In support of Valley Neighbors from Frank & Linda deKort
Hello my name is Linda De Kort. Our address is 1290 Lost Creek Dr., Kalispell. I have been a resident of the Flathead for over 50 years and a proud retired teacher from Flathead High
School.
I am grateful to the council for this opportunity to speak. Thank you for accommodating us by allowing us to attend and comment via zoom.
In our retirement, my husband and I have been doing volunteer work as educators in shelters just south of our border in Mexico. We spend about four months there every winter. We help
primarily with women and children, escaping violence, and desperate situations in their home countries. The kids are vulnerable in the shelters in Mexico; they cannot go to school and
they are hungry for education; it is rewarding work for old teachers.
When we are back in KALISPELL we do what we can to help Valley Neighbors with all of the efforts they make to assist migrants in the Flathead. Valley Neighbors is a small group of very
dedicated individuals who have made terrific impact. The families that they have helped are now making considerable contributions to our community. Valley Neighbors help these new arrivals
find work, register for social security, file the mountains of paperwork, show them how to set up bank accounts and pay taxes, drive them to their required immigration appointments
(near and far), tutor them …. and most of all treat them as fellow human beings wanting a secure home for their families.
Those whom Valley Neighbors have helped are grateful and kind. Our friends and neighbors have benefited greatly from getting to know these people from other lands. And one of the greatest
lessons we learn is how fortunate we are to live in this land where we can help those that are less fortunate….. Where we might indeed have a humanitarian responsibility to help those
who are fleeing such dire conditions.
We realize that there are many issues at our southern border. We need to open up more avenues for legal immigration so we can have more adjudicators to vet those who enter. We need
to be more generous with work permits so that all the help wanted pleas in this valley and others could be answered.
And we need more local based organizations like Valley Neighbors whose board members work tirelessly to provide a welcome environment for everyone.
Thank you.
Sent from my iPhone