three ways to stand and move (in solidarity)

HELLO JUSTICE SEEKERS,

I am writing to invite you to participate in New Haven Solidarity Week. Over 25 student groups have been working in conjunction with City Hall and community organizations to mobilize Yale (students, faculty, workers) to support the Elm City Resident Card initiative.

This initiative is a way for members of the Yale community to identify as members of New Haven. Moreover, signing up for the Elm City Resident Card is a way of supporting the rights of undocumented immigrants in New Haven. This summer, New Haven became the first municipality in the nation to offer identification to all residents regardless of age or immigration status. The municipal ID allows cardholders to open bank accounts, have access to the New Haven Public Library, to have identification to show when contacting or confronted by police. This card has been important in the immigrant community because it enables undocumented people to open bank accounts so that they do not walk around with large amounts of cash and become the targets of violent crime. The card also enables undocumented immigrants to have a form of identification to show when contacting or confronted by the police.

The Elm City Resident Card also serves as a debit card for parking meters and about fifty New Haven businesses, including Atticus, Koffee?, and Viva's.

The card is useful in daily life for all of us who move around the streets of New Haven. Signing up for a card is an important way of showing your solidarity with the city of New Haven and moving towards supporting each and every member of our community, regardless of immigrant status....

And so, friends, here are three (of many) ways to get involved.

1) GET AN ELM CITY RESIDENT CARD!
Bring your Yale ID, another form of identification (a driver's license, a passport, etc.) and $10 to Dwight Hall on:
Tuesday, 10 am - 4 pm
Wednesday, 6 pm - 9 pm
Thursday, 10 am - 2 pm
Friday, 10 am - 4 pm
If you do nothing else for New Haven Solidarity Week, stop into Dwight Hall for a few minutes and get this card! The card is only available on Yale's campus during the times listed above!

2) COME TO OUR KICK OFF EVENT!
Tonight, Monday November 5th from 7 pm - 9 pm in Dwight Hall Chapel, there will be live music, food from New Haven restaurant and speeches from Mayor John Destefano, Chaplain Sharon Kugler, Dean Jon Butler, and other stakeholders in the Yale and New Haven community.

3) COME TO STRANGERS NO MORE: INTERFAITH SOLIDARITY WITH IMMIGRANTS IN NEW HAVEN
This event starts after 7 pm in the Dwight Hall Chapel on Thursday, November 8th. There will be musical and poetic performances, communal singing in three languages, immigration stories, and interfaith community prayer. We will also be having desserts from different parts of the world. The event is completely free and will be a time to reflect upon and celebrate the ways that different faiths and cultural traditions value community and immigrant rights. Please come after you've signed up for your ID or before you do on Friday morning! This event is coordinated by the nascent Interfaith Alliance for Justice.

I hope to see you at New Haven Solidarity Week!

For a full list of ways to get involved, visit: http://www.dwighthall.org/5583/Solidarity_Week