You AreNot Alone.
Volunteers, translators, and legal advocates who meet families at the border of uncertainty — and walk beside them through every form, every office, every first day.
How a network grows from a single act of showing up.
Three friends, a living room, and thirty donated winter coats.
It was November 2018 in Minneapolis when Amara Diallo, Rosa Mendez-Torres, and Yusuf Hassan spread a hand-drawn map across Amara's kitchen table. Three families had arrived that week. The coats were already sorted by size in the hallway. Nobody had told them to do it — they just knew what it felt like to be cold in a country where you didn't yet know anyone's name.
That evening became the first SafeHarbor meeting. No nonprofit status, no website, no grant. Just three people who understood that paperwork is terrifying in a language you've been speaking for thirty years, let alone three months.
"We didn't start a charity. We just refused to let the next family feel as alone as we once did."
— Rosa Mendez-Torres, co-founder
What is a "navigator"?
In mutual aid, a navigator is a trained volunteer who accompanies a family to appointments, translates documents, and helps them understand their rights — without charging fees.
Fatuma and her children arrived on a Tuesday with one phone number and no coat.
Fatuma Osman had memorized that number — Amara's — on the plane from Nairobi. She had three children, a manila envelope of documents she couldn't read, and a school enrollment form that asked for a "home address" when she didn't yet have one.
Rosa met her at the resettlement office with a translated copy of the enrollment form, a list of nearby shelters that spoke Somali, and a bag of winter boots. It took four visits to get the children enrolled. On the fourth day, Fatuma's eldest, nine-year-old Hodan, walked through the school's front door holding her mother's hand.
That was the moment SafeHarbor became something more than coats.
"She held my hand like I was the one who needed courage. I think she was right."
— Rosa, recalling Hodan's first school day
School Enrollment & McKinney-Vento
Under the McKinney-Vento Act, children experiencing homelessness have the right to immediate school enrollment, even without proof of address or immunization records. Schools must enroll first and ask questions later.
City by city, living room by living room, the map grew.
Word travels in diaspora communities the way it always has — through cousins, through WhatsApp threads at 2 a.m., through the particular trust that forms when someone says "I went through the same thing, let me help."
By 2022, SafeHarbor had navigators in eleven cities. By 2024, forty-three. Each city chapter runs itself, staffed entirely by volunteers who speak the languages of the families arriving there. The Minneapolis kitchen table is now a shared Google Drive and a group chat with 340 people in it — but the work is still the same: show up, translate, walk beside.
"I came here as a client. Now I'm a navigator. That's the whole point of this thing."
— Kwame Asante, navigator, Atlanta chapter
What is "mutual aid"?
Mutual aid is community members directly supporting each other — not charity flowing downward, but neighbors building horizontal networks of care. Everyone in the network is both a giver and a receiver at different moments.
Things you should know. Right now.
These are not summaries — they are the actual things that change outcomes. Tear them out. Share them. Print them.
What Is Asylum?
Asylum is legal protection given to people who have fled their home country due to persecution. You can apply even if you entered without papers.
- You must apply within 1 year of arriving in the U.S.
- You can apply at a port of entry or inside the country
- Applying for asylum does not mean you will be deported
- Your children under 21 can be included in your application
- You have the right to a lawyer — many work for free
Available in 8 languages
Your Rights at a Shelter
Staying at a shelter does not take away your rights. You are protected by law even if you do not have immigration status.
- You have the right to privacy — staff cannot search your belongings without reason
- You can refuse to sign documents you do not understand
- Children cannot be separated from parents without a court order
- You can request an interpreter for any official meeting
- You can leave a shelter — you are not detained
Wallet-size version available
How to Find a Pro Bono Lawyer
Pro bono means the lawyer works for free. You have the right to legal representation in immigration court — and many lawyers want to help.
- CLINIC (Catholic Legal Immigration Network) — cliniclegals.org
- AILA Pro Bono — ailafoundation.org
- Your local Legal Aid office — call 211 to find it
- Law school immigration clinics near you
- Never pay anyone who is not a licensed attorney
We can help you make the call
Enter your zip code.
We'll find your people.
Legal clinics, volunteer navigators, resettlement offices, and community contacts — filtered by your location and the languages spoken there.
Need help in another language?
Our navigators speak Somali, Spanish, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Amharic, Tigrinya, and more. Results show which languages are available near you.
Your community is here.
Enter your ZIP code to find it.
If you speak two languages,
you already have what it takes.
Being a SafeHarbor navigator or translator doesn't require a law degree or immigration expertise. It requires showing up, speaking truthfully, and knowing when to say "let me find someone who can answer that."
Translate at appointments
Doctor visits, school meetings, housing interviews
Help with forms
You don't need to know the answers — just help them read the questions
Be a local contact
Families can reach you when they need to know where something is
“I spent four hours at the DMV with a family last Tuesday. It was the best Tuesday I've had in years.”
— Priya Nair, volunteer navigator, Chicago
Join as a Volunteer
Takes about 2 minutes. We'll reach out within 48 hours.
The navigators are volunteers.
The costs are real.
Translation tools, legal document printing, transportation stipends, and coordinator time — these add up. If you've found this useful, consider keeping it running.
43
Cities active
2,800+
Families helped
340
Volunteers
Fiscal sponsor: Community Aid Foundation 501(c)(3) · Contributions are tax-deductible