COMPANEROS FOUR CORNERS IMMIGRANT RESOURCE CENTER
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Mission Statement
Compañeros is a grassroots organization dedicated to the mission of empowering immigrants and their families through resource navigation, education and community engagement in order to achieve the vision of a diverse, empowered and liberated community of immigrants thriving in Southwest Colorado.
About This Cause
We achieve our mission and vision through our four main programs: Resource Navigation: Many of our clients do not have a fluency in English, an understanding of how American government systems (immigration, justice, or social) function, or a trust in the aforementioned systems. The resource navigation we provide is incredibly diverse and extends beyond any single category, and on any given day we might help a client with resolving a tax issue, applying for an immigrant driver’s license, service navigation, and more. We also provide information to non-immigrant individuals and agencies such as employers, educators, and health providers. With our assistance, we empower our clients to find, understand, navigate, and access crucial services to maintain their physical, mental, and economic well-being. Education Outreach: We provide educational workshops and events in order to empower our clients with the knowledge they need to be successful. There are many unique challenges facing immigrant families, and no other agency in our area focuses on distributing the information necessary to properly address them. This has included workshops on immigrant driver’s licenses, constitutional rights, and COVID-19 vaccines, resource fairs on health resources with representatives from services providers, and more. We also facilitate an after school program called “La Escuelita” in collaboration with Fort Lewis College and other agencies whose goal is supporting immigrant children and broadening their horizons through activities and excursions. Community Engagement: In order to foster resilience and build strength in our immigrant community, we engage with our community members and empower them with the knowledge and connections they need to succeed in advocating for their needs. Last year, a great example of this was in how Compañeros assisted members of the Westside mobile home park organize in order to form a cooperative and fight for their right to a place to live in our local community. In the past we also advocated for language justice in local government, fairer practices in the school district, and a separation between federal immigration officials and local law enforcement agencies. Legal Assistance Program: We ensure that all immigrant residents of our area have access to the legal assistance they need to successfully obtain residency, asylum, citizenship, and more. This program is made possible by a special certification granted to us from the Department of Justice that allows us to provide legal services regarding immigration affairs through a program called “Recognition and Accreditation” that seeks to improve legal access around the country. Legal assistance is an extremely crucial resource which drastically improves individuals’ success rate in navigating the immigration system. According to the National Immigrant Justice Center, immigrants are twice as likely to obtain relief from detention and five times more likely to win their cases if they have legal assistance. But unlike other forms of legal aid, immigration-related legal assistance is not guaranteed or supplied by the court system, and defendants are not provided with any kind of public defender, neither for court representation nor navigation of the immigration system in general. Many individuals simply cannot afford the high fees that lawyers charge, and even for those that could, there are often practically none available in rural areas such as the Four Corners region. By providing low-cost legal assistance, our Legal Assistance Program is a huge step forward for our community in alleviating these conditions and improving the chances of success for all immigrant residents of our area.