Central Machine✓Home Is Here Benefit
Description
Home Is Here is more than a concert—it's a community coming together to ensure that people seeking safety, stability, and a place to belong can build a new life in Austin. Since 1986, Casa Marianella has welcomed refugees and asylum seekers from around the world, providing safe shelter, legal services, medical assistance, English classes, and the support needed to begin again. What started as a single house has grown into a network of 12 shelters serving thousands of men, women, and children fleeing violence and persecution. Today, that work is more urgent than ever. Recent changes to U.S. immigration policy have made it significantly harder for asylum seekers to navigate the legal system. Individuals who are following the law have been detained at routine court hearings and check-ins, while the costs of basic immigration filings have risen dramatically. A work permit application that was once free now costs hundreds of dollars, and legal representation can cost thousands—expenses that are simply out of reach for most families. Casa Marianella's Legal Services Clinic provides this critical legal support completely free of charge, helping clients apply for asylum, secure work authorization, reunite with family members, and fight for their freedom when unjustly detained.