Workshop co-sponsored by Ceiba

As part of the Immigrant Justice in the Consumer Marketplace project, NCLC held a special workshop for advocates in North Philadelphia on January 24, 2002. The workshop was organized by Ceiba, a consortium of Latino community development corporations. Thanks to both Ceiba and Nueva Esperanza for being terrific hosts!!

The workshop consisted of presentations by Chi Chi Wu of NCLC on debt prioritization, access to financial services for immigrants, and immigration consultant fraud.

NCLC project staff Stef Cooper also informed the audience that a group of immigrant advocates has been meeting on the issue of immigration consultant fraud to discuss policy and organizing strategies. Anyone interested in joining this effort should contact Ms. Cooper at stef8@earthlink.net.

Attendees of the North Philadelphia workshop included housing counselors and CDC staff, social service providers, and government agencies. They asked sharp and insightful questions on topics ranging from debt collection to predatory lending - the only regret was not having enough time to cover those topics too! Attendees also had some useful advice for each other on resources in Philadelphia, including information on a great credit union in the Latino community.

As a wrap-up to the Philadelphia portion of the Immigrant Justice in the Consumer Marketplace Project, NCLC will be sending out a special mailing to Philadelphia-area immigrant advocates in the next few months. If you would like to receive this mailing and are not on NCLC's mailing list, please contact Chi Chi Wu at cwu@nclc.org.