Helping the RDU Community This Holiday Season

As the holidays approach, many of us feel the excitement of family gatherings, the joy of giving, and the peace of rest. Yet for some in the Triangle area community, particularly those who are undocumented, unhoused, or facing food insecurity, the season may be bringing deep stress, uncertainty, and loneliness. This year, let’s expand what “giving back” means. Let’s lean into compassion, solidarity, and justice. Even small actions can help make our community safer, more welcoming, and more resilient.

Below is a guide to meaningful ways to support your neighbors during the holidays, especially those who might otherwise be vulnerable to ICE detention, homelessness, or lack of reliable food.

Supporting Immigrant and Undocumented Neighbors
a) Align with Local Advocacy Groups

• Siembra NC/Somos Siembra: Siembra NC is a grassroots organization in the Triangle (and across North Carolina) that organizes around immigrant rights, worker justice, and protections from ICE. 
  • You can volunteer with them. For example, participating in their “ICE Watch” program, which helps train community members to act as verifiers and support their neighbors.
  • Donate: They have a solidarity fund to support families impacted by ICE detention.
  • Organize with them: You can help canvass, host know-your-rights trainings, or support their leadership-building.
    

b) Contribute to Emergency Legal Funds

• NC Immigrant Solidarity Fund (ISF): Through CWS Durham, this fund provides cash grants to immigrants (regardless of status) to help with rent, utilities, and emergencies, especially when other safety nets are unavailable.
• Volunteer for legal accompaniment: CWS Durham provides immigration legal services and relies on community support and volunteers to help families navigate complex systems.

c) Promote Community Safety & Awareness

• Work with local groups to advocate for “safe zones” or places where community members check in on rights, especially around ICE operations.
• Share accurate, multilingual resources about what people can do if stopped by ICE or what legal rights they have. Siembra offers hotlines, trainings, and education.
• Purchase whistles to give to friends and neighbors to help notify anyone nearby of ICE activity.
• Important community safety information for North Carolina:
  If you see ICE activity, or you or someone you know needs support, contact:
  
  📞 El Pueblo NC: 919-835-1525
  📞 NC Justice Center – Immigrant Rights Project: 919-856-2570
  📎 FaithAction ID Network
  📎 American Immigration Lawyers Association–NC Local Agency Contacts
  
  Report ICE activity immediately to:
  🚨 United We Dream Hotline: 1-844-363-1423
  🚨 ICE Watch NC (local reporting network)
  

Helping Those Without Stable Housing
a) Support Local Homelessness Nonprofits

• CASA (Community Alternatives for Supportive Abodes): CASA provides affordable housing and supportive services for individuals and families in the Triangle.
  • Donate: Consider giving monthly (CASA Champions) for long-term impact.
  • Give in-kind: CASA accepts “Welcome Home” baskets (with toiletries, cleaning supplies, towels) and birthday kits for its residents.
  • Host a fundraiser: CASA supports peer-to-peer giving for birthdays, community events and small-scale fundraisers.
• Healing Transitions: This organization serves people experiencing homelessness who also have substance use or recovery needs.
  • Volunteer: Their “village” model involves volunteers in many roles such as mentoring, meal service, employment programming.
  • Donate: Clothing (especially warm items), hygiene kits, and personal items are always in demand. As some volunteers and community members have noted, they accept drop-offs for men’s and women’s campuses.
  • Raise awareness: Tell others about Healing Transitions’ work; share its mission and the need for support during the holidays.
  • Women's Shelter

b) Share Your Time and Talents

• Use Activate Good, a local volunteer-matching platform, to find homelessness-related service opportunities.
• Engage with Volunteer Raleigh, which connects volunteers to city-funded agencies and nonprofits that support housing and crisis services.
• Offer skilled labor for home repairs: Rebuilding Together of the Triangle helps low-income homeowners (often elderly or vulnerable) maintain safe, healthy homes.

Addressing Food Insecurity in the Triangle
a) Volunteer with Hunger-Relief Organizations

• Inter-Faith Food Shuttle: One of the most effective local anti-hunger groups, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle operate mobile markets, community pantries, and programs like BackPack Buddies (meals for children).
  • Host a food or fund drive: Set up a virtual or physical drive. The Food Shuttle facilitates donation pages and pick-ups.
  • Volunteer: At their warehouse, mobile market, or community pantry sites.
• Catholic Charities–Durham Community Food Pantry: In partnership with the Food Shuttle, they distribute food weekly and via mobile markets.
  • Contribute: Donate nonperishables, produce, or funds.
  • Volunteer: Help bag, pack, or distribute food on the pantry schedule.

b) Support “Pay-What-You-Can” Community Meals

• A Place at the Table (Raleigh): A community café where people pay what they can, volunteer for meals, or purchase "meal tokens" to give others.
  • Volunteer for shifts (morning or early afternoon) or purchase tokens to give to someone in need.
  • Encourage local groups (friends, church, workplaces) to host holiday meal times there or fundraise for meal tokens.

c) Adopt a Family

• To adopt a family for the holidays in NC, you can contact local organizations like HopeMatch, The Salvation Army, or A Doorway to Hope to get matched with a family. These programs typically connect you with a family profile and a list of needs, such as specific gifts, clothing, or grocery gift cards, for you to fulfill before a set deadline. You may also choose to sponsor a local family you know by buying them groceries, sharing a meal or purchasing Christmas gifts for the children. 

d) Raise Awareness About Food Access

• Share resource guides like the Food Shuttle’s “Find Food” map so neighbors know where to go.
• During the holidays, remind family and friends that food insecurity increases, encourage them to give to local pantries like Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC, Urban Ministries, Food Shuttle, North Raleigh Ministries and the Raleigh and Durham Rescue Mission as well as national campaigns like Find a Grocery Buddy.

 Building Long-Term Solidarity: Beyond the Holidays 

• Advocate for policy change: Support local efforts to protect immigrant rights, housing equity, and anti-hunger policies. Civic engagement (writing to your city council, attending meetings) can plant seeds for systemic change.
• Foster community relationships: Build friendships across lines of difference. Invite neighbors (including those who may feel marginalized) into your holiday gatherings or volunteer activities.
• Educate and mobilize: Host a “Know Your Rights” workshop, partner with groups like Siembra NC, or facilitate a donation drive in your workplace or neighborhood.
• Sustain your involvement: Consider making your holiday giving the beginning of a year-round commitment monthly through volunteer hours, recurring donations, or serving on a nonprofit board.

This holiday season, giving back doesn’t have to look like expensive gifts or grand gestures. Sometimes the most profound impact comes from being present, offering time, empathy, and solidarity to neighbors who face real risk, instability, or hunger. Whether you help accompany someone to a court hearing, donate meals, or volunteer to sort food boxes, your actions reverberate: they affirm dignity, build trust, and strengthen our shared community.

Let us remember: the holidays are not just about receiving. they’re an invitation to serve. Let’s lean in and come together. Your time, support and compassion can be a gift that changes lives.