Press Release

Lives in Limbo: Experts Discuss Immigration Policies and their Impact By Jeffrey Blackwell Cambridge Community Foundation Correspondent The face of an asylum-seeker is a 28-year-old Honduran woman, who was beaten and raped from age 16, pushed off a 25-foot cliff into a raging river, and left to die by her abuser. It is the face of a mother from El Salvador escaping the violence of the country with her five-year-old child in tow, following the murder of her 14-year-old son at the hands of a local gang. It is also the face of a Ugandan woman who fled her country after being raped and beaten by a domestic abuser, and then again by the police she ran to for safety. Mojdeh Rohani, the executive director of the Community Legal Service Center in Cambridge, said these are the typical stories of refugees they see every day seeking counseling for a lifetime filled with the trauma that did not end when they reached the United States border seeking safety, help, and asylum. “These are the voices and this is very real,” said Rohani, whose agency provides free legal, and affordable counseling services for low-income residents and immigrants. “It is not like

The Former First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush, concluded her June 17, 2018 New York Times op-ed with this fundamental question: “In 2018, can we not as a nation find a kinder, more compassionate and more moral answer to this current crisis? I, for one, believe we can.” This sentiment spread across the country as we saw images of traumatized, sobbing children, isolated from their parents after entering our country in search of safety and sanctuary. The Cambridge Community Foundation has always valued strong families. Strong families are the anchors for healthy children; they fuel productive workers, they support thriving businesses, and they generate compassionate communities. Research has shown that repeated adverse childhood experiences can lead to toxic stress, which has long-term consequences on physical and mental health, leading to behavioral problems, children dropping out of school, substance abuse, and more. Separating children and their parents is not just morally wrong — it will have a lasting impact on these children, their families, and on communities. Fundamentally, this issue is about shared humanity. It’s about the kind of people we want to be, the type of community we want to create, and how we want to be

When Lori Lander was fresh out of college, she helped create a program to engage young adults in Miami’s urban challenges. That program hooked her on the power of convening and civic engagement, and today, Cambridge benefits. Lander, who is on our board of directors and co-chairs our Program and Special Initiatives Committee, is a powerful advocate for community building in Cambridge. She is one of the founders of Cambridge’s MLK Day of Service. This year, in its eighth year, the event drew more than 3,200 people of all ages and from all walks of life to work on projects that benefit others, in honor of Dr. King. Lori also hosts monthly conversations about urgent issues in Cambridge, in her living room! “I care deeply about how to get people active and engaged in their community,” said Lori. “It’s what Tip O’Neill said… 'All Politics is Local’. We’re all responsible for the community we live in and we need to engage to become the community we want it to be.” The monthly Breakfast Gatherings at Lori Lander’s house started in 2010 when she was thinking about how to coordinate the MLK Day of Service. She invited people she knew