Email from Kate Graney of MLK-Saratoga re: Social Justice Social Hour Recap
We had a great conversation about the following:
1. ICE activity around our area. For more information about how you can help protect the
rights of ALL our neighbors, please visit the Saratoga Immigration Coalition’s website
(https://www.ourlodgefoundation.org/sic) or their Facebook page
(https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077366816869), the Capital Region
Sanctuary Coalition’s Facebook
(https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578132641018) and Instagram (@518crsc)
pages. Also, please find attached and circulate widely a very useful handout from the
Sanctuary Coalition about “What Do I Do If I See ICE?” (Available in the Sanctuary)
2. Joe Seeman from Indivisible ADK/Saratoga reported on upcoming actions, including a
“Families First” rally in Glens Falls this Saturday, a members meeting this Sunday, and
the Turning Point Parade in Schuylerville on August 3 rd . To receive the invaluable
Indivisible ADK/Saratoga newsletter and stay informed about all these events, please see
the organization’s webpage: https://indivisiblesaratogaadk.com/joinus
3. Hollyday Hammond encouraged folks to support local activist, Dio Kaufmann, charged
by the City of Saratoga Springs of “disorderly conduct” after the last City Council
meeting, by attending their hearing at the City Court on Tuesday July 29 at 9am. Holly
also encouraged folks to continue to attend City Council meetings to speak up on
important issues like following through with the 50-point plan that the Police Review
Board issued in 2020, the ongoing ICE presence in our community, the new “anti-
camping” ordinance, and more. The next City Council meeting is Tuesday August 5.
4. There was discussion of the Times-Union article from Tuesday July 22, 2025, detailing
stalled efforts of the city of Saratoga Springs to implement the Police Review Board’s 50-
point plan, especially restorative justice points. There was general support for a strategy
to push for action on these issues, via the City Council meetings and outreach to the
mayor’s office.
5. Mark Long from Our Lodge Foundation reminded folks that Peace Week is coming up –
September 21 st -27 th , and to keep our eyes and ears open for more on that.
6. Joy King from the Frederick Allen Lodge raised concern about placement of the Solomon
Northrup statue near the Dance Museum on South Broadway, noting that no one from the
social justice or African American community in Saratoga Springs was consulted about
this placement, and that little effort has been made to connect the statue with the reality of
and places touched by Solomon Northrup in Saratoga. Folks agreed to pursue this issue
further—perhaps by staging some community/ educational programming around the
statue before it departs from Saratoga in October.
7. If you want to help efforts to help our neighbors in peril and need, please consider
donating to the Saratoga Immigration Coalition’s effort to support a local family whose
father has been deported – see below:
Division Street Family Needs Help! The story so far:
My son Jamie is 10 years old and at Division St. Elementary school. There is a boy in his grade
whose family came here from Oaxaca region in Mexico. They are part of an indigenous group.
The cartels stole their land and killed his grandmother. The family fled and sought asylum here.
Father and mother worked in local restaurants.
While at a regularly scheduled immigration meeting, the father was detained and was held in a
detention facility in Batavia, NY. Now, the mother and kids (the boy has a younger sister) are left
without an important breadwinner to help pay the rent. A pro bono lawyer will be representing
the father in court, but that process will take time.
Update: The father has been deported. The mother and children are struggling with the loss of a
significant breadwinner.
What YOU can do
We are working with the Saratoga Immigration Coalition to:
1) Find affordable housing for the family. If you have any leads – please reach out.
2) Help her pay for rent on a single income (their rent is approx. $1950).
We are asking folks to make a one-time donation, or to commit to a monthly amount of
$10, $20 or $30 for the next 3 months. The Saratoga Immigration Coalition (SIC) created the
Family Fund to support this family. They write checks directly to the landlord as partial payment
for rent. Our goal is to raise a total of $3000, or $1000 per month for June through August. If we
exceed that goal, any remaining amount will be donated to SIC's emergency fund, which
generously supported this family.
Deb Amory (deborahamory@yahoo.com) is coordinating this effort in partnership with SIC
(saratogaimmigration@gmail.com or 518-306-1313). Please tell Deb if you plan to give, so she
can manage the fund, or if you have leads on affordable housing.
Please feel free to forward, and to reach out if you have any questions.
Checks can be made out to “Saratoga Immigration Coalition” and mailed to:
Saratoga Immigration Coalition
C/o PUCC Church
Box 582
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
I am sure I have missed a lot. But that gives you a sense of what we talked about last night!
Hope folks can join us for the next Social Justice Social Hour on Thursday August 28 @ 6pm.
GREAT LOCAL EVENTS HAPPENING!
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