News for Amigos de Casa San José: November 9, 2017

Dear Casa San José Amigos,

Welcome back to our weekly message!  Here’s what’s new:

HELP:

• MIL GRACIAS!! to all who volunteered their time and the benefit of arms, legs, vehicles, expertise and refreshments to our moving days last week.  We are now happily settled in our NEW LOCATION in the Beechview neighborhood at 2114 Broadway Ave.,15216.  Hurray!  Please come visit us any time.  We are planning a welcome celebration soon:  stay tuned.  

ACTION:

• So much is always happening in the news, it's easy to forget that the fate of Dreamers still hangs in the balance after DACA was cancelled in September, giving Congress only 6 months to act. Yesterday, Nov. 9, was a day of rallies across the US to remind us that we still need to urge our legislators to pass the bipartisan 2017 Dream Act (HR 3440 and S 1615)  There is reason to believe that it will pass now if Paul Ryan will allow it to go up for a vote.   Please keep up the pressure - on Ryan and McConnell (tweet here - it's easy!) and on your representatives.  

NEWS:  

• Sister Janice and Brandi Rojas represented Casa San José, and with other participants, spoke movingly about recent experiences of Pittsburgh immigrants at an event entitled “Faithful Responses to Strangers, Immigrants, and Refugees.” It was sponsored by the Jewish Community Center’s Center for Loving Kindness and Civic Engagement; the Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania; and All for All, an immigrant advocacy group.  Read more including beautiful photos from the Post-Gazette here.

• Last week Sister Janice was awarded the 17th annual Pittsburgh Turkish Cultural Center Friendship Award!  (See photo above.)

• Monica has been speaking at several venues recently: at Housing & Hoagies: People's Housing Stories , a discussion on the impact of housing instability on immigrants, people of color and the LGBTQ community on Facebook, and at a forum on "Immigration: it's not that easy" sponsored by Seton Hill University and the YWCA of Westmoreland County.

SUGGESTED if you'd like to read more:  Public libraries - our own and others around the country - are making booklists to help us understand the lives and backgrounds of Latino immigrants who are our neighbors and friends.  Here are a few:

• Latino Life: Books about the Latino Experience, from the Boston Public Library
• Must-read Latino Authors, from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh 
• Great children's books featuring Latino characters, from the Free Library of Philadelphia

Thank you for joining us!

(Earlier messages can be found here.)