United Airlines today announces a $1 million grant to the San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network (SFILEN) to increase its advocacy and community engagement endeavors in the immigrant community. The four-year grant will allow SFILEN’s Rapid Response Network to add staff and to strengthen its legal and education services. United’s grant also will help SFILEN provide mental health evaluations and interpretation services.
With this grant, SFILEN will add two full-time staff members to a team that provides critical services to thousands of immigrants every year. The grant also will allow SFILEN to provide 50 mental-health evaluations each year and will provide for 240 hours of language interpretation for SFILEN’s hotline, legal consultations and clinics.
“United cares deeply about investing in communities we serve,” said Janet Lamkin, United’s President of California. “We have been a part of the San Francisco community for 90 years, and we are proud to help SFILEN in its important work with the immigrant community.”
“SFILEN is very grateful for the partnership with United Airlines and we are very excited about what we can accomplish together,” said SFILEN Director of Immigrant Rights Marisela Esparza.
“Now more than ever, it is critical that we support our immigrant communities,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. “United’s contribution will allow SFILEN to expand their immigration services and further strengthen San Francisco’s commitment to serving our diverse communities.”
Today’s announcement is the eighth and final in a series of grants United has made in all its domestic hub markets. Each grant is a part of a total of $8 million to help address critical needs identified by local leadership in each of its hub-market communities—Chicago, Houston, Washington, D.C., Denver, New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The announcement represents United’s commitment to invest in and lift up the communities where many of its customers and employees live and work.
About United
United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,600 flights a day to 357 airports across five continents. In 2017, United and United Express operated more than 1.6 million flights carrying more than 148 million customers. United is proud to have the world’s most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark/New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 757 mainline aircraft and the airline’s United Express carriers operate 551 regional aircraft. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 193 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United’s parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol “UAL”.
About San Francisco Immigration Legal Education Network (SFILEN)
The San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network’s (SFILEN) mission is to promote full access to social services, direct legal services, civic engagement, legalization, freedom of movement, and reunification with family and community, for all immigrants and their families regardless of their immigration status. SFILEN is made up of the following 13 organizations: African Advocacy Network, Arab Resource & Organizing Center, Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, Central American Resource Center, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Filipino Community Center, La Raza Centro Legal, La Raza Community Resource Center, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, People Organizing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights, Causa Justa:: Just Cause, and Dolores Street Community Services as the lead agency. SFILEN represents immigrants from African and Afro-Caribbean, Arab, Asian, and Latino communities, providing free immigrant legal assistance and community education to low-income immigrants in San Francisco.
