a community response that works - inMotion Inc.

a day at the walk-in clinic
As we have on every second Saturday of the month for the last three years, inMotion staff and volunteers opened the doors of our Bronx office
on November 15th to the women of the community. At our monthly walk-in clinics, we invite any woman with questions about child custody and
visitation, child and spousal support, domestic violence, divorce or immigration issues to walk in and have her concerns addressed or papers
reviewed on the spot by one of our legal staff or clinic volunteers.
Undeterred by the recent change of address, women from the Bronx community found their way to our new door. They arrived with their legal
papers, marriage licenses and dog-eared orders of protection—many with small children in tow—hoping to find a way to end an abusive
relationship, obtain desperately needed child support, or simply to learn about their legal rights. Here are the stories of just a few of the
women who walked through our doors on November 15th.
When Heidi Henderson, inMotion senior staff attorney, arrived at 9:30 am, she
found Alejandra patiently waiting outside the door with her two daughters.
Heidi had arrived early but not nearly as early as Alejandra, who had been
waiting since 8:00 am for the clinic to open— Alejandra wanted to make sure
she would be able to speak with an attorney about her immigration status.
Alejandra is terrified that her abusive husband will follow through with his
repeated threats to have her deported to Ecuador and to take her two daughters
away from her if she tries to leave him. Since she was granted conditional
residence status two years ago, Alejandra has endured escalating physical and
emotional abuse. Earlier this year, she obtained a temporary order of protection
when her husband tried to strangle her in front of her youngest daughter. She
obtained a second order of protection after an incident in September when her
husband viciously beat her after being woken up by the washing machine. Our
staff was especially alarmed to learn that despite having multiple protective
orders, her husband continues to live in the basement of their marital home.
Alejandra mistakenly believed that without her abusive husband’s support, she
would never be able to apply for the final ‘adjustment of status’—the last step
required when petitioning the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services
(BCIS) to become a permanent legal resident. After speaking with clinic staff,
Alejandra learned that she did not need her husband’s help to become a legal
resident. Under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), she is eligible to file
a battered spouse waiver with the BCIS for legal residency on her own,
independent of her husband. Within two days of learning about Alejandra’s
dangerous living situation, inMotion placed her case with a volunteer attorney
who immediately filed a motion to have her batterer excluded from the home
and began to assist Alejandra in drafting a persuasive battered spouse waiver for
legal residency.
Marcela was referred to inMotion by the Bronx Legal Aid Society. When
Marcela arrived at the clinic, she was still in a state of shock after receiving a
divorce judgment in the mail informing her that her husband had obtained a
divorce from the state of Alabama that allowed for no equitable distribution of
their marital assets. Marcela was never personally served with divorce papers—
she received the initial summons in the mail. Unfortunately, she did not
understand that she needed to respond within 20 days and that she needed to
appear in an Alabama court if she wished to contest the divorce. As a result, her
husband obtained the divorce by default, on his terms. Marcela wants to modify
the divorce judgment to allow for equitable distribution of their marital
property, which includes her husband’s Army pension.
To make matters worse, since retiring from the Army in June, her husband has
ceased paying child support. Marcela recently lost her job as a secretary and is
struggling to support her twin 16 year-old daughters on her unemployment
insurance of $158 dollars a week. She desperately needs to enforce a child
support order issued in Virginia.
Marcela received advice and counsel from Heidi Henderson who explained
that she had no choice but to seek a modification of her divorce judgment
in the Alabama Supreme Court and directed her to LawHelp.org for
referrals to legal service agencies in the state. Heidi also advised Marcela on
the varied steps involved in filing an enforcement petition for child support
in the courts of Virginia and discussed how to seek a money judgment for
arrears owed. Marcela has received additional coaching from our Bronx
staff attorney, Gabriella Richmond, who is guiding her through the steps of
filing an interstate child support petition.
Makeda, an undocumented, battered immigrant from Zambia, learned
about our clinic from her case manager at a domestic violence shelter.
Makeda desperately wants a divorce. Promised in marriage at the age of four,
she is the survivor of a lifetime of nearly unspeakable violence at the hands
of her husband and his family. In the last three and a half years, Makeda has
suffered five miscarriages as the result of beatings from her husband. She
recently fled with her two daughters, ages four and six, when her husband
began to plan a trip to Zambia in order to have the girls circumcised.
Attorneys at the domestic violence shelter helped Makeda secure an order
of protection and supervised visitation for her daughters’ father. With the
help of a court appointed attorney, Makeda has filed for custody. Since
receiving the summons on the custody petition, Makeda’s husband has
threatened to kill her and his daughters if he sees them on the street. He
has had several people, including the Imam of the mosque and her family
in Zambia, try to pressure her to withdraw her order of protection and
custody petitions. Despite all of this, Makeda refuses to be intimidated. The
moment Makeda’s pending custody issues are resolved, inMotion is ready to
place Makeda’s case in the hands of a caring attorney who will help her
obtain the divorce she so desperately wants and needs.
Rosa does not speak or understand English. A psychologist at the
Fordham-Tremont Community Mental Health Center convinced Rosa to
come to the bilingual clinic to have her many questions about getting a
divorce answered. Rosa has not seen her abusive husband for over a year
and a half. She knows that he is in the Army, stationed somewhere on Long
Island, but she does not know how to contact him. Although they have a
seven-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter, Rosa receives no child
support. InMotion does not normally accept divorce cases if the husband’s
address is unknown—but in this instance, we are confident that we will be
able to locate him through the Army. Because Rosa cannot communicate in
English, it would be almost impossible for her to track him down on her
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*All client names and countries of origin have been changed to protect their identities. continued on page 7