DENVER — A community town hall and panel discussion Sunday highlighted the struggles migrant women specifically face when they arrive in Denver with their families.
Town Hall Collaborative and Women Uprising hosted the town hall forum with migrant women, community members and advocates.
"We are just concerned women who came together and called out other folks to come here," said Dr. Lisa Calderon, Executive Director of Women Uprising.
Migrant women shared their struggles of finding work without permits, the issues surrounding housing and the challenges of settling in a new place.
"Here, my purpose is to work and to continue moving forward and to help my family," Bethsy Carolina said during the discussion.
Advocates said while they continue to demand federal help, the state must also find solutions.
"We also need to make the federal demand for work. That being said, at the state level, the work permits that have been mentioned that are so critically needed, at the state level, we can have policies that make it easier to attain those temporary work permits," said V Reeves, organizer with Housekeys Action Network Denver.
The panelists urged people to help on a grassroots level, imploring people to help migrants find houses and fill out immigration applications.
"This story of, 'I’m just one person and don’t know what to do,' is completely fake. Just do it. Just open your door and let people in and ask for help," said Lisa Marie, who is an organizer with the Highlands Moms group.
The panelists included three migrants who recently arrived. Other panelists were from nonprofit partners, the city or grassroots advocates: Calderon; Marie; Yoli Casas from Vive Wellness; Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez; Ashley Cuber, Immigration Attorney with El Refugio; and Atim Otti, Director of Immigration and Refugee Affairs.
The conversation comes as many families will start exiting the shelter at the same time, beginning on Feb. 5. Vive Wellness and other community partners are currently expecting a need of around 800 homes for families.
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