Valley non-profit looking for volunteers to help immigrant children in court
**Editor's Note: The video above misspelled Murray's name. It is spelled Lilia.
A non-profit that works with immigrant children is adding staff and volunteers to take on more cases.
The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights in Harlingen receives hundreds of children who come to the United States alone.
Right now, the organization is expanding to serve more children and understand their stories. If they are unable to boost their volunteer and staff numbers, many of these children will end up going through the immigration court system alone.
"Their hopes, their dreams, really be able to bring to life the child's story beyond their court documents, beyond their alien number," Volunteer Coordinator Lilia Murray said.
The center focuses on spending time with some of those immigrant children.
They say every month, they get 300 to 400 referrals. Every month, they can work with about 15 children. The non-profit is expanding now, working to add staff to double that number of children to 30.
"Through the story and what the child shares with the volunteer through childhood activities, the staff attorney and social worker is able to fight for their rights in court," Murray said.
Murray says the organization received funding from the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement to add staff to work with more children.
Because of this expansion, the center is now looking for 25 new volunteers, and welcome applications.
The next training course for volunteers is set for late April.
Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer can apply online by clicking here.
Watch the video above for the full story.