Scholarship for Brynner, Asylum Winner
Donation protected
Last month, I won my client, an UAC (unaccompanied alien child) from Guatemala, asylum to stay in the United States. You can read the story of his plight, and the "unique dynamics" of our attorney-client relationship, here .
I'd like to leave him with one last gift: the dream of a college education. I just want him to know that there are people rooting for him, and that it's possible. As a first generation immigrant myself who grew up in a Chinese restaurant, I know that Brynner's family will find ways of surviving in the US. Immigrants are a hardy stock. But what they might not imagine possible is a college education: beyond its prohibitive costs, the real barrier is the lack of friends and relatives who have gone and can serve as role models.
My idea is simple: $22k a year for four years. My only request is that it goes to higher education. (It's my Chinese mother speaking: you want this money? Go get an education.) It's not to be used because he wants to buy a car, or for his family to dip into as inevitably emergencies will arise. But as long as he enrolls and passes his courses, he gets $22k a year to help with tuition and boarding. Community college is fine for the first two years. So is vocational school: being a car mechanic, plumber, HVAC. I will counsel him wisely against institutions like the University of Phoenix. Just imagine what a boost it can be to know that college is a part of his life expectations.
Brynner's not 18 yet, so he can't legally receive the money. I've reached out to non-profits like Horizon, MEDA, and LCCR to see if they can serve as the fiscal agents (if you have a recommendation, please let me know). In the interim, the funds will be stored in a separate bank account created solely for this campaign. Any comingling of funds is a sure way to get disbarred -- I remember that much from law school.
I've never done a crowdfunding campaign before, and I realize I may have set up expectations a bit too high. Donate $5 if you can, or if you can't, share this campaign--and Brynner's story--with someone who can.
Yes we can!
Or, as this drag queen attorney calls it, Sissy Puede!
I'd like to leave him with one last gift: the dream of a college education. I just want him to know that there are people rooting for him, and that it's possible. As a first generation immigrant myself who grew up in a Chinese restaurant, I know that Brynner's family will find ways of surviving in the US. Immigrants are a hardy stock. But what they might not imagine possible is a college education: beyond its prohibitive costs, the real barrier is the lack of friends and relatives who have gone and can serve as role models.
My idea is simple: $22k a year for four years. My only request is that it goes to higher education. (It's my Chinese mother speaking: you want this money? Go get an education.) It's not to be used because he wants to buy a car, or for his family to dip into as inevitably emergencies will arise. But as long as he enrolls and passes his courses, he gets $22k a year to help with tuition and boarding. Community college is fine for the first two years. So is vocational school: being a car mechanic, plumber, HVAC. I will counsel him wisely against institutions like the University of Phoenix. Just imagine what a boost it can be to know that college is a part of his life expectations.
Brynner's not 18 yet, so he can't legally receive the money. I've reached out to non-profits like Horizon, MEDA, and LCCR to see if they can serve as the fiscal agents (if you have a recommendation, please let me know). In the interim, the funds will be stored in a separate bank account created solely for this campaign. Any comingling of funds is a sure way to get disbarred -- I remember that much from law school.
I've never done a crowdfunding campaign before, and I realize I may have set up expectations a bit too high. Donate $5 if you can, or if you can't, share this campaign--and Brynner's story--with someone who can.
Yes we can!
Or, as this drag queen attorney calls it, Sissy Puede!
Organizer
Eddie Jen
Organizer
San Francisco, CA
