MISSION STATEMENT
To provide a supportive community in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont for the basic physical, emotional, vocational, legal and financial needs of asylum seekers and refugees until they become financially independent and moving toward a safe and stable future.
HISTORY AND PROCESS
Established in 2020, the Northeast Kingdom Asylum Seekers Assistance Network (NEKASAN) is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that is part of a Vermont/New Hampshire Asylum Seekers Network and a US/Canada Border Collaborative.
We are asked to receive asylum seekers who are being held in detention centers or homeless shelters on the border with Mexico or in major cities across the US. Asylum seekers have been sent from the border and bussed with no warning or preparation as pawns in a political conflict over immigration. We are in collaboration with other Asylum Seekers Assistance Networks in Vermont and New Hampshire (ASANS) to provide housing and employment opportunities. We have accepted as guests three single men from Uganda, one single man each from Togo, Iran and Sudan, families from Cuba and Benin, and two women and one man from Honduras. Asylum seekers have fled persecution in their own countries by government sanctioned violence, or gang violence due to tribal membership, religious affiliation, political activity, or sexual orientation. They have undertaken long, arduous journeys to reach our border. All of our guests from Africa and the Middle East have walked for roughly two months from South America to our Mexican border and passed through the treacherous, 66-mile Darien Gap in Panama (see Articles of Interest). During the trek one guest was pregnant and another’s pregnant girlfriend died.
Once here, guests stay with host families or in rental apartments, and receive monthly stipends. We help them obtain Medicaid and connect them with primary care. We also connect them with immigration lawyers who often offer their services pro bono but may require a $5-6000 retainer. The US government requires asylum seekers to write a document establishing the “credible fear” that caused them to flee their home countries. If they are unable to write this in English, we hire a translator. While they wait for permission to work in this country, our volunteers, when necessary, tutor them in English and translate for them at appointments. Volunteers also socialize, play sports, and ride bikes with them, bring them to entertainment events, and practice-drive with them in preparation for their road test to obtain a driver’s license. One guest was given a car, and another car was purchased for all guests to use. We have paid for courses in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning as well as Dental Assistant, and we are about to fund a course in dental hygiene for a guest who was a dentist in Sudan. Some of our former guests have relocated to find work and some remaining guests with work permits are working locally and have become financially independent.
We look forward to welcoming more guests.
