Open House Celebrates Center to Assist Immigrants
By Angela Jones
The Winchester Star
http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/060609/Area_openhouse.asp
June 13, 2006

Moving to a new country where you don't know the language and don't necessarily know any people can be a daunting task.

Luckily, the immigrant population in the areas of Winchester and Clarke and Frederick counties have a place to go to find the help they need.

On Thursday, a celebratory open house was held for the Northern Shenandoah Valley Immigrant Resource Center to officially introduce its ministry to the area.

Located in a trailer on the grounds of the Salvation Army's headquarters on Fort Collier Road, the NSVIRC opened its doors on Feb. 14.

Through a partnership with the New Bridges Immigrant Resource Center in Harrisonburg, Susannah G. Lepley works one day per week in the center to provide assistance to those who need it.

The board of the NSVIRC is chaired by Fabiana Y. Borkowsky, who also serves on the Virginia Latino Advisory Board. Danitza Porras, who runs the Hispanic Ministry at the Salvation Army in Winchester with her husband Alvaro, is the vice chair.

Porras said most of the board members represent a congregation in the area.

According to a pamphlet printed for the NSVIRC, the board members represent Bethel Lutheran Church, Blue Ridge Hospice, Christ Episcopal Church, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Iglesia Metodista Amor y Paz, Latino Connection, Mount Carmel Baptist Church, Stephens City Mennonite Church, Stephens City United Methodist Church, Salvation Army, Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley, and Winchester Public
Schools.

It also states that the board is seeking new members from a variety of congregations.

"We hope that eventually at least 50 percent of our board members will be immigrants," it reads.

Lepley said more than 200 surveys about the needs of the immigrant population were completed between June and October 2005.

The top four needs facing the community based on the survey are information and assistance with immigration, worker rights and benefits, college education, and housing.

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, those seeking information can meet with Lepley, who is bilingual.

By law only attorneys and accredited representatives are allowed to give legal advice, Lepley said. Therefore, those with legal questions are taken to Aaron L. Cook in Harrisonburg.

Lepley said Cook charges clients a $100 fee for his work with immigration-related matters.

No one has ever complained that Harrisonburg is too far to travel or that the fee is too expensive.

"They are so hungry for advice," she said.

While most of the clients of the NSVIRC are Spanish-speaking, Porras said, "'Immigrant' does not always refer to Hispanics."

Lepley said she sees one to two clients per week - enough to keep her pretty busy. The immigration process involves a lot of paperwork, which is time-consuming.

In addition to completing the immigration process, Porras added many people will come in with letters they do not understand.

"We're trying to prevent the legals from becoming illegals," she said. "We don't want them to get in trouble."

Lepley said this is the third office she has helped open in five years. But this one is different in that "great people already come" to the Salvation Army and to the Porras family for help.

She said it is Danitza and Alvaro Porras and Salvation Army Capt. Richard White and their passion and vision for working with immigrants that make the NSVIRC possible.

"The Salvation Army does fabulous work in this community," Lepley said. For more information on the Northern Shenandoah Valley Immigrant Resource Center, call (540) 450-0778 or (540) 476-0635.