Day 3: SafePlace
My goal so far has been to find great local charities here in Austin, but not necessarily ones confined to Austin. I've got a few more in mind, but I'd appreciate suggestions, if anyone has any.
Today, I sent $10 to SafePlace, a safe place for people who have been victimized by physical and sexual abuse. They help people get back on their feet by providing them with a place to stay, then providing support and resources to create independent lives.
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Also, in visa news, for those who might be interested, Scott and I sent in our K-1 application on December 1st, for the part that has to be processed by USCIS in California, so we've been waiting for about three months to hear what came of it. This morning, I got an e-mail that I've been sent a request for evidence. This could be any number of things -- a form field I forgot to fill or more proof that we've met in person in the last two years (if three sets of boarding passes and a photo of us together isn't enough) -- so I'm waiting to get the letter that tells me what they need.
That is a bit of a bummer, because I was hoping for an approval, of course, but it's just a little bump in the road, and it shouldn't be hard to provide whatever evidence they need.
The good news is that, well, they haven't lost our case or anything, and based on what I've read, once I send in the evidence, we should hopefully get an approval back pretty quickly. After that, our case gets sent to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire, and then on to the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver, where Scott will have to go for an interview before he can get his visa.
They don't make it easy, do they? If we're lucky, he'll be able to interview by late May or early June. It could take a little longer than that, though -- we'll see!
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It concerns me greatly that the mean old Immigration Service could question for a minute the integrity of my precious, first granddaughter, ha. Maybe not, but anyhow! How ya doin', sweetie. Hope you don't mind my dropping in on your site --- a little bird told me how. Love, GG
I highly recommend Partners International (http://www.partnersintl.org/), and their Harvest of Hope catalog (http://www.harvestofhope.org/).
They're very good on stewardship of funds, and they work through local ministries in the areas they reach out to, with preference to those staffed by the people of the area. Their basic concept is to serve as a large clearing house of support for small ministries that otherwise wouldn't have the reach to draw in support.
One thing particularly appropriate for what you're doing is that their Harvest of Hope catalog lists specific programs you can donate to in varying amounts, and what your donation goes to. For instance, $4-6 dollars will buy one Bible for people in most areas. You can buy piglets so a family displaced by the tsunami can start a business raising them, provide health kits for TB in North Korea, etc.
I like the fact that I'm not just giving to a ministry that I trust to use the funds well, but I know specifically what my funds are going towards and what effect I can expect them to have.