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Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center Receives Award from One of Nation’s Leading Violence Prevention Agencies
FVPF Awards $2,500 to El Paso–Based Organization.
San Francisco - The Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) today announced that it has given a $2,500 award to Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in recognition of its strong work to prevent violence and keep women and children safe. It is one of just nine awards the FVPF is giving to violence prevention agencies around the country. The awards are made possible by Macy’s West, a longtime, generous donor to violence prevention efforts.
“We are proud to provide this award to Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center for its remarkable work to prevent violence and help women and children throughout the state,” said FVPF President Esta Soler. “This small investment has the potential to make a tremendous difference, helping Las Americas support victims, advocate for change, and promote badly needed policy reform.”
Las Americas protects the human rights of refugees and other immigrants, challenges policies and practices which oppress them, and strives for systemic change for social justice. It provides legal representation to refugees and children, interviewing each woman and young person to determine the best legal options and, when possible, facilitate the reunification of a child with family members in the United States, and then obtain lawful immigration status.
Las Americas Refugee Asylum Project was founded in 1987 when a great number of Central Americans were fleeing persecution from violence and they arrived in El Paso in need of legal assistance. Since then, the name and work has changed to address the changing needs of international refugees and the local immigrant community.
“We are so grateful to the Family Violence Prevention Fund and Macy’s West for this generous donation,” said Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center Executive Director Raymundo Eli Rojas. “We plan to use this money to support our outreach to immigrant women and children who are victims of violence. These victims in El Paso and the surrounding areas are often isolated, making it even harder for them to secure services.”
Macy’s West customers purchased in-store shopping passes for $5 during the store’s “Shop for a Cause” day last year. The funds raised benefit the FVPF’s national violence prevention and education programs as well as nine innovative violence prevention programs in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and Guam. The other eight awardees are: Peace Over Violence, Los Angeles, CA; California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, Sacramento, CA; Human Options, Irvine, CA; Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Denver, CO; Nâ Loio, Honolulu, HI; Safe Nest, Las Vegas, NV; Guam Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence, Hagatna, Guam; and Enlace Comunitario, Albuquerque, NM.
On September 20, 2008 Macy’s and the Family Violence Prevention Fund will extend this effort nationally by raising funds for national and local domestic violence prevention programs through sales of “Shop for a Cause” shopping passes all throughout the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 1,200 deaths and two million injuries to women from intimate partner violence each year. Nearly one in four women reports experiencing violence by a current or former spouse or boyfriend sometime in her life.
The Family Violence Prevention Fund works to end violence against women and children around the world, because every person has the right to live free of violence. For more information, visit www.endabuse.org.
