Your Support Makes the Difference

Thanks to generous support from people like you, VIP volunteers were able to secure a grant of U.S. citizenship for a client who came in seeking help with a name change. As our volunteers know, issues that look simple on the surface sometimes hide a larger problem.

John(1) came to VIP for help with getting his name changed, a relatively simple problem that often faces our clients. The name he had grown up with and used his entire life was not the name on his birth certificate or his social security card. As you might be able to imagine, this issue has serious consequences for obtaining credit or a bank account, purchasing a house, getting a valid driver's license, or even being accounted for when paying taxes.

In order to correct John's Social Security card and obtain proper ID, John needed proof of his United States citizenship – which he didn't have. John was born in the Bahamas to U.S. citizens. However, the man who raised John and who John knows as his father is a U.S. citizen, but he is not the man listed on John's birth certificate. And to complicate matters further, John's birth had never been registered in the U.S.

VIP volunteers worked on John's case for over two years. Through their hard work and persistence, John successfully secured his identity and financial stability by obtaining a name change and finally receiving a grant of U.S. citizenship through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

This is just one example of the amazing work our volunteers do every day. We hope you will join us by supporting our efforts to achieve equal access to justice for all.

1 Not client's real name.