giving tuesday 2019

Little Village Solidarity Network frequently receives the question - if I shouldn't support Heartland Alliance or NIJC with my donations, who should I support? For this Giving Tuesday, we compiled a list of alternatives that we suggest for those who want to support migrants with money and solidarity. 

These are just some of the many beautiful projects out there to support. We chose these orgs either because we believe in the teams behind them or because many of these groups are serving communities that have no larger support networks in place. In some instances the group on this list is the only resource for a specific region or community. Most of the groups on this list are autonomous aid groups and do not have a tax exempt status. However, if you need to donate to a 501(c)3 please reach out to us because many of these groups do have fiscal sponsors through which you can donate and still fund their awesome work. 

CHICAGO LOCAL

CITA
Chicago Immigrant Transit Assistance greets asylum seekers at Greyhound station in Chicago and offers essential emergency assistance and support. They offer a much needed rest and friendly reception for migrants just leaving the detention machine. They also take donations of goods or transit cards. 
Follow them: Facebook.com/CITAChicago
Donate on their website: www.citachicago.org

Chicago IWOC Sponsor Support Network
Sponsor Support Network was born out of increasing need to find sponsors for especially vulnerable asylum seekers. SSN works with community groups along the Tijuana/ San Diego border to provide in-detention support & post-detention support for queer & trans asylum seekers in order to place them in Chicago. The network aims to facilitate the process of sponsoring asylum seekers by creating a community of support network for the sponsors, making the process of sponsoring more accessible to more citizens and ultimately freeing more migrants. Donate:
Patreon @chicagoIWOC
Venmo @ChiIWOC-SSN
You can also purchase a print or t-shirt design to give someone for the holidays through messaging their facebook page: @ChicagoIWOC

Inlakesh Chicago
Inlakesh Chicago based on the southside of Chicago travels to the Matamoros/Brownsville border towns to support the work of Team Brownsville and the Good Neighbor Resettlement House in Texas. They offer assistance with food and goods donations but also provide indispensable support through storytelling. Read more about their unique project on their Facebook or GoFundMe.
Follow on Facebook: @InLakeshChicago
Donate at GoFundMe:
www.gofundme.com/help-volunteers-give-assistance-to-asylum-seekers

US/MX - JUAREZ/TEJAS REGION
Las Cruces, NM LGBTQ shelter 
Run by Dulce Rivera. Las Cruces is located between 3 detention centers - Cibola, Otero, and El Paso - and serves as a shelter dedicated to trans and LGBTQ folks immediately after their release. Having a place to go immediately after leaving detention greatly helps migrants coming from often violent, often isolating, often deeply traumatic experiences while in detention. The refugee house allows the asylum seekers to gain some stability and support before embarking on the next leg of their journey. 
Donate at their GoFundMe & learn more:
www.gofundme.com/f/lgbtq-refugee-house-in-las-cruces

BORDER SUPPORT
MX/GUATEMALA REGION
Tapachula
Many migrants are no longer able to travel as far as the US/Mexico border because of the cooperation of the Mexican government with the US's xenophobic plans to shut down the asylum system as it has existed for decades. Many migrants are now held in the southern Mexican border, isolated from resources and support. 
Tapachula Solidarity was born out of this emerging humanitarian crisis in support of those held there and provides food assistance and emergency support services.
Follow them on Instagram: @xxtap-sol
Donate at GoFundMe or Venmo
www.gofundme.com/tapachula-survival
Venmo @tap-sol

Alianza Migrante in Juarez
Continuum of the work Food Not Walls/Casa Carmelita used to do in El Paso. Small team of folks travel into Juarez to support albergues there with donations of supplies & food. 
Follow them on Instagram: @Alianza_Migrante
Donate on Venmo: @AlianzaMigrante

The Carrizo/ Comecrudo Tribe
The Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe is an active resistor of the expansion of a border wall and protector of indigenous sacred sites. They provide education on environmental impact and devastation of people, animals and the environment. Their first resistance camp and village is the Yalui village, which expands both sides of the Mexican-American border. Their Somi Se'k Village base camp is a support and training camp for Yalui and future camps.
Follow their website: www.carrizocomecrudotribeoftexas.org
Instagram: @tribe_of_texas
Facebook: @YaluiVillage
Donate on the Yalui Village website: www.carrizocomecrudodonation.com
Or GoFundMe:
www.gofundme.com/f/carrizocomecrudotribeoftexas
www.gofundme.com/f/somi-sek-village-scrub-oak-paradise

TIJUANA/SAN DIEGO REGION
​Contra Viento y Marea
A kitchen and donation center in Tijuana run and operated by migrants for migrants. They serve about 200-300 migrants daily with meals, resources & community. Donations go to maintain this beautiful autonomous space's rent and food costs. 
Follow/Learn More on Facebook:
@ContraVientoyMareaComedor
Website: 
www.contravientoymareatj.com
GoFundMe:
www.gofundme.cm/tijuana-kitchen
Venmo: @tjrefugee-support
Patreon: @elcomedor
** Bonus! If you become a re-occurring Patreon donor you receive a t-shirt which you can gift to a loved one!

Casa de Luz TJ
Casa de Luz TJ was born out of a group of LGBTQ migrants who banded together for protection and community while traveling in the caravans. Once they arrived in Tijuana they saw great need and wanted to continue to provide a place of light and family for other LGBTQ migrants. Casa de Luz is an open shelter and community space for all.
Follow & Learn more: 
www.casadeluztj.org
Facebook: @casadeluztj
Donate on Gofundme:
​www.gofundme.com/casa-de-luz

Hecate Society
Hecate Society is a queer & femme led group that functions as emergency response for migrants on the ground in Tijuana and in detention centers across the US. Hecate is a news organization and humanitarian aid group and has helped facilitate many of the other projects on this list through starter funds, donations, food, commissary support, sponsor placement, and support through the asylum process. Superstars!
Follow through their website: www.HecateSociety.org
Through Instagram or Facebook: @Hecate Society
Donate on GoFundMe:
www.gofundme.com/f/caravan-support

They are also raising funds for this specific Honduran couple, Alexis & Javier: www.gofundme.com/support-gay-honduran-couple-resettling-in-usa

DONATION OF GOODS 
Most of the organizations on this list will also accept in-kind donations of goods, and here are some frequent asks:

Narcan
Laptops
Cell phones
WIRELESS INFRASTRUCTURE
CONTRACEPTIVES
HOLIDAY CARDS

lavillitasolidaridad@gmail.com