LFS Carolinas Transitions Refugee Services out of Triad Region (Immigration Services Update)
4/12/2010

Dear People of Faith and Goodwill:

For more than 20 years, LFS Carolinas has provided Immigration Legal Services, first in Raleigh, and now with a vibrant presence in Greensboro. With your generous support of prayers, presence, gifts, and service, you have helped minister to the needs of newly arrived refugees and asylees who have come to America to build new lives of safety, freedom and hope. In Greensboro, many people and many faith communities have recognized the face of LFS through our work in refugee resettlement, immigration, and more recently citizenship.

Given this history, it is difficult to announce that LFS has decided to close our Immigration Legal Services program effective September 30, 2010. This is exclusively a financial decision. Over the years, the overall agency – through your multi-faceted support – has enthusiastically funded the immigration services deficit that is intrinsic to offering highly technical professional legal services to an un- or under-served population of people who do not have the means to pay what private attorneys typically charge. Unfortunately, LFS can no longer shoulder the gap between the federal contract and modest client fee income collected and the actual cost of this specialized work.

We recognize that this closure will create a significant hole in the fabric of the community. LFS is the only non-profit provider of immigration legal services in Greensboro with the capacity to serve the existing refugee community. In 2009, we assisted 915 clients. Our shoes will be hard to fill. LFS is committed to doing everything possible to aid the community in identifying and leveraging new resources to address this distinctive need so that immigration legal services can continue in the Triad after LFS’ departure.

We trust that your faithfulness, compassion and dedication will endure in this heart-to-heart and person-to-person work that literally saves lives. In this season of transition, it is our hope and prayer that this decision will lead to new life, new opportunities, and a newly woven fabric that is strong and beautiful – as beautiful as the beaming smile of a new citizen, or the jubilance of a family reunited after many years on the safety of American soil.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or need for further information.

In Christ,

Suzanne Gibson Wise
President and CEO

Rev. Laura J.S. Benson
Executive Director