it doesn't necessarily mean electronically, and it doesn't necessarily mean in a negative way. But one way or another, we always interact with other people. And I know when I'm walking down the street, I'm listening to what goes on around me, and I hear conversations, or I hear how people are doing what they're doing, and getting a lot of information and drawing conclusions like the next person.   Prisma Garcia  26:24 Yeah, yeah, it's true. And, and the thing about it, and, you know, I, it's beautiful, how you relate it to your experience, but I also think it's, you know, it's not always people that you would expect, I mean, sometimes, sometimes you get opportunities, because someone was watching the work that you were doing, or or heard you say something or, or you know, and I don't know, it was just an interesting thing. Like we're not, even if we'd have felt, were on our own. We're not,   Michael Hingson  26:59 if we would only take advantage of all of that, and maybe engaged some of those Watchers or find ways to develop better relationships, that would probably be really valuable for us to do. But we, we hide too much from that we've been taught to do that we've been taught not to trust. And the fact is that most of the time, there isn't really a hidden agenda that we have to worry about.   Prisma Garcia  27:29 Yeah. And one thing that you mentioned was trust. And I, I think about you know, I was reflecting before our conversation, and I thought the one thing that I think, you know, I can say that it's also something that's helped my career and helped me in my current position is, is really building that trust with people, because even in the nonprofits that I've worked at, or have helped start, you know, it's been a trust factor,   Michael Hingson  27:59 which talked about that a little bit. How do you develop trust? How do you deal with that trust is so much under attack today? In so many ways? I mean, we see all the polls for what they're worth about. We can't trust politicians, we can't trust what they're doing. One party doesn't trust the other party both ways. And there are so many ways that trust is under attack. How do we deal with that? How do you develop trust?   Prisma Garcia  28:28 You know, I think, in my work, Michael, it's a lot of it has been recognizing the stories, the journeys that the people have experienced, listening more, right. And then valuing the assets. You know, I've worked with several nonprofits, in the community. And sometimes we're trying to tackle things that, you know, that maybe some of the leaders haven't even experienced themselves. And so, one of the biggest things for me, and even in my corporate job, well, you know, I come with, you know, sort of this background. And, you know, I frame a lot of things just as everybody doesn't, in terms of what we know, but I realized, like, even when we're doing volunteer, you know, groups, and we're taking them places that they haven't been, I think, you know, just listening, right, listening to the stories and listening to the people and also holding the value, right? It could be, it could be any group of people, but recognizing that we have all these assets, right, because I think, you know, especially in the communities where, you know, I've worked in with different nonprofits and even my own community growing up, sometimes you look at it, and you're like, what, you know, and you could look at the facts and figures and think these communities don't have a whole lot going for them. They don't have anything good, right. And that's not always the case because we haven't heard from from the people and that's been common experience for me. And, you know, I helped co found a mental health clinic here in the neighborhood called community does it and the way I've built trust there is, is really, you know, coming as a very authentic person and then listening to people.   Michael Hingson  30:17 So if I could summarize what you're really saying is that you listen, and that you're open to the possibility of trusting.   Prisma Garcia  30:29 Correct? Yeah, I mean, I think, open to the possibility of trusting and recognizing that it's not going to be a one time thing. Right. And, and I think sometimes we want to go into communities. You we want to, you know, do things instant, right. I think our recent culture is instant gratification, especially for younger people. And, I mean, I think creating trust takes time and you it's something you have to continue to guard. Because even in the community work I've done it's, you know, we'll always ask myself, you know, what is what, what is the community thing? What should I, you know, I can't make decisions on my own, I need to have these conversations,   Michael Hingson  31:18 I've maintained for years that I've learned a lot more about trust, and teamwork by working with a guide dogs than I've ever learned from all of the experts in any of the related fields, because dogs while they love unconditionally, and I think that's absolutely true, their their psyche is that they're, they don't trust unconditionally. But the difference is that dogs are open to trust. So every time I get a new guide, dog, it's about developing a new relationship, it's about developing a new team. And we both don't trust each other. At first, we have to get used to each other, we have to see how the other is and reacts and works. And we have to develop that feeling that we know the other member of the team is going to support us, and that we can support the other member of the team. And it is so true with dogs because dogs don't have hidden agendas. And their expectation is that we don't either.   Prisma Garcia  32:24 Yeah, it's true. And, and also making sure that that we put it you know, I think it's hard for us sometimes to know what other people experience, you know, and I found in my corporate life that, you know, I'm Latina, I'm my parents are born and raised in Mexico. And just because, you know, me doesn't mean that, you know, every single Latino, right, and a you know, and so, really, our experiences are so, so unique to our, you know, just our being, and, and I know that it's not, you know, the openness of trust is definitely important. And but it's not easy, right? It's not easy in some of the environments that we find ourselves, and especially like work in the workplace.   Michael Hingson  33:15 Have you ever had your trust betrayed by someone?   Prisma Garcia  33:20 You know, I could definitely say yes. You know, I can't think of a specific example. But I think I think about family, right? There are times where, you know, we have certain expectations, especially in my family, we have certain expectations of what we should do, and what we should be and collective in some ways, you know, working toward some of the same goals, right? Like, if I have something my sister, that's, you know, we're all going to be happy for one another. And it's all of our success. But I think, you know, sometimes having these expectations does let you down. Right? And it does, sometimes it is the trust factor.   Michael Hingson  33:59 Have you ever had a situation on the job where you worked with someone and you thought you could trust them, and you trusted them? And it turned out that that ended up not really being the case?   Prisma Garcia  34:10 You know, I can't think back and realize, like, there have been times where I think, and probably this is a common human experience, where sometimes we want what we put into it, and we want that other person to give us as much as we've given them. And so there have been times where I have felt like, oh, I will do anything to support this person, right. And my colleague and I want them to be successful. But then I don't always see them recognizing or doing that for me, right. And, and, you know, I've had to really think about, you know, myself and realize, like, Well, who do I want to be and, and there are moments that, you know, I realized like maybe that other person isn't gonna help me in the same ways that I might help them. And, and I either have to be okay with that, or, or you know, or I change my perspective completely, but I definitely have had my trust broken, especially when it comes to competitiveness, I think people, you know, unfortunately in a corporate structure or even even just trying to climb the ladder, right, I've met a lot of young professionals or younger professionals that, you know, I can recall, like, you know, they're looking after themselves. And, and you know, you can't blame them, right. But at the same time, I realized, like, there's a part of me that felt like betrayed.   Michael Hingson  35:44 Yeah. Unfortunately, all too often, they do get blamed. And that that's part of the issue, of course, that starts to send you down the rabbit hole of distrust. But it sounds like what you do is a lot of introspection, and a lot of, to put it in the scientific terms, I guess, analysis and you, you've made some choices about trust. If somebody betrays your trust, you don't go down the path of I'm going to hate them. It does tell you perhaps how you're going to work and react with them to some degree. But hatred isn't part of what apparently is, is the psyche that you've chosen?   Prisma Garcia  36:27 No, it's not, you know, I can say that there are moments where you know, you want to you're it's almost like you are called to hate that person, right? Like, oh, I wish they wouldn't have reacted that way. I wish they would have helped me in this way. But I think it actually I tried to make be positive, right. And it doesn't always happen right away. Sure. Sometimes you feel deflated. And you're like, That person could have helped me or could have recognized me or could have done this for me. And I would have done it for them. Right. And they've known that. So maybe that's where the material is. But the for me that I mean, it may not be instant, and I may not hate him. But at the same time, it is a thought process of like, well, you know, I need to be careful, right? So you want to be careful, but at the same time, like, at the end of the day, right? The decisions you make affect you and who you want to be right. And so I'm more focused, internally, right, what am I comfortable sleeping with? Right, like, at night that I hate 10 people? Probably not that maybe I've created some distance, some boundaries to where I found trait found betrayal. Possibly, right, that that might be the case.   Michael Hingson  37:38 Yeah. But you can deal with it. You've learned how to deal with it, then you've learned how to do it in a positive way, as opposed to a negative way.   Prisma Garcia  37:48 Yeah, and it might not be not might not be instant, right? It might take some time to process and reflect.   Michael Hingson  37:56 It takes thinking it's a process. It's absolutely a thought process. So you did call tracking and so on. And then where did you go?   Prisma Garcia  38:06 You know, I I realize now that I have a tendency to to talk to all people, right. i   Michael Hingson  38:16 i what you said, you said you met someone and then and then jumps and   Prisma Garcia  38:19 everything else. Yeah, I met someone I met a woman named Mary. I had met her at Boston Market, right. I submitted an application to a job and she said, meet me near your job. I said, Well, I'll the closest thing I could think of was the Boston Market. So I went there. It was, it was funny, because I thought oh, like we're I'm having this very serious conversations that at a Boston mark, a busy Boston Market, they're going to lunch hour, but the you know, we had a moreso conversation about just people right and how I would approach different situations, you know, regarding people, and she specifically worked in fundraising, right. And so I knew it was that type of job, but it wasn't really a formal interview. And so you know why I met her and then I just really loved her. I was like, she seems great. And so she said, You know, I'm hire, I'm going to be hiring. And she, she hired me to be a fundraising consultant. And I spent probably about four years or so working with her. And we did a lot of fundraising, we fundraise for bigger nonprofits, we fundraise for the Catholic Church, which is a whole other experience that you know, had its pros and cons, because I have grown up in a Catholic household went to Notre Dame, we talked about that. And then now I was fundraising. Right. And the church was a part of it. And it was the first time where I recognized like, wow, this is a   Michael Hingson  39:52 business too. Yeah. Very much. And it's it's interesting You talk about Boston Market. Many years ago, I decided for a little while to sell some Amway products. And I went to a major meeting, where there was a diamond distributor who was talking. And they were giving what I'm, I'm sure well, what there was an inspirational speech and was encouraging people to do more. One of the things they talked about was board meetings for their company. And the board was primarily the husband who was speaking and his wife, who was also speaking there. And one of the things that they said was that when they do board meetings, they go to a restaurant, they go to a neutral place. And it forces them to not be volatile, and to actually have better discussions. So I'm not surprised that you, although it was certainly something that seems strange that you found Boston Market was a an interesting place to have an interview.   Prisma Garcia  40:58 Yes. And it wasn't, I would say, it wasn't a very formal interview, it was a very different type of interview, you know, it was more about me, and how I would react to all these different situations. That didn't quite seem, I didn't know what it would entail, right? How does this relate to the job? And, you know, I would say, I was glad that I had a lot of energy. And I was able to do all these meetings. But when I, I essentially turned into a consultant, and I traveled around the city, around the country at times. And I did a lot of fundraising. And I realized, like, the one thing way they that people can feel comfortable and have the trust to to give me money for an organization was always because they felt felt that it was I was going to a good cause. But then also that, that it was going to be in good   Michael Hingson  41:52 hands. Yep. Trust again.   Prisma Garcia  41:56 Yeah, exactly. It came back to that.   Michael Hingson  41:59 Did you ever ask Mary, what she was looking for, or why she was comfortable having an interview in a place like Boston Market?   Prisma Garcia  42:09 You know what the one thing I remember from that day was that she said, there were going to be moments that we were going to be in settings that we're not able to control. So we're we were potentially going to be meeting with someone for coffee or dinner, and there were going to be so many distractions, but we still had to keep the meeting on pace. And, you know, that was somewhat of her rationale for just having me pick any place that was nearby. And you know, when I suggested that place, I didn't think that she was going to go for it. Because I thought, well, I don't know if this is the I don't know if she wants me to find some more quiet. I don't know if she wants me to find a coffee shop. But you know, she said, No, it has to happen anywhere. Because you have to be able to control the meeting, even if you're in an uncontrolled environment.   Michael Hingson  42:59 And that's, of course, the point she was looking to see how you are going to react in a situation you couldn't control. And I'm sure the very fact that you suggested Boston Market must in one way or another have pleased her at least a little bit.   Prisma Garcia  43:17 Yeah, exactly. Yeah, she's very comfortable. And she was very season. So she knew she knew all about the business. And essentially, she's in the business of relationships.   Michael Hingson  43:31 And besides, the food was good. Yeah, the food was great.   Prisma Garcia  43:35 Yeah, we had a good time. She became a great friend.   Michael Hingson  43:39 So you did work with her for about four years. And then you switched again, huh?   Prisma Garcia  43:44 Yeah. You know, I think people of my generation, Michael, they, they just switch very often in four years. They seem like an eternity at the moment.   Michael Hingson  43:54 What did you go next?   Prisma Garcia  43:55 So, you know, I started at the end of the job, right, I started to just fly a lot. And I remember running a few campaigns in, in St. Louis, actually, I ended up back in the Midwest. And it came to a point where, you know, I took so many flights that last year. You know, it was like every other week, you know, or every week that I truly start to think why am I in this work? Why don't why I mean, I just happened to run into Mary right. We connected everything worked out and I was in the space and I said I I do actually really love nonprofits and social work, right social impact work. I wasn't calling it that at the time. But I, I left there and I went to work for an organization called the Concilio, which I still you know, support in some ways and it's local here in Dallas, working with primarily immigrant Latino families, to educate them on on health and the school system. And so I had I've known of the organization I saw, they had a job opening, I wasn't quite sure I was going to be a fit. And I knew would be also taking a pay cut. And so, I, I was, you know, there were a lot of ifs, and I can tell you that I took the job, I decided to come back to Dallas, when I took that job and be here full time and primarily, you know, focused on, on on really just working in the community.   Michael Hingson  45:32 So this was probably what about 2016? or so? Correct? Yep. So you, you did that? And what did you do for them?   Prisma Garcia  45:43 You know, I came in as a Director of Community Health, and that's a big change, you know, I've spent Yeah, I spend time in marketing, I went to be a fundraiser, and then I was back in the health space, so not as a doctor, but as a community health advocate. And so I had a team of staff and they we work together to, to essentially like, you know, provide information to the Latino community and giving them the tools they needed to be successful. And, you know, it was a lot of work, because when you do that, you were, you know, my role was really, you know, I had to look at staff, there were programs out in the community, there was fundraising to do there, you know, including some grant writing, and, you know, just a lot more things than then sticking to just the fundraising or just the marketing. And this was, you know, you have to be good at working with people, and not just people that can give you money, people that are in the neighborhood that may not have a clue of, you know, what, what their potential is, and I can tell you that it was a great position for me, because, you know, I was finally able to put all the pieces together, like, you know, this, it related, like, the families that I saw reminded me of my own family. And so, to me, that was that was the work that I was most interested in doing at the time.   Michael Hingson  47:18 How long did you do that?   Prisma Garcia  47:19 You know, I did that officially for about a, maybe under two years, maybe a year, in eight months, or nine months. So it was it was not a one time, but you know, I stuck it out with them. And, you know, now I hope that I still help them in some ways with some of their special projects, and, and really have given some time and, and even through money, Graham have helped sponsor some events. So, you know, I tend to have this, this pattern of not leaving places, I should carry some of it with me to the next place.   Michael Hingson  47:54 So did you go from there to MoneyGram? Or Did ya, you know,   Prisma Garcia  47:57 I had another job. So I lent it at Social Venture Partners Dallas, after the Concilio.   Michael Hingson  48:08 And what did you do there? So,   Prisma Garcia  48:11 you know, SVP, as they call it, is an international group, right? International Organization, they're different chapters around the globe. And the focus really is on on bringing philanthropists together, essentially, you know, providing the space for philanthropists to learn and grow. And then we were addressing organizations or supporting organizations that were addressing root causes. And so, you know, my work there was also very relational in the sense that our quote unquote, partners, they were individuals in the business community that wanted to give back with more than just their money, they want to give back with their time, and not so much with the clean cleanups, for example, or packing a box, it was more so giving back their skill set. So it was a sort of a pro bono consulting organization. And so I spent a lot of time there, you know, a lot of time being for years, right? That seems to be my, my traditional my long term job. And I left there about a year ago, and that's how I ended up at MoneyGram.   Michael Hingson  49:28 You ended up with MoneyGram. Yeah, which is, which is where you are and your associate, you deal with social impact and so on. I want to understand a little bit more about what that is and also, how did you get to become involved in the whole concept of diversity, equity and inclusion? Yeah, so interested in both of those.   Prisma Garcia  49:48 Yeah, so anyways, I at SVP, Social Venture Partners, I spent a lot of time and capacity building capacity building of organizations connecting the He's business partners to different organizations, and in Dallas, primarily nonprofits, but also some social enterprises and, and really getting projects off the ground because we realized, like, let's amplify their impact, right? Let's give them more tools, more resources and get them to do more. And, you know, in that work, we found that, you know, at least it was our theory of change or logic that a lot of our community was struggling, and it wasn't so much the poverty factor, as people think, you know, they think, Oh, well, it's because these people are poor. And maybe that's why they need all these things. And that's why these nonprofits exist, it was more so a factor of a racial injustice. And so we looked at it everything from that lens of like, their issues, and even in our own city of Dallas, right? We know that redlining has caused a lot of disparities. And, you know, you have certain pockets of communities that are going to be concentrated in poverty, because of, you know, past racism, and they're still, you know, we all still have some implicit bias. And so, so, you know, coming from that, I, I think, I really start to dig deeper, and like, what is diversity, equity and inclusion mean? You know, we can say, we'll bring all these people to the table, but will we give them let them speak? Right. And so, the equity part was a big component of my SVP role, providing equity, you know, in terms of like, a supporting these organizations that were doing this work, and so, so that's really how I ended up moving into this more dei focused space. And, you know, I could say, at SVP, it was always thinking bigger, thinking, you know, I've done the grassroots stuff, and I still do some of it as a volunteer. But, you know, looking at these issues through a systemic lens, and so, fast forward to money, gram, you know, it is a big, it's a big part of my role. And also, the strategy that we're working on was approved during the height of the pandemic, right, we know that we saw my, we saw George Floyd, the murder of George Floyd was a big conversation starter, and it, we saw it right. And so MoneyGram adopted the strategy in 2020. And so I've come on board along with two of my colleagues to, to bring it to life.   Michael Hingson  52:41 So what does dei mean to you?   Prisma Garcia  52:45 So to me, the the biggest thing would be, I mean, obviously, there are different ways to track it, there's different ways to measure it, their companies are doing all of this right. But I think, as an employee, and when I really put myself in that position, I think a lot of is belonging, right. And unfortunately, our corporate structures and capitalist viewpoints don't always allow for people with differences or that don't look the same or, or, you know, come from diverse backgrounds. We don't always feel like we belong, right. And so for me, it is broader than having, you know, people that fit certain descriptions, but it's more so the cohesiveness of the culture and below and feeling like you belong.   Michael Hingson  53:34 So you come to that environment from the standpoint of being a Latina, and clearly you're dealing with the issue of, I guess, in a sense race, which is, which is fine. But as I got the honor to talk to a number of people about diversity, equity and inclusion, and so on, one of the observations that I make is the problem with talking about diversity is we rarely if ever discussed disabilities. You don't see it you you saw the Oscars do it this year, at least because Coda one, but you don't you don't hear about blind directors or really blind actors. You don't hear about persons with disabilities in a lot of the major kinds of conversations that you hear or participate in when you're discussing diversity. How do we change that? The fact is, most everyone leaves out disabilities even though we're a much larger minority than any of the races. I suppose if you add all the race differences together outside Caucasian that that's a larger minority, but the the number of persons with a disability, according to the CDC is somewhere around 25% of all Americans. How do we change that conversation? Or what are we going We need to do to recognize that we're also part of what's being left out that needs to be included and addressed.   Prisma Garcia  55:09 Yeah. And I know, I didn't touch upon that. But you know, I think and I know that October is is National Ability Awareness Month. And not every corporation, not everyone is talking about dei in relation to disabilities. Right. And I. Yes, yeah. And and I think it's time to start. I mean, I know that even in my role I have made been very intentional not to just focus on race, because, you know, coming from a global company perspective, I also realized, like, it's different in Europe, it's different in Africa, it's different in these some of these regions, right. And so I don't want to be just US centric and focus on race or ethnicity. And obviously, you said, you know, there are many disability out there, right. And so, the, looking at things that we cannot see, right, we you know, and so I think for me, it's, it's being humble and learning from individuals. I know that last year, I was able to United just started the job, I was able to connect with a group called Best Buddies, which you might have heard of heard about, and just really started having conversations, how do we, how are we equipped to develop or bring more people and, you know, make sure that they have the comfort here and MoneyGram? And also, and also have what they need, right? Because I think what happens is that sometimes we're not compassionate enough and don't realize, like, you know, even in benefits, like if I don't need something, I'm not probably looking for it. And so how will we know that is by by being more intentional and deliberate about what we're doing, and how we're hiring and what we're offering.   Michael Hingson  57:03 In a recent podcast interview here, I had a discussion with someone about diversity and disabilities in general, and how they're treated and persons with disabilities are treated and addressed in other countries. And one of the things that he said was that typically, it's much more obvious that people in other countries who happen to have a disability are treated as less than equal. And he had, for example, had had been has been in a couple of places where families with people with disabilities would even, in part, possibly shun those people. And there was a lot of trafficking of persons with disabilities. And I asked him, How do you contrast that with what goes on in the United States, and he said something very interesting. What he said was, that in this country, the attitudes are mostly still there. But we're more subtle about it. Oh, we love those people. There's the word right, those people, but you know, that we just don't think that they can do the things that we can do, or we're concerned about that. It's much more subtle, because they can't come right out and say it because there are laws. But then the and the laws prohibit supposedly discrimination, but we still do it. And but in a more subtle way, we see it a lot with things like internet access. And as you know, I work for accessibe, which is a company that manufactures products that make websites more usable for persons with disabilities. And we've, in our tracking, found that probably over 98% of all websites don't include a lot of the coding that would really make the website a lot more usable. And the problem is, it's a very expensive process to do it, especially if you do it after the fact. But accessibe has, has created some ways to make it a lot less expensive than most people experience. But the gap grows wider every day as more and more websites are created. And most of those websites are not accessible or inclusive as the way they should be. And again, it's a way of illustrating the conversation that just tends to leave people out. The major companies who really ought to deal with it, whether it be the WordPress is of the world or the Shopify is or Amazon's don't, in creating all the little shopping websites that people create to, to be able to market their products. There's no mandate for accessibility, even Apple on the iPhone. Apple has made the iPhone very accessible in in what it does, but there's nothing in the app store that mandates or requires accessibility to make sure that products are accessible. That Conversation still isn't there?   Prisma Garcia  1:00:03 I think you're right. And, you know, I'll, I'll mention, I want to tell you a quick story. And also something that I think has put disability at the forefront for me in terms of the work right. When I was at SVP, one of the things that I was responsible for was a young professionals program. And, you know, each year they would we would take a trip to the Dominican Republic, and the one of the philanthropist, he, you know, before he passed, he said, philanthropy is the is, is a game that everybody could participate in. Right? And in other words, right. And he said that the children in the Dominican, you know, we're playing sports, but there was, there was a student, it was at a, you know, an after school program, that he was blind, or he's, he's blind, and, and he couldn't see. And they were like, how is it gonna play? Right? How is he gonna play soccer, everybody's playing soccer. And they said, the kids drilled a hole in the soccer ball, and they put, they put beans in, and then he could hear he could hear the ball coming. And so it became, you know, it was a story that we would tell, and we were talking about this philanthropist, because he said, you know, philanthropy is something that everybody can have a role in playing play the game, right. And so, for me, I've tried to think of that too, right? We know that we talk, we have conversations of equity in the workplace, I think diversity is only a starting point. As I mentioned, like, if we don't have these conversations, then there's, there's not a lot of point of bringing people that look differently that come from different backgrounds that are have different abilities. It's not until we start to have these conversations and listen, because like I said, I'm not going to be looking maybe for some things that you would look for. And so I think they're having that openness to actually have these conversations and, and really calling it out. Because I think, you know, again, from my perspective, as a Latina, from your perspective, from all of our perspectives, you know, we're gonna find places that we don't, you know, not having that accessibility on a website, Michael, I can only imagine, I mean, how can you feel like you belong, right. And so for me, I'm, you know, you've triggered me in terms of like thinking more about these things. But then also, you know, how do we, I think we just need to keep asking ourselves, like, how can we make the workplace something that we can all participate in, right, just like the story I told I mentioned to you.   Michael Hingson  1:02:47 The problem is we have this term disability, and we can change what that means. We've changed what diversity means because diversity leaves out disabilities, we've changed many terminal terms over the years. But when we continue to say, So and so is disabled, that still comes back to they're not as able, as I. And the other part of it is the fear. Oh, my gosh, that could happen to me, because most persons with especially physical disabilities are probably persons who didn't necessarily start their lives that way. I don't know the statistics. So I won't swear to that. But the reality is there. There are lots of people in the Vietnam era, a lot of people came back from the wars, needing a wheelchair and having physical mobility issues and so on, or people who became blind or whatever. So there is also that fear, but we're not disabled. We do have this characteristic that has been generally classified as a disability. But we've got to separate that out from thinking that means we don't have the abilities that other people do. And people always try to hide it Oh, you're differently abled, not the last time I checked, the brain still works the same, I may use different techniques. So there's a lot that we really need to change, and words matter. It is something that we really need to start to work on a whole lot more like people constantly say, well, you're visually impaired. Not really, I don't think I look different because I'm blind visually, that has nothing to do with it, and impaired. Why does it have to be equated to eyesight? Deaf people are deaf or hard of hearing you would be plastered on the sidewalk by a sledgehammer. If you said deaf or hard of hearing or excuse me, deaf or hearing impaired, deaf or hard of hearing is the terminology that is generally used and I think blind and low vision is probably a more accurate term, but impaired again, words matter and we need to change that?   Prisma Garcia  1:05:01 Yes, so much of it is and you know, I think we constantly all of us, right, and even at being in this space, I, you know, I have found places where I can learn more as well. And, and I do think that the vocabulary is important. And, you know, I think so much I think so much about, you know, taking some of these words, take the humanity out of us, right. And that happens so often. I mean, whenever we hear immigrants, some sometimes it's, it's now associated to something negative whenever we, you know, people say legal right? Or, or people say, homeless like this, this group of people, and they're just out there, right? They're homeless versus, you know, we're, we're still hold, we can still be a hole and, and be different. And so, you know, it is you bring up great points my go on, and I know that for me, I'm constantly identifying vocabulary that is inequitable, because so often, and I think about it, especially when I do some of our my nonprofit work and, you know, in the mental health clinic, and then the, you know, with the different groups I talked about, you know, is, you know, we talk about like these at risk communities as at risk children, you know, things that essentially almost like downgrade you, right? Like, I was essentially an at risk kid, right? Just because I'm part of the zip code or that neighborhood. And so, but I'm still child, right, I was still child. So I think sometimes, you're completely right, the vocabulary, it's almost like you're less than   Michael Hingson  1:06:44 well, and in fact, it, it becomes that way, because that's the way people think, Well, you do a lot with social impact. And I wanted to quickly understand what what that means. And how do you measure it?   Prisma Garcia  1:06:57 Yes, in terms of social impact, I mean, I think in my specific role, obviously, I do a lot of things outside my actual job. You know, I'm MoneyGram. But um, money, gram is very focused on volunteerism, employee engagement. There's, we have a found

The State Department announced a new program to help facilitate refugees coming to and settling in the United States. It's called Welcome Corps and aims to empower private American citizens to sponsor refugees. Krish O'Mara Vignarajah of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service joined Amna Nawaz to discuss. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Dr. Howell talks with Regina Židonienė, Director of the VŠĮ Pagalbos Center in Birzai, Lithuania, about the difference they are making in their community. Recently, she was awarded by the mayor "for constant concern for the children and families of the district experiencing social risks, daily assistance to refugees from the war started by Russia in Ukraine. For long-term, systematic, comprehensive assistance to war refugees from Ukraine. For the ability to convince partners to choose the most vulnerable. For the fact that there is enough space in the heart and home for everyone."

Mayor Adams traveled to the border in El Paso this past Sunday to make the case that the federal government needs to cover the cost of caring for the influx of migrants making their way to NYC. Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, talks about the predicament cities are in and the Biden administration's current immigration and border security policies.

Today on Midday, it's Midday on Immigration.  Last week, the Biden administration announced new policies designed to help stem the surge of migration across the nation's southwestern border with Mexico. The policies include a combination of pathways to legal entry into the country and expanded expedited removal of those who cross into the US unlawfully. The President visited the border for the first time as president on Sunday, and then he travelled to Mexico City for what is known as the “Three Amigos Summit,” where he met with his presidential counterparts in Canada and Mexico. Today, Tom speaks with three people with keen insights into America's complex and persistent immigration problem. His first guest is NPR White House Correspondent Franco Ordoñez, who joins us on our digital line from NPR headquarters in Washington. Tom speaks next with Krish Vignarajah. She is the President and CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Krish Vignarajah joins us on Zoom from her office in Baltimore… Next week, Maryland will inaugurate its first African American Governor, its first South Asian Lt. Governor and its first woman comptroller. Our state's first Black Attorney General was sworn in last week. Marylandis the most diverse state on the eastern seaboard, and it's fitting that we have state leadership that reflects the demographics of our citizens. In November, 2021, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr., acknowledging that his county is becoming more diverse, appointed the County's first Immigrant Affairs Outreach Coordinator, Giuliana Valencia-Banks, who is Tom's final guest today. She joins us on Zoom… How do you think the US should be handling the waves of migrants seeking entry at America's southern border? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, talks about the migrant crisis at the border and what her organization is doing to help refugees, plus the latest on Title 42 and the Afghan Adjustment Act.

Karen Gonzalez is an immigration advocate and the author of Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in Our Christian Response to Immigration.  In this episode, Karen Gonzalez, helps us understand both the challenges of immigration and how we, the church, can love and bless those who have immigrated in ways that are healthy and lifegiving for everyone. THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Karen Gonzalez is an immigration advocate and the author of Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in Our Christian Response to Immigration.Karen Gonzalez shares the story of how her understanding of immigration developed over time.Church ministries that focus on immigration don't generally center on the immigrants; they tend to focus on the church and its people.Think about the words that you use and whether your words are creating an “us and them” or just creating a “we.”The words we use can sometimes be unintentionally dehumanizing.Hospitality should not be one-directional—from the non-immigrant to the immigrant.  Hospitality should be mutual, flowing in both directions.Karen Gonzalez shares the story of a woman who said she appreciates Mother Mary because Mary knows what it feels like to have her son killed by the state—which is how this woman's son died, too.We all do theology from somewhere.Karen Gonzalez describes the richness that those who are not immigrants can experience when they learn from the experiences of those who are immigrants.Ministry leaders should reflect on where their understanding of immigration comes from.Karen Gonzalez offers some ways that people and churches can help immigrants and refugees.To find out how to best help immigrants visit World Relief, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, and Church World Service.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Karen Gonzalez:TwitterInstagramBooks mentioned:Beyond Welcome, by Karen GonzalezBeyond Thingification, by Markus WatsonImmigration Resources:World ReliefInternational Rescue CommitteeLutheran Immigration and Refugee ServicesChurch World ServiceEngaging God's Mission online course (with special Christmas offer)Growing Where God is Working online course

In this week's episode, we're focusing on DACA, as the program and its recipients wait for a decision on the program's legality from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. We'll welcome Niña Ledonio, BPC's Corporate Relations Manager and a DACA recipient, to talk about the program's impact on her life. This Week in Immigration regular, Theresa Cardinal Brown, will then join to talk through the policy side of DACA, walking us through the Biden administration's recent final rule and the maze of litigation that DACA faces. Finally, Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, the President of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, will join us to discuss the Afghan Adjustment Act. 

Many of the people who have arrived in New York City in search of asylum are from Venezuela. Maryann Tharappel, attorney in charge of Immigrant and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities Community Services of the Archdiocese of New York, explains the asylum seeking process. And William Neuman, former New York Times reporter and Andes region bureau chief, now the author of Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela (St. Martin's Press, 2022) discusses the conditions in Venezuela that are leading many people to leave to seek asylum here in the United States.

On this week's episode, Bishop Burbidge offers his: Reaction to the recent article from The Atlantic connecting the rosary to fringe political efforts   “The Rosary of the Virgin Mary…is a prayer of great significance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness.” - Saint John Paul II   Comments on the one-year anniversary of evacuation of Afghanistan; how Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services re-settled 1,300 Afghan men, women and children   Save the date! National Migration Week is Sept. 20-25   Reflection on his 20th Anniversary of episcopacy, including a Q&A:   His overall experience of being a bishop   Who called to let him know the Holy Father chose him to be an auxiliary bishop in Philadelphia; his reaction to being chosen by the Holy Father to serve as a bishop   Why he chose “to walk humbly with your God” as his motto   His fondest memories as a Bishop of Arlington

The Republican governors of Arizona and Texas have, as a political ploy, begun to bus migrants arriving at their borders to New York and other East Coast cities. Local nonprofits and volunteer groups are struggling to cope with the number of people seeking assistance. Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director at the New York Immigration Coalition, and Maryann Tharappel, Special Projects Director of Immigrant and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, discuss this news and how their organizations are responding to the needs of new arrivals.

Some Republican governors are sending migrants to blue states, which are now struggling to provide them with the services and housing they need. On Today's Show:Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director at the New York Immigration Coalition, and Maryann Tharappel, Special Projects Director of Immigrant and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, discuss this news and how their organizations are responding to the needs of new arrivals.

Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services is a non-sectarian, community-based, Florida not-for-profit that has been serving Floridians since 1960. Their programs cover Children and Family Services, Workforce Development, Refugee Services, and more.On this episode, we sit down with Dr. Sandra Braham, President, and CEO of Gulf Coast JFCS, who shares with us how this organization is helping families stay together, helping people gain valuable life skills, and helping to maintain a quality of life for our senior population.We'll also learn about the CALL Program, which is being developed in partnership with the St. Petersburg Police department that is positively impacting the community when it comes to responding to emergency calls involving persons with mental and behavioral health issues. Through strong community partnerships, Gulf Coast JFCS is truly living up to its mission to PROTECT the vulnerable, EMPOWER individuals, and STRENGTHEN families.

Rafael Garcia, proprietor of Café Habana City, Lafayette's first Cuban restaurant, joins Discover Lafayette to share his story of gaining political asylum in the U. S. Rafael relocated to Lafayette with several family members on March 31, 1998, and as he remembers, "we landed at 11:45 a.m. after taking four flights to travel from Havana to the Lafayette airport." The Diocese of Lafayette's Office of Migration and Refugee Services was instrumental in helping them get their feet on the ground. With six months of food stamps and one month's rent paid to stay at University Place Apartments with other Cuban immigrants who were mainly asylum seekers from Guantanomo Bay, Rafael set out to get work and learn how to live as a permanent resident of the U. S. Rafael worked for four years for a company dealing with injection molding plastics before opening Cafe Habana City in 2002. In 2007, the restaurant moved to its current location at 911 Bertrand Drive in Lafayette. Diners experience homestyle Cuban cuisine which is lovingly prepared by "mothers and grandmothers of his family." With thirty different menu options prepared with rich seasonings such as garlic, cumin, bell peppers, oregano, onions, and bay leaf, a signature beef dish to enjoy is Ropa Vieja which translates to "old clothes." In 2019, Cafe Habana City was named one of the top 20 Best Cuban Restaurants in America by Top 7 Travel for its authentic Cuban cuisine.  A native of Havana, Cuba, Rafael became a political dissident after his mandatory three years serving in the military from the ages of 17 to 20 years old. (Although it is a violation of U. N. protocol to have children under the age of 18 serve in the military, Cuba's policy is to pick up teenagers in the summer for conscription after graduation from high school). Rafael noted that he was fortunate to have escaped battle conflict. In 1991, Cuba got out of the Angola War where they had supported the Communist People's Movement; over 10,000 Cuban soldiers were either dead, wounded, or missing. "The Angola War was not our war. Many Cubans lost their lives there." A bitter opponent of the Castro regime, Rafael spoke of being born in 1971 in the middle of Cuban communism. He was a voice of Radio Marti, an American state-run radio station in Miami that transmits news in Spanish and is an illegal source of news in Cuba as it doesn't toe the communist party line. He was jailed many times for speaking up against the government and at one point, was expected to serve 35 years in prison. While Rafael's arrests were related to peaceful protest, violent protesters are either shot to death or jailed for life. A sad byproduct of Cuba's communism is that it divides families and friends who pay the price if you are a dissident. Rafael had studied Industrial Design for one year after his military service but was kicked out of school due to his continued protests against the government. "Educated people can't associate with dissidents as the government will confiscate everything. The rest of the people make a living by selling Black Market items. You have your money confiscated if you show off. Stay humble, save money, and don't paint your house or buy a car. This is what socialism does to people. This type of Mafia government takes everything." His daughter was born in 1996 and Rafael feared for her life if he did not get out of Cuba as he would undoubtedly be incarcerated for decades for his actions. He views himself as fortunate to have been able to get out before this occurred. With the help of U. S. Immigration, Rafael and several family members were granted permanent residency in the U. S., a status which is good for 10 years and allows immigrants to work legally, buy property, attend school, and build a life. Rafael has since become a U. S. citizen along with other family members and now has the right to vote. Rafael Garcia, along with his wife, Sophia,

Today on Midday, we take up an issue that has flummoxed Congress for about as long as gun regulation: that is, immigration, and what to do about the southern border. At the center of the debate is Title 42, a 1940s-era law that allows federal health authorities to prohibit migration into the US to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. The CDC — the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia —  invoked Title 42 in March, 2020, at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. Critics call it “a border-control tool masquerading as a public health order.” The Biden Administration moved to discontinue the policy, but last month, a Louisiana Federal District Judge ordered that the policy stay in place, in part, because the administration had failed to adequately consider how much migration would surge when the policy ends, and the cost to states to provide services to the migrants who are seeking asylum. That ruling is under appeal. We begin our discussion today withSheriff Mark Lamb. He has been the Sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona since 2017. He is a close ally of former President Trump and a vocal critic of the Biden Administration's handling of immigration. He is the founder of a group of sheriffs called “Protect America Now,” and he is a self-described “constitutional conservative.” Later in the hour, Tom gets another perspective on Title 42 from two local immigration advocates: Krish Vignarajah, the President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and Ruben Chandrasekar, the executive director of the International Rescue Committee in Maryland. All our guests join us on Zoom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Lilian Jimenez is an attorney who advocates for greater justice and equity in public policy.  She has extensive experience in direct services, community organizing, and policy advocacy, with a special focus on promoting the rights of immigrant populations and communities of color.  Lili works to ensure that government, as well as non-profit programs, are aligned with the needs of the communities that they are supposed to serve.  She has dedicated herself to the issues of immigration, health justice, workers' rights, and criminal justice reform.Lili has held leadership positions with:  Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); the Fair Labor Standards Division of the Illinois Department of Labor; the Illinois Office of Immigrant & Refugee Services; the State of Illinois Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); she was also a Civil Rights Investigator in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Lilian Jimenez is also currently running as a candidate to represent the State of Illinois' 4th District in the State House of Representatives.We also want to apologize in advance for some mild background noise in the audio during the latter part of the interview.Host:  Nicholas De GenovaProducer & Editor:  Magdalena Rodriguez

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is a non-profit organization that welcomes and supports https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugee (refugees) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_migration (migrants) entering the United States. It is one of nine refugee resettlement agencies working with the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Refugee_Resettlement (Office of Refugee Resettlement)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheran_Immigration_and_Refugee_Service#cite_note-2 ([2]) and one of only two that serves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unaccompanied_refugee_minors (unaccompanied refugee minors). With more than 1 million refugees fleeing Ukrainian borders today, President and CEO Krish O'Mara Vignarajah shares her organization's resettlement initiatives, assistance programs, and how everyday citizens can help during these trying times.

Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you The Red Pegasus Podcast's fifth guest! Throughout our series of guests, we welcome Seth Block to the show. Seth was born in Philadelphia, moved to Dallas in 1993 and has been here ever since. He is our podcast's self-titled, "Dallas' influencer of good vibes".  Seth has been heavily active in the local nonprofit scene for a few years now. Not only is he involved in good works in and around the DFW area, but he also is an incredible person and it is shown throughout this conversation. Just follow his Instagram account or check out the numerous organizations (all listed below) he has served in or is currently a part of. Throughout episode 48, Seth and the guys discuss how the average person can get involved in volunteering along with a few local places to start. He shares a fantastic story of how he ended up being "voluntold" to run in an Ironman relay down in Waco for an event benefiting Refugee Services of Texas. Speaking of stories, for the first time ever, Seth opens up about the time he served unaccompanied migrant minors at an emergency shelter. They were underserved and oftentimes felt imprisoned here in Dallas nearly a year ago. Seth would share that an ambulance would frequently show up to take a child to the hospital and the food they were served was horrid, so bad that the people employed at the facility, were having their own food delivered to them. This is just a few things that turned the sickening story into major news. That was just the beginning of the story of how Seth and other volunteers attempted to improve conditions within the shelter and advocate for the kids. (Disclaimer: None of the organizations Seth is, or has been, a part of were involved in the operations or conditions at the emergency shelter for unaccompanied migrant minors.) It's an episode you will not want to miss. Also, go support Seth's efforts at Union Coffee with their monthly "Shot of Generosity". 15% of sales will go to supporting a specific nonprofit this Saturday, February 26th! Follow Philanthropist, Seth Block on Instagram @iam_sethb. Support other organizations Seth is involved with:   - Union Coffee co-organizer for their "Monthly Shot of Generosity" (@uniondallas) - Refugee Services of Texas advisory council member (@refugeeservicesoftexas) - Emerging Leaders Steering Committee at United Way Dallas volunteer committee chair (@unitedwaydallas) - Dana Juett Residency Alumni and partner at Social Venture Partners (@svpdallas) - DJR Alumni Auxiliary Association chair member  - Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy at Communities Foundation of Texas (@emergingleaders_cft)   Lastly, follow along with all things involving the Red Pegasus Podcast. We're on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @RedPegasusPod. If you subscribe, rate and review, we will personally give you a shoutout on the show.  Do you have a story idea or want us to discuss something specific on the pod? Maybe you have a small business or individual you want us to promote? We're always looking to highlight local Texans and their passions, so email us at redpegasuspod@gmail.com. The Red Pegasus Podcast Shop: https://my-store-11619045.creator-spring.com

We're sorry for bumming you out all year - but the antidote to a crumbling democracy is mutual aid! In this episode we've got some organizations that you can share your resources with, to help take the edge off of 2021's agony. Happy New Year! Better luck next year!Here are links to the organizations that we talk about in this episode:The Legal Aid Society of New York City - https://legalaidnyc.org/ (Peter)International Refugee Assistance Project - https://refugeerights.org/ (Michael)Texas Harm Reduction Alliance - https://www.harmreductiontx.org/ (Rhiannon)Housing Justice for All - https://housingjusticeforall.org/ (Peter)Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service - https://www.lirs.org/ (Michael)Jane's Due Process - https://janesdueprocess.org/ (Rhiannon)Louisiana Center for Children's Rights - https://lakidsrights.org/ (Peter)Advocates for Children of New York - https://www.advocatesforchildren.org/ (Michael)Texas Fair Defense Project - https://www.fairdefense.org/ (Rhiannon)Rivers & Birds - http://www.riversandbirds.org/ (Michael, a gunner)Follow Peter (@The_Law_Boy), Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) and Michael (@_FleerUltra) on Twitter.Learn more about how you can help get the Judiciary Act passed at https://demandjustice.org/podcast.If you're not a Patreon member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Patreon-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, join at patreon.com/fivefourpod. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What is a refugee? A refugee is a person fleeing from their country and cannot return because their life is at risk or could be seriously harmed. Sometimes they have been forced out. Other times they may be fleeing because they are in danger because of their political affiliation, membership in a certain social group, race, nationality or religion.What does Refugee Services of Texas do? Serves refugees, asylees, individuals with Special Immigrant Visas, Cuban-Haitian entrants, Central American minors, survivors of human trafficking, and other vulnerable populations. In addition, RST works to facilitate partnerships with host communities to build a welcoming environment.From Refugee Services Texas Blog:Advocacy: Ways to take actionWays to take action:Contact CongressClick above to be connected with your 2 Senators and 1 Representative via email or by phone. You will be able to send an email or receive a phone call that connects you to your Members of Congress. Please make sure to insert your city/town in the highlighted portion!Amplify your voice on Social MediaClick above for a social media toolkit from our partners at We Are All America to use on your social media platforms!Write for Local MediaWrite an opinion editorial, a letter to the editor, a blog, or something for your newsletter, click above for some great talking points you can use.Ways you can volunteer:Apartment set up, Cultural Orientation, Welcome Team, Transportation, Refugee Youth Mentoring Program, Job Development and Financial Literacy, English Language Classes, Interpretation/Translation, Legal Services, Childcare, Administrative, Case Aid and so much more!!Ways you can donate:$50: Urgent Care. Help provide a virtual doctor's visit for a survivor of human trafficking in need of urgent care.$100: Groceries. Help provide a week's worth of groceries for a newly arrived family seeking asylum.$250: Technology Access. Help contribute a laptop to a newly resettled child who lacks the technology to attend school remotely.$500: ESL. Help impact the lives of four clients with remote access to English language classes.$1000: Home. Help a family who has lost their job due to COVID-19 with a month's rent to safely continue to shelter in place.Refugee Services Texas : Make an Impact : Donate (rstx.org)Also, you can donate through their Amazon Wishlist.Where you can find more from Kaitlin at Refugee Services TexasWebsite rstx.orgInstagram @refugeeservicesoftexas Kaitlin also highly recommends Jessica Goudeau's book After the Last Border and Refugee by Ganz for young readers or families to read together!Grab our Christmas Cookie Catalog in our Resource Library! Subscribe To Our Free Newsletter For The Password.Daily Service Advent CalendarWe love following this daily service calendar, Light the World with Love, from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Join us! https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist