Damayan Closes the Year Big with Members and Allies
I'm very proud to be a member of Damayan, and its 20 years of being a part of our community.
I will always support Damayan’s vision and mission.
- Riza, babysitter, Damayan member
Last Saturday was Damayan’s big community-building event of the year. The 2022 Damayan Holiday Party and Fundraising at The People’s Forum was a huge success, with over a hundred community members and allies partaking in the festivities. The event was a big celebration as it was commemorating Damayan’s 20th year and the executive leadership transition. Co-founder and executive director, Linda Oalican is set to transition out in the first quarter of next year.
The event culminated in the introduction of our new incoming executive director, Riya Ortiz, who is well-known with the members from over a decade of service as lead organizer and case manager with Damayan. She serves as Director of Programs prior to her new role as Executive Director. The event was also a celebration of Damayan reaching their fundraising goal of $20,000 for 20 years. The community went all-out in their support and appreciation for the journey that they shared together with Damayan. As Linda said, it was a night of victory as well for the community who overcame a challenging year of anti-Asian hate and violence. With the support of one of our funders, Asian American Federation, Damayan was able to provide resources for the community to overcome and rise up. It was also a big year for Damayan, who had a record 13 T Visa approvals within this year amongst our members, putting the total to 70 successful T Visa applications within the community. One of the members shared her labor trafficking journey and the recent approval of her T Visa; another shared his ordeal as a labor trafficking survivor and how he journeyed towards a T Visa approval and family reunification. After 13 years of separation, his family was with him at the party, celebrating their reunification with the community. This is just two of the many memorable milestones of Damayan, and it remains grateful to its members, and to its allies and funders, with some of them joining the event to show their support and solidarity, as well.
One of Damayan’s most important victories are its members who have become worker leaders and social justice advocates, fighting for their fellow migrant workers to know their rights and stand up for them. As Board Chairman Karina Garcia said, “Damayan is an organization that builds leaders from the working-class.”
The organization’s 20-year journey may have had their share of challenges, but it was brimming with fruitful triumphs.
“Sa loob ng 20 dekada, nanatili ang Damayan na matatag sa pananaw na anti-imperialista, bumuo ng malinaw na vision at mission, at mga strategies para gumabay sa mga tulad nating domestic workers…Nakilala ang Damayan dito sa NYC bilang isang matatag na haligi ng mga domestic workers (For 20 decades, Damayan has remained steadfast in its anti-imperialist vision, developed a clear vision and mission, and strategies to guide domestic workers like us...Damayan has been recognized here in NYC as a strong pillar of domestic workers)”, board member Rose Alovera proudly shares.
Guided by its time-tested mission and vision, and under its new leadership, Damayan forges ahead to many more victorious years ahead together with the Filipino migrant worker community.
Damayan is a workers-based and workers-led organization serving the Filipino migrant worker community in New York and New Jersey since 2002.
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