Daughters of Wisdom Award $7,000 Mission Grant to Direct Support for Immigrants, Inc.

Direct Support for Immigrants, Inc. (DSI), established in 2017, is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization working with immigrants, primarily recent arrivals within the past two years, from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, residing in Maryland's Montgomery and Prince George's counties. DSI provides individualized services based on each immigrant's needs. Among DSI's efforts is the Legal Immigration Assistance Project, which supports immigrants with their asylum cases and other forms of relief. Asylum seekers are five times more likely to obtain asylum if they have legal counsel. Funding from the grant will enable DSI to facilitate consultations with immigration lawyers and provide financial assistance to help families with asylum cases, In addition, it will pay the initial fee required to hire a qualified, bilingual immigration attorney. This program coordinated by John Blount, President of DSI, and was endorsed by Sr. Marie Chiodo, DW.