Amigos and Juventud FACETA are featured 2007 grantees on the opening web page of McKenzie River Gathering Foundation (www.mrgfoundation.org.) The foundation provides financial resources to grass-roots organizations working on a variety of social change issues, including immigrant rights.
Representatives of Amigos and Juventud FACETA attend the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in Houston from January 18-20, 2008, joining over 600 immigrant rights activists from across the U.S. Their trip to the conference, whose theme was "Claiming Our Rights, Envisioning Our Future: Communities Organizing for Justice," was supported by scholarships from NNIRR and from American Friends Service Committee Project Voice in Portland.
Juventud FACETA receives the 2008 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Leadership Award on January 21, 2008. Presented by the MLK Celebration Committee at its annual Martin Luther King Day event in Eugene, JF is recognized for its "contribution in the area of human rights and race relations" and for demonstrating "leadership in making Eugene a more inclusive and supportive city for its communities of color."
On February 8, 2008, Amigos and JF help CAUSA to host the Border Angels, a humanitarian organization that strives to save lives of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. To support the Angels' Marcha Migrante III from San Diego to the U-S. Canada border and return, on February 8 Amigos joins with CAUSA and other local social justice groups to provide a potluck dinner welcome and lodging for Border Angel members. The next day, Amigos and JF help organize a Border Angels public forum at Cesar Chavez School and then show support for their cause by accompanying the Angels' vehicle caravan to PCUN in Woodburn.
Amigos joins the Grass Roots Table for Immigrant and Refugee Rights at a meeting held at PCUN headquarters in Woodburn on March 16, 2008. The statewide Grass Roots Table is co-convened by CAUSA and Portland's Center for Intercultural Organizing, and consists of immigrant and refugee rights organizations working to involve their base communities in defeating anti-immigrant ballot measures expected to be voted on in November.
Representatives of Amigos participate in a legal observer training organized by CAUSA. The March 22, 2008 training--held at Amigos' Whiteaker School facility in Eugene--is facilitated by Rose City Copwatch of Portland. It is aimed at preparing Eugene community members to serve as observers in situations where the legal rights of immigrants and their families could be subject to violation.
Juventud FACETA presents a workshop on immigrant rights at the "La Raza Unida" conference on April 3, 2008, organized by University of Oregon's MECha for 300 Latino high school students.
Amigos and Juventud FACETA participate in the First Car Caravan to Promote Voter Registration and Celebrate Cesar Chavez's Legacy, April 12, 2008. The event is organized by VOZ Hispana/PCUN. Numerous immigrant rights supporters in over 200 vehicles took part in this highly visible and inspiring activity. Voter registration was carried out at caravan stops in Independence, Salem, and Woodburn.
Amigos and Juventud FACETA participate in a community forum following a showing by the University of Oregon's Gender, Families and Women of the Northwest Project of the documentary film "Letters from the Other Side," April 25, 2008, at Cesar Chavez School in Eugene.
Juventud FACETA offers a workshop on immigrant rights to adult and youth participants in the Youth Empowerment Summit held in Eugene on May 9, 2008.
Representatives of Amigos and Juventud FACETA present at and participate in the Dialogues on Immigration and the Border Conference, May 15-18, 2008, at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.
Four members of Juventud FACETA are recognized with Outstanding Latino Student Awards at a May 20, 2008, community event held at Springfield High School.
Members of Amigos and Juventud FACETA help to organize and serve as panelists for the University of Oregon's "Gender, Families, and Latino Immigration" Conference, speaking on youth and education, leadership by indigenous women, and immigration and the LGBT community on May 22-23, 2008, at the Law School.
Two Juventud FACETA members serve as CAUSA interns during Summer 2008, encouraging voter registration and recruiting new voters from the Eugene area Latino community.
On June 12, 2008, Amigos joins a team from CAUSA and the University of Oregon to produce a history of the foundation and growth of the Latino community in Lane County. It will contain immigration stories of Juventud FACETA members and their families. The final project will be added to a larger exhibit presented at the Lane County Historical Museum.
Amigos staff and six Juventud FACETA members participate in the Community Strategic Training Initiative, August 1-3, 2008, at Reed College in Portland, joining 400 activists from Western states in this premier movement-building event.
Amigos/Juventud FACETA join with other social justice groups in tabling on September 13, 2008, at both Fiesta Latina in Springfield and at the Eugene Celebration.
Amigos and Juventud FACETA participate in "The World Without Borders" group, marching in the Eugene Celebration parade on September 13, 2008, to depict the Latino diversity in our community.
Amigos and Juventud FACETA, working with a CAUSA youth intern, begin outreach to local schools in September 2008, including Bethel, Cascade Middle School, and Churchill High School.
In September 2008, Juventud FACETA commences work on the production and filming of videos addressing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, involving JF members, their families, and other Latino community members as video participants.
Amigos co-sponsors the Human Rights Harvest, a September 21, 2008, community event organized by Springfield Alliance for Equality and Respect to promote awareness of people's basic human rights to food, clothing, shelter, and an adequate standard of living.
Juventud FACETA creates a Day of the Dead altar for exhibit at the Maude Kerns Art Center, an altar dedicated to the memory of immigrant farm workers who have died from working in extreme heat in the fields. It is exhibited from October 17-November 7, 2008.
Amigos board president makes a presentation on immigration on October 21, 2008, sponsored by the Women's Group of the United Methodist Church in Eugene. Fifty people attend.
Juventud FACETA begins to hold its weekly meetings in collaboration with students in the Churchill High School's Multicultural Club. The first meeting is held November 18, 2008, at Churchill High School in Eugene.
Amigos and Juventud FACETA are among the co-sponsors of and participants in "Human Rights Start at Home," a community-wide celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights held on December 10, 2008, at Cesar Chavez School in Eugene. Amigos tables at the event.
Juventud FACETA wins an award from Eugene's 30+-member Community Coalition for Advancement of Human Rights for making the "Best Human Rights Video", and is invited to show the video at the above December 10, 2008, community-wide human rights celebration.
Juventud FACETA and Amigos celebrate International Migrants Day, supporting the protection of human rights of immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers, at Amigos' annual La Posada Navideña event, December 20, 2008, at Whiteaker Elementary School.