Let's Get Cristian a Truck!
Donation protected
Soy Cristian Verenisse. Tengo 26 años y soy de Honduras. Viví allí con mis padres y mi hermano pequeño toda mi vida. Estudié administración de empresas y psicología. Trabajé como barbero, camionero y taxista. Ir a la universidad es muy difícil allí, no como aquí. Me encanta aprender y estoy decidida a vivir una vida hermosa.
I am Cristian Verenisse. I am 26 and I'm from Honduras. I lived there with my parents and my little brother and I studied business administration and psychology. I worked as a barber, a truck driver, and a taxi driver. Going to university is very difficult there, not like it is here. I love learning and I am determined to live a beautiful life.
Soy parte de la comunidad LGBT y mi país es muy homofóbico. Fui blanco de violencia extrema con pandillas por ser lesbiana. Es por eso que tuve que dejar mi tierra y mi familia, para buscar protección en este país, para poder ser yo mismo.
I am part of the LGBT community and my country is very homophobic. I was the target of extreme gang violence for being a lesbian. This is why I had to leave my homeland and my family, to seek protection in this country, so I can be myself.
________________________________________________________
Cristian came to the United States seeking asylum. An LGBT individual facing homophobic discrimination that made being safe and staying in her home country impossible, Cristian left Honduras in January 2019. After waiting four months in Tijuana for her case to be called, entering the United States and being detained in detention centers in multiple states, and having her identification confiscated, Cristian has just received documents to work and remain in the U.S.
Christian with Al Otro Lado , a nonprofit that serves indigent deportees, migrants, and refugees in Tijuana and Los Ángeles, and is helping Christian regain possession of her passport and drivers license and working on her asylum case.
Cristian is currently living here and working on a farm within a community of migrant workers. It is long hours for little pay. While she is grateful for work, farming is not exactly what this city girl wants to do. Cristian is resilient, dedicated, determined, and resourceful. She is warm and hilarious and gracious and lovely. She is one of those people you meet and you just love her. Her spirit sparkles.
We want to help Cristian get a truck so that she has autonomy for herself in her new life. Because of her experience driving trucks and taxis, she could get a better job with her own truck. Once she has her own transportation she can also better build community and discover more of what the U.S. has to offer. She dreams of attending college and studying again. She also wants to build her English skills. She has so many talents and skills to share with the world including building and construction, motorcycles, martial arts, psychology, and LGBTQ rights. Having a vehicle will give her some opportunities to grow here.
If you feel called to pitch in to her truck fund, please do so!
If you have other offerings, such as a connection to a job, please be in touch with one of her Ti@s. We thank you for hearing Cristian's story and whether you can chip in or not, we appreciate your support and blessings and thoughtful intentions you send her way.
Yours in solidarity and support--
with gratitude and love,
Suyo en solidaridad y apoyo.
con gratitud y amor—
Cristian's Ti@s --
(Liz Greenhill, Lori-Ann Lima, Sarah Ellenwood, Natalia Kay-O'Brien, Christal Smith)
I am Cristian Verenisse. I am 26 and I'm from Honduras. I lived there with my parents and my little brother and I studied business administration and psychology. I worked as a barber, a truck driver, and a taxi driver. Going to university is very difficult there, not like it is here. I love learning and I am determined to live a beautiful life.
Soy parte de la comunidad LGBT y mi país es muy homofóbico. Fui blanco de violencia extrema con pandillas por ser lesbiana. Es por eso que tuve que dejar mi tierra y mi familia, para buscar protección en este país, para poder ser yo mismo.
I am part of the LGBT community and my country is very homophobic. I was the target of extreme gang violence for being a lesbian. This is why I had to leave my homeland and my family, to seek protection in this country, so I can be myself.
________________________________________________________
Cristian came to the United States seeking asylum. An LGBT individual facing homophobic discrimination that made being safe and staying in her home country impossible, Cristian left Honduras in January 2019. After waiting four months in Tijuana for her case to be called, entering the United States and being detained in detention centers in multiple states, and having her identification confiscated, Cristian has just received documents to work and remain in the U.S.
Christian with Al Otro Lado , a nonprofit that serves indigent deportees, migrants, and refugees in Tijuana and Los Ángeles, and is helping Christian regain possession of her passport and drivers license and working on her asylum case.
Cristian is currently living here and working on a farm within a community of migrant workers. It is long hours for little pay. While she is grateful for work, farming is not exactly what this city girl wants to do. Cristian is resilient, dedicated, determined, and resourceful. She is warm and hilarious and gracious and lovely. She is one of those people you meet and you just love her. Her spirit sparkles.
We want to help Cristian get a truck so that she has autonomy for herself in her new life. Because of her experience driving trucks and taxis, she could get a better job with her own truck. Once she has her own transportation she can also better build community and discover more of what the U.S. has to offer. She dreams of attending college and studying again. She also wants to build her English skills. She has so many talents and skills to share with the world including building and construction, motorcycles, martial arts, psychology, and LGBTQ rights. Having a vehicle will give her some opportunities to grow here.
If you feel called to pitch in to her truck fund, please do so!
If you have other offerings, such as a connection to a job, please be in touch with one of her Ti@s. We thank you for hearing Cristian's story and whether you can chip in or not, we appreciate your support and blessings and thoughtful intentions you send her way.
Yours in solidarity and support--
with gratitude and love,
Suyo en solidaridad y apoyo.
con gratitud y amor—
Cristian's Ti@s --
(Liz Greenhill, Lori-Ann Lima, Sarah Ellenwood, Natalia Kay-O'Brien, Christal Smith)
Organizer
Natalia Kay O'Brien
Organizer
Portland, OR