Hello! My name is Alyssa! I live in Minneapolis, MN and I created a grassroots movement of individuals who are helping our vulnerable immigrant neighbors to support them during these times of fear, isolation, ICE raids and abuse. I have been doing this work for about a month now. We currently aid 10 families and this number is growing daily. They are from all parts of the Twin Cities and we utilize our local food shelves and community organizations to help feed them, particularly Source Food Shelf, Zion Community Commons, Keystone Community Services, and Harvest from the Heart. We are not an organization, just a beautiful group of loving neighbors and volunteers who want to help our neighbors and let them know they are not alone and we stand with them.

I started this volunteer group because I care about my neighbors, I knew my language skills would be needed, and that we'd need to support our neighbors in many different ways. I have consistently worked with immigrant communities throughout my entire career and I'm a certified interpreter and translator. Some of the services we provide these families include:

Groceries, help with medical appointments, hygiene products, informing them of their legal rights, and we are hoping to be able to help them with rent payments (some of them have notices from their landlords). We are also reaching out to our local politicians asking for eviction moratoriums so that our vulnerable neighbors do not lose their homes, but even if that happens, their rent fees will be piling up.

What we need most are funds! While we'd love to be able to share pictures and stories about our community, as you can understand, that is not safe at this moment in time. In fact, it's not safe for me to be putting myself out there either as ICE has already done numerous things to threaten me. However, myself and the volunteers I work with will not be threatened into complicity. We currently have some funds I was able to get from friends and loved ones, about $900. I am constantly being accountable to my group and posting every receipt for which we use this money; no penny will be wasted. I will be happy to post those updates here as well. Also, anything we will have after this mess is over, and rents are paid, we will be donating back to the very organizations that have helped us help our neighbors. They need our support too! You can find stories about my food deliveries on TikTok too at @no.niche.nellie - it is also filled with a lot of vile commentary, so be forewarned. :D