The Defiant Writer

What is Liberty!?

🇺🇸 AMERICA, I NEED YOUR HELP. AND YES, I AM BEGGING! The Bridge to Liberty is building an American Neighbor Network across the United States to help Afrikaner refugees who are arriving in our country and struggling to get established. I am asking Americans to step forward. Not necessarily with money, but with their time, their connections, their communities, and their hearts. I DO NOT HAVE AN AMERICAN TEAM, AND I DESPERATELY NEED ONE. Most of my current team is working with Afrikaners who have been deemed ineligible for the refugee program. Meanwhile, we have refugees arriving in America who need housing, employment, furniture, transportation, and simply someone who cares enough to help them navigate their new lives. We cannot do this alone. You do NOT have to take responsibility for an entire state! Start with ONE community. Your own hometown! Go to your church and ask whether they would be willing to help a refugee family. Visit your local senior center and ask whether anyone would like to volunteer, donate household items, or simply become a friend to someone new to America. Talk to your friends, your family, your neighbors, local employers, landlords, and community organizations. Find one person willing to help, then another. Build a small network in your community, and when that community is established, reach into the next town. One community at a time, one family at a time. We already have an American volunteer in Michigan doing exactly this! He has helped refugees find apartments, assisted families with relocating, and is now working to gather furniture and household essentials. That is the kind of local leadership we desperately need throughout America. Refugee resettlement agencies receive taxpayer funding to provide specific services to refugees. Those services come with responsibilities and obligations. We are receiving concerns that some refugees are not getting the assistance they need, and we intend to seek answers, document those concerns, and bring any substantiated failures to the attention of the appropriate oversight authorities. But that process takes time. IN THE MEANTIME, AFRIKANER REFUGEES ARE FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS! We cannot simply sit back and wait while families struggle to establish themselves. That is why we are developing our REFUGEE WELCOME WAGON REGISTRY. Every participating refugee will be able to register their essential household needs. Americans who want to help will have TWO options: purchase a needed item as a housewarming gift or offer useful items they already have in their homes and arrange to ship them directly to the refugee. NO LUXURIES. JUST NECESSITIES. Beds, bedding, towels, kitchen essentials, basic furniture, and the everyday items a family needs to make a house a home. Because unrestricted wish lists have gotten out of hand in the past, The Bridge to Liberty will oversee the Welcome Wagon Registry to ensure requests are reasonable, necessary, and properly coordinated. We are also building a Job Board, an American Neighbor Network, and individualized action plans to help refugees work toward stability and independence. We recently received our Georgia state nonprofit status, and next week I will begin working on our federal tax-exempt application. Once approved, we hope to pursue grants to help fund these programs. But right now, WE HAVE NO FUNDING FOR DIRECT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. What we do have is determination, a growing network, and a tremendous amount of work ahead of us. You don't have to open your home. You don't have to write a check. You don't have to run an organization. You can simply be the person in your community who says, "I know someone who can help." GET BACK TO US AND GET REGISTERED! EASY BREEZY! ❤️ 🇺🇸 JOIN THE AMERICAN NEIGHBOR NETWORK HERE: thebridgetoliberty.org/ameri… Tell us your city, state, and how you would like to help. We will work together from there! I AM NOT ASKING ONE PERSON TO DO EVERYTHING. I AM ASKING MANY PEOPLE TO DO SOMETHING. God bless America, and God bless every person willing to extend a hand to someone starting over. 🇺🇸❤️ ONE NEIGHBOR. ONE COMMUNITY. ONE BRIDGE TO LIBERTY.

🇺🇸 SOMETHING NEW FROM THE BRIDGE TO LIBERTY Registering with our Welcome Bridge isn’t just about putting your name on a list. We want to give you something you can actually USE. After you register, The Bridge to Liberty will create a digital Welcome Package specifically for the city where you live. Your package will help you learn what is available right in your own community: food banks, local assistance programs, community organizations, employment resources, transportation resources, and other places you can turn when you need help. If you live in Jacksonville, your booklet will be for Jacksonville. If you live in another city, it will be built around resources available there. You shouldn’t have to spend hours searching the internet trying to figure out where to go or who to call. We want to help put those answers in one place. To receive your city-specific Welcome Package, you must first register with our Welcome Bridge: thebridgetoliberty.org/welco… 🇺🇸 THE BRIDGE TO LIBERTY People. Purpose. Possibility. @Oliveeue

🇺🇸 ARE YOU A REFUGEE IN THE UNITED STATES WHO NEEDS HELP? If you have arrived in America through the refugee program and your resettlement agency is not providing the guidance or support you need, please register with The Bridge to Liberty. We want to understand what challenges you are facing and where you need help. The Bridge to Liberty is a new organization, and while we do not currently have funding to provide direct financial assistance, we can offer guidance, help connect you with available resources, and work with you to identify your next steps. You came to America to build a new life. You should not have to figure everything out alone. Register with our Welcome Bridge here: thebridgetoliberty.org/welco… 🇺🇸 The Bridge to Liberty People. Purpose. Possibility.

UPDATE ON JJ 🇺🇸🇿🇦 We were finally able to tell JJ what all of you did for his family. ❤️ We recorded that phone call, and with JJ’s permission, we will be sharing the video on The Bridge to Liberty website. thebridgetoliberty.org We want you to be able to see the moment he learned that people had stepped forward to help remove some of the barriers standing between him and employment. We reached our $500 goal, and as soon as we hit it, we closed the fundraiser. We did that intentionally because we never want anyone to feel that we are simply continuing to collect money after the stated goal has been met. Going forward, when we reach the goal on one of these small targeted fundraisers, we have decided to leave it open for an additional 24 hours only, and then close it. We understand that every dollar donated is money that you worked for and chose to give, and we take that seriously. We want to be very good stewards of what you entrust to us. We have found a very affordable internet option for JJ and his daughters, and through that program we should also be able to purchase either a Chromebook or another computer at a significantly reduced price. That means your $500 may stretch considerably farther than we originally anticipated. Any money remaining will still be used specifically for JJ and his family, whether toward utilities or another legitimate immediate need. But our biggest concern remains: JJ NEEDS A JOB. Three different people have already reached out asking for his résumé, and we are incredibly grateful. We have sent it to all three, but JJ still needs employment. JJ is in Taylorsville, Utah, southwest of Salt Lake City, and currently has no transportation. He has more than 15 years of experience across business operations, technical installations and field services, project coordination, security and automation systems, occupational health and safety, risk assessment, workforce training, and client management. He is authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship. The urgency is very real. JJ’s wife is expected to come home after rehabilitation and requires 24/7 care. JJ needs to be able to support his family while navigating circumstances none of them expected when they arrived in America. If you are an employer in the Taylorsville/Salt Lake City area, know someone who is hiring, or have a legitimate employment connection that could fit JJ’s skills and current transportation limitations, please contact The Bridge to Liberty. You helped us remove some of the barriers. Now let’s help JJ find the job that allows him to take it from here. 🇺🇸🇿🇦❤️

🇺🇸 THE BRIDGE TO LIBERTY IS LOOKING FOR SUCCESS STORIES 🇺🇸 We are looking for refugees who came to America and are now building a life here. We want to hear your story, and we mean all of it. What was it like leaving your home? What was the journey to America like? How was the process for you? What did you experience when you arrived? We want to hear about the struggles, too. The setbacks. The loneliness. The financial hardships. The culture shock. The moments when things didn’t go the way you hoped. The moments when you wondered if you had made the right decision. But we also want to hear about what happened next. Tell us about the people who helped you. Your first job. Your first home. Your children. Your business. Your career. Your community. The opportunities you found. And those moments when you finally looked around and thought, “We made it.” We want to share these stories on The Bridge to Liberty website so that people who are still waiting, struggling, or wondering what their future in America could look like can see what is possible. Your story could give someone else hope. If you are willing to share your journey with us, please contact us at: 📩 [email protected] Tell us your story. The good. The bad. The setbacks. The victories. All of it. Because every journey to freedom deserves to be remembered. 🌉🇺🇸