Frequently Ask Questions
Why was Justice for Our Neighbors created?How is JFON organized?How many free clinics are in operation?How can my church become involved?How do I volunteer?What do JFON clinic volunteers do? What is a Servant Working Group?
Why was Justice for Our Neighbors created?
This UMCOR program was a response to the immigration reform act of 1996-considered among the harshest of interpretations of immigration laws passed in the US. Later JFON also focused on the stricter laws passed in the aftermath of 9/11.
The JFON clinics are coordinated as a network that shares common resources from UMCOR like volunteer training, communication and help with organization and management.
UMCOR supervises regional attorneys, pays for malpractice insurance, coordinates legal and professional resources, and helps clinics pursue the shared JFON vision and mission. JFON also sources annual conferences that want assistance in establishing local clinics, referrals on immigration-related questions, and educational workshops and trainings on immigration law and advocacy.
How many free clinics are in operation?
About 20, in nine annual conferences.
How can my church become involved?
A JFON site starts with an application from a local church, supported by the district and annual conferences. UMCOR staff assess church readiness and sustainability of the proposed program. Once a new site starts up, UMCOR provides an attorney until the site can recruit its own JFON regional attorney from the local area.
Find a clinic near you and sign up, or contact JFON. Some training is required.
What do JFON clinic volunteers do?
Volunteers with many different skills make a clinic succeed! Coordinating the monthly intake clinic, providing hospitality and child care, performing or scheduling intake interviews, using bilingual skills, and providing cash gifts are all part of volunteer efforts at JFON free clinics.
What is a Servant Working Group?
A Servant Working Group is a volunteer communication and outreach committee for a local JFON legal clinic. The committee articulates how to offer a holistic response in hospitality and service to the immigrant stranger. Then these volunteers carry the JFON message and mission to the wider church and community.
A Servant Working Group has an educational function also. A group trains advocates to engage their faith in deeper moral assessment of the justness of current immigration law and public policy, and to share this insight with others in church and community forums.
