Mission, Values, History

Mission

UnLocal aims to address the fundamental injustices and structural inequities that disproportionately impact immigrant communities. We are a community-centered non-profit organization that provides direct immigration legal representation, community education, outreach, and advocacy for New York’s undocumented immigrants. UnLocal is dedicated to creating sustainable structures that build collective power and allow us to flourish.

Values

Providing and expanding access to immigration legal representation especially for undocumented immigrants, that is community-based, trustworthy, collaborative, affirming and multilingual.

Developing projects to fill gaps in services that addresses emerging and changing needs.

Recognizing the need for holistic advocacy, including referral-based case management and collaboration with community based organizations and services, to provide truly comprehensive legal representation.

Listening to directly impacted individuals and communities to drive the direction, dissemination, and priorities for UnLocal’s legal representation and community education.

History

UnLocal, Inc. was founded in 2008 and originally conceived as an online resource for immigrant New Yorkers to provide information about New York-based social services. UnLocal, Inc. volunteers conducted a needs assessment by organizing a meeting of immigrant leaders and services providers, wrote a business plan in collaboration with NYU’s Stern School of Business and created an internship program at the International High School of Prospect Heights, in which recent immigrant teens participated in the business plan process.

After a pause, in 2011, UnLocal became active once again and secured 501(c)(3) status with the support of CUNY School of Law’s Community Legal Resource Network (CLRN) Incubator for Justice, an incubating space for individuals and non-profits aimed at serving communities underserved by legal services. With CLRN’s support, UnLocal revised its mission and became a direct legal services provider and community education organization for New York’s City’s undocumented immigrants.