By Katie Poplawski When Leticia walked into Taller, she was frantic. Her son, she explained, was turning 18 the following week, and her application for a certificate of citizenship for him had been rejected several times. She was afraid that if his birthday passed before he received the certificate, it would be too late. The…
By Laurie LaMarca Juana wandered into Taller de Jose after hearing about our services from a friend of her church. She was not sure Taller de Jose could be helpful, but decided to try anyway. Juana’s son was having trouble completing his immigration application for residency. Her son lived far away, in rural Illinois, and…
By Marbella Barajas During my internship at Taller de José, one of the accompaniments that impacted me the most was an adult guardianship case. Clients who seek adult guardianship usually do so because they have an adult son or daughter with severe disabilities who needs the assistance of a guardian to make major decisions on…
Aida Lopez is a rising senior at Dominican University. She is double majoring in Mathematics and Business Management. Through a program at Dominican, Ministry En Lo Cotidiano (MELC), or “Ministry in the everyday,” she has served as a part-time intern at Taller de José since September 2014. In the video below she shares about her…
By Lili Costa I recently accompanied a client, Maria, who was unfortunately involved in a car accident with a truck and was given a traffic violation. As a former client, Maria came back to Taller de José for assistance in going to traffic court. It was arranged that I would meet her early on Tuesday…
By Sr. Theresa Gleeson, BVM Several years ago Eloisa was married and had two small children, but the relationship ended after a long period of domestic violence. Her husband paid all of the bills when he was with the family but now that he is gone Eloisa had to find a job to pay the…
Marisol originally came to Taller de José almost 4 years ago, seeking assistance with several legal matters. When she first visited, she had recently left a situation of domestic violence and was in the process of building a new life for herself and her children. Taller de José was able to connect her with legal…
By Hillary Buzaid With the cold weather upon us and the recent school cancellations due to extreme weather, I have been sure to ask clients if they have the proper winter attire when I see them. Fortunately, Taller de Jose has a few different ways that we can help clients get winter coats, so I…
By Joan Stopka Some of the accompaniments that have impacted me the most are the trips I have taken to USCIS, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. We accompany individuals there for a variety of reasons, including interviews for those applying for residency or citizenship. I recently accompanied an elderly woman who was ready to…
Graciela visited Taller de José because she had just been laid off. There’s never a good time to lose one’s job, but right before the holidays is probably one of the worst times. By the time she came to Taller, Graciela had already found new temporary work, but she wasn’t going to be able to…
