Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement
Rising Hope UMC and VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) co-sponsored what was billed as a solidarity call for action on Sunday, April 25, to help immigrant youth in particular and immigrants in general.
The focus of the gathering was to urge enactment of the pending federal legislation known as the DREAM Act that would provide a way for undocumented individuals to become legal residents.
Early one morning last June, fully two hours before his appointment, Mustafa Salih arrived at a federal office here in the Washington suburbs. He wore the new suit he had bought for the occasion. A friend, accompanying him, carried a camera to record the event. Mr. Salih had not slept the previous night.
Margaret Davis recently had surgery. She has no job, no place to live, and without the support of her church she would have little hope. Recently someone told her that she didn’t look like a homeless person, and it made her mad.
“I am homeless and I’m not too ashamed to say it,” Davis said. As Fairfax County grapples with a projected $650 million budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year, Davis said it was important to continue to fund programs that offer affordable housing and other services to the county’s low-income residents.