Woodland is always looking for how to serve San Antonio’s immigrant community. We began with ESL and expanded our ESL program by providing citizenship classes and hosting the annual ISAAC Project training (the ISAAC Project is now ELIM). We started calling the expanded ministry The World at Woodland.
The ELIM is a recognized organization by the Board of Immigration Appeals. Beginning as the ISSAC Project in September 2013, it offers legal services for nominal fees to the immigrant community in San Antonio, Texas. On January 1, 2023, the ISAAC Project became ELIM under Fellowship Southwest.
ELIM is the Educational and Legal Immigration Ministries. The name is based on Exodus 15:27 where the Israelites camped at the oasis of Elim on the journey out of Egypt.
There is a dire need for quality immigration counseling and service at an affordable price. Far too many immigrants have been scammed by “notarios” and immigration consultants who prey on their lack of familiarity with the legal system. For others, the cost of an immigration attorney keeps effective legal counsel out of reach.
In response, the Federal Government has allowed non-profit organizations, including churches, to become “recognized organizations.” Woodland voted to contract with the ELIM (formerly ISAAC Project) to provide their services on our campus at Woodland on May 22, 2022.
Woodland will provide office space to ELIM beginning Tuesday, January 10, 2023 and will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.