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Causes: Ethnic & Immigrant Centers, Human Services, Immigration
Mission: Our mission is to support low-income immigrant families and their loved ones through advocacy, education and integrative programs. Companeros helps individuals navigate complicated systems and barriers to citizenship and permanent residency for immigrants while at the same time educating the non-immigrant populaton about cultural consciousness and state and federal immigration-related laws. Companeros also teaches basic constitutional and employee rights as well as offering tax free assistance to spanish speakers.
Programs: Service navigation and information - the entire community benefits from this area of programming because companeros is the only area organization addressing concerns and answering questions related to immigration laws and compliance. In addition to helping immigrants get vital information about being good residents and citizens, companeros also provides information and assistance to the many non-immigrant individuals who contact us for help, including employers, health care providers, educators and law enforcement officials.
outreach and education - in order to ensure that immigrant families have access to the services they need, it is important that they feel culturally understood, safe and respected. Companeros does outreach and education to the entire community in order to foster understanding of diverse cultures, create inclusivity and access where there are language barriers, and provide education about basic constitutional and employee rights. Companeros is also the only source for up-to-date information regarding policies or laws that affect immigrants, their loved ones, allies and employers.
tax assistance - one way for immigrants to show their commitment to living in the united states is by paying taxes, regardless of their immigration status. Companeros offers a free (bilingual)tax assistance program so that individuals can file their tax returns in a timely manner each year. We also facilitate the application process for obtaining itins for residents who do not have a social security number, many of whom are waiting for responses from uscis about their legal status. We also serve low-income individuals who are u. S. Citizens.