DDR Legal and Mutual Aid Fund December 2025 Press Release

DDR Legal and Mutual Aid Fund Enters Second Phase, Announces $250,000 goal

The Deportation Defense Response Team is incredibly grateful for the generous support of the DDR Legal and Mutual Aid Grant Fund. At Annual Conference in Greensboro on July 7, 2025, On Earth Peace challenged the denomination to raise $100,000. And the church did it. As of December 1, 2025, $138,300.00 has been raised to support individuals and families caught in the immigration system. Donations have arrived from 6 districts, at least 50 individuals, at least 12 congregations, and a grant from Brethren Disaster Ministries.

The Fund, which is administered by the Atlantic Southeast District Church of the Brethren,* has approved grants to 13 congregations of the Church of the Brethren on behalf of 40 individuals. Grants are disbursed to congregations on behalf of specific individuals in need. Grants are given up to $2500 per person. A committee of three representing Virlina, Atlantic Southeast, and Pacific Southwest districts reviews applications and makes decisions. Most grants have gone to help with attorney fees. Several have been used to pay for the application process for temporary protective service cards, green cards, and other immigration-status-related petitions. A dozen have included requests for mutual aid while a family member is in detention or has been deported and no longer contributing to the family income. 

In light of the pressing and ongoing need, On Earth Peace has announced a call for the next $150,000 in fundraising to meet urgent needs related to immigration enforcement so that we can continue to meet needs of our brothers and sisters as they occur. Will you and your congregation or district support the Deportation Defense Response Legal and Mutual Aid Fund in reaching the new total goal of $250,000? 

Here is the link to the video.

Irvin Heishman, pastor of West Charleston Church of the Brethren, Tipp City Ohio, writes,

“A grant from the Legal Fund paid a fourth month of rent (after our church paid the previous three months of rent) keeping a Haitian family from becoming homeless after their work permits were revoked. The humanitarian parole program for Haitians under which they were legally in the US was canceled by the US government, which invalidated their work permits and their driver's licenses.  The father had wisely applied for asylum for the family in January, and so in October (over nine months later, and four months after their documents were invalidated because of the closure of the humanitarian parole program), both parents now again have work permits and are back to work.  The Deportation Defense Response Team helped our congregation help this family bridge four months of unemployment with rent payments, keeping them from homelessness.  They are now back on their feet and more secure with an active asylum case in process.  Thanks to OEP and the DDRT Legal and Mutual Aid Fund for supporting folks like this to bridge gaps and address needs in this insane time.” 

In October, moved by the ongoing crisis, Mark and Rhonda Pittman Gingrich (director of Annual Conference) gave a $10,000 challenge gift, hoping it would inspire others in the denomination to step forward with generous gifts to sustain the program and the Legal Fund. They shared,

“We are making this gift in memory of Rhonda’s mother, Marianne Rhoades Pittman, who would be heartbroken and angry about what is happening to our brothers and sisters. Our family life has been enriched by the inclusion of a Vietnamese refugee family the Champaign congregation sponsored in the 1980s. Marianne was known for how she embraced the beauty of diversity and her gift of turning strangers into family.”

PSWD District Executive Russ Matteson writes to church members about reaching the goal of $100,000,

“We are so thankful that you have been willing to care for neighbors in this way.  And, you need to know the truth. We are still receiving applications, and we still need your support. In fact, having already made forty grants, we already have applications in hand for the next thirty.”

The fund is described at www.onearthpeace.org/immigrant_legal_mutual_aid_fund 

You can now donate online to the Legal and Mutual Aid Fund: www.onearthpeace.org/legal_mutual_aid_fund_donations 

You can also mail checks to Atlantic Southeast District with “DDR” in the memo line. Checks can be sent to Atlantic Southeast District, 64954 Orchard Dr., Goshen, IN 46526. To send checks larger than $10,000 and for any other questions contact Beth Sollenberger at [email protected]

Congregations needing financial help to aid their immigrant church members may apply for grants from the Legal and Mutual Aid Fund by contacting [email protected] or 561-647-8981 to receive the application form. 

*Legal Fund donations sent to On Earth Peace or the Atlantic Southeast District Church of the Brethren are designated funds and do not contribute to those organizations’ annual budget needs. 

On Earth Peace is a Kingian Nonviolence leadership development organization and an agency of the Church of the Brethren, with a mission to develop and walk with leaders and communities who work for justice and peace. For more information: www.OnEarthPeace.org