Note from the Chair As I look toward the end of 2025, I cannot help but be filled with gratitude. We have all been witness to the tragic shift in federal posture toward immigration, detention, due process rights, and the escalation of force in cities across the United States. But at AIDNW, we are not just witnesses or bystanders: we are advocates and a powerful counteractive force to the fear, helplessness, and misinformation that exists within our communities.

Summer campaign a success! Thank you to everyone who contributed during our Summer Fundraising Campaign. Thanks to you we surpassed our goal!  Your support is truly making a difference in the lives of immigrants detained in and released from detention in Tacoma. September Community Meeting on Trauma Informed Care The September Community Meeting was a great success. UW Medicine Behavioral Health Specialists Ben Longstroth, Annie Wickland, and Caitlin Smith gave a helpful presentation on Trauma Informed Care.

Notes from the Chair On September 9th, Tacoma City Council awarded AIDNW $20,000 in contingency funds to reimburse phone fund expenses - twice the amount they awarded to us last year! I am so grateful for the support of City Council and specifically Councilmember Olgy Diaz, who sponsored the resolution and spearheaded the effort, as well as co-sponsors Kristina Walker, Joe Bushnell, and Sandesh Sadalge.

Welcome Center Moved Back To Original Location The Welcome Center is once again located just outside the release gate of the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC).  The move will make it easier for people who are released to access services, and for volunteers to contact anyone waiting for a release and to offer them a place to wait. NWIPC officials approved the move, and a permit was obtained from the City of Tacoma.

Join us on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 from 11:30-1:00 for the next AIDNW Community Meeting to hear from guest speaker Rosalinda Guillen about the impact our lack of comprehensive immigration reform in the United States has had on farmworkers and other migrants in Washington State. Zoom option is available by request. Community to Community founder Rosalinda Guillen has been organizing regional farmworkers for almost 40 years.

GiveBIG has become a great annual tradition to support non-profit organizations in Washington State. The early giving period is now underway and culminates on May 6-7. Last year, GiveBIG donors and sponsors raised $11.5 million for 1,518 nonprofit organizations across Washington State. All nonprofit organizations that are based in or serve Washington can join the statewide campaign that activates donors everywhere to get that GIVING feeling!

Important Leadership Changes and Plans for the Future  After Dr. Caitlin Boline's move to the East Coast and subsequent resignation as Board Chair, Ben Jones has stepped into the role, committed to guiding AIDNW in unwavering support of our mission through a period of significant change at the national level. The board also bid farewell to Dr. Louisa Beal, recognized for her contributions to the Marketing and Communications Committee and her work on the "AIDNW Monthly Report" radio program.

Happy February! As we continue into 2025, here are some key updates from our latest newsletter. First, we invite you to join us for our next Community Meeting with a guest speaker from the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project (NWIRP) on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, from 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM at Peace Lutheran Church, 2106 Cushman Ave. You can learn about their amazing and impactful work here…

When I started as a visitation volunteer with AIDNW, I was a bit nervous. I'm not the world's greatest conversationalist; I had no idea how it would go.

Today we honor Martin Luther King, Jr.'s work, and we encourage everyone to contribute acts of service in the community, especially now and for the next 4 years as immigrant rights are in peril. Dr. King gave us the vision for a Beloved Community emphasizing the importance of unity, love, and reconciliation across racial and ethnic divides. He said, “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.

By Dieu Est Amour Nsungi, AIDNW Volunteer My journey to start volunteering with AIDNW began in 2015 when I moved here. I didn’t know anyone in the United States, no family or friends. I had been an International Student in Morocco, completing an associates degree there in computer science after graduating from high school in my home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

AIDNW wants to give a big shout-out to everyone who has donated, volunteered, and worked together with us throughout 2024. After the pandemic, we experienced a slowdown in donations year-over-year, with 2023 being the slowest. We are happy to report that in 2024, we bounced back even past our 2022 mark and are aiming toward our high point of 2021, but the numbers won't be final until tomorrow when our…

AIDNW was so grateful and honored to be invited by Commissioner Maricres Castro with the City of Tacoma Commission on Immigrant & Refugee Affairs (CIRA) to be part of the city's proclamation tonight which affirmed December 18th as International Migrants Day. Commission members Iuliia Didkivska, Maurice Lekea and Thierry Ruboneka were also present from CIRA, with Maurice and others in attendance simultaneously representing the…

Happy Holidays AIDNW Family & Friends! We, the board and staff, are thankful for each and every one of you. AIDNW is you and you are AIDNW. Thanks to all of you who have graciously donated your time, talent, and treasure to make sure this work continues. You demonstrate daily that this mission is larger than any one of us and words cannot express the thankfulness and hope that we are taking from your energy into 2025.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Washington is sponsoring an online Human Rights Day Town Hall with an agenda to "examine potential threats under the next U.S. federal administration, such as promises of mass deportations, the targeting of DEI efforts, and the promotion of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination which all take direct aim at fundamental rights described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

We want to give a big shout-out to everyone who has donated during this year of transition for AIDNW. Ours has always fundamentally been a volunteer operation, and we operate due to so many passionate volunteers who become pen-pals and visit immigrants in detention, who wait in all kinds of weather outside the gates of detention to welcome newly-released immigrants finding their way to a new life in the United States, who share their homes when immigrants need temporary shelter, and who keep AIDNW services going behind the scenes every day by volunteering in the office: answering emails and the phones - mostly requests from immigrants in detention needing funds to call family and attorneys - their calls in detention aren’t free unfortunately, so one of our biggest budget expenses is providing those funds to them.

Come learn about the potential tax benefits you can receive by donating money from your IRA to AIDNW! Saturday, Dec 7th from 11:30-12:30, AIDNW volunteer Steve Sarwono, CFP® presents "WHAT IS A QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTION?" at the Starbucks Regional Office, 10314 S Tacoma Way, Lakewood, WA 98499.  Lunch from Panera Bread will be provided. Learn how retirees with an IRA can make a…

 Today is Giving Tuesday. Stand with AIDNW as we provide vital services to immigrants like Hanan who escaped an abusive situation in her home country. Hanan reached the U.S. earlier this year, was detained and then released from the NW ICE Processing Center after a judge agreed to hear her case. With no family or friends in United States…

We actually want a pair of social media volunteers for AIDNW. We currently have one very supportive interim social media specialist ready to train two volunteers who can work together to share the load and help one another ... but our trainer is only available until January 1st! Volunteering in this role only takes 2 hours per week, can be done from the comfort of home, and really is the best way to get connected to the…