Immigration Office Interview

Our immigration office has changed locations to a new office on another section of Duke St., a big move that happened in late 2015. Though we miss them at our 112 Duke St office, it is such a joy to witness their success in their new office space at 520 Duke St. Their new office is larger; two conference rooms to facilitate family reunification appointments, green card appointments, and citizenship consultations, a sun-filled waiting room with toys for young ones, and a location convenient to the highway and downtown bus station!

You all helped to make this new space possible, and it is filled with numerous donations that came from our surrounding communities. Check out our Q&A below with Kelly Chauvin, an Immigration Counselor for CWS who works out of the new space and shared her thoughts about it.

Q: What is your favorite thing about your new space?
A: We have enough space to have two appointments at once and room for people to be in a waiting room. And that I have my own desk! And we have parking!

Q: How has the new office facilitated the Central American Minors program that CWS Immigration office has implemented?
A: The new office has been instrumental in facilitating this program. It allows us to take on more volunteers, who in turn help us make huge progress on our growing case load. In the new space we can have four or five volunteers at a time working alongside us!

Q: What other expansions and dreams have been realized with the acquisition of the new office?
A: We are able to host classes at our office now! We host citizenship classes in partnership with Orange Literacy, and can continue to build more partnerships with volunteers and with clients.

Q: How has your relationship changed or stayed the same with the parent CWS Immigration and Refugee Program office at 112. Duke St?
A: Our relationship is definitely stronger…we didnt move away for negative reasons! The expansion into a new space created more room for both our programs to grow and become more developed, and in turn can more fully and effectively support each other. Additional space means that each can expand volunteer and service capacity for new arrivals in the resettlement AND immigration legal realms of services that CWS provide to clients.

Q: Is there anything else y’all need or desire for the new space?
A: We are currently looking for a donated computer, either desktop or laptop, to facilitate increased volunteer capacity. We are also having an ongoing fundraising drive for monetary donations towards our family reunification program. Donate to support us as we offer low-cost and discounted services for families separated during the resettlement process to bring their loved ones home again. AND THANK YOU to our supporters who have gotten us here.