Gordon Glass Sponsors Circle
About Us
The Gordon Glass Sponsoring Circle (GGSC), an organization dedicated to supporting Ukrainians who recently have immigrated to San Juan County.
The circle is named in honor Gordon Glass, a retired Farmington family counselor, community activist and avid outdoors enthusiast who died in January. While the group has dozens of individuals who contribute to its efforts, a core group of six to eight people serves as the leadership team for the circle and keeps careful track of the funds that have been donated on behalf of the families.
The San Juan County sponsoring circle was the first such group in the country to bring in a Ukrainian family, and the success of that endeavor led the group to be asked to take in additional families by organizers of a Ukrainian rescue operation in Atlanta.
The GGSC currently supports four Ukrainian families relocated to Farmington, NM.
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The GGSC is a satellite of The Sponsoring Circle initiative, which allows us to have access to large pool of resources, such as legal help, paperwork, education and welcoming plans.
Sub Circles
Each Ukrainian family came to the United Stated under United for Ukraine program. An American sponsor has to fill out an application with USCIS and petition for a travel authorization for a specific Ukrainian family. When all background is cleared for both sides, the family is allowed to travel to the US and stay her for at least two years as a refugee. They will be allowed to work after filing a work authorization once already in the US soil. The GGSC includes 8 to 12 core members core who serve as the leadership team for the circle and keeps careful track of the funds that have been donated on behalf of the families. The family sponsors are core group members as well.
The rest of the volunteers are grouped into welcome sub-circles to support each family. Each member of the welcome group has assigned function such as finding housing, helping to find furniture, helping with governmental paperwork, getting connected with schools, tutoring, entertainment, learning money, driving, etc.
