# Dignity Toolkit

**Nobody should have to face a crisis alone.**

Dignity Toolkit is a free community network in Brooklyn, New York that stands with immigrant families facing detention, deportation, and a legal system that is hard to navigate. Every week: a free clinic, a tent outside the MDC, groceries, clothing, and a room where a kid can be a kid.

**No immigration status asked, ever.** No field for it exists in our systems.

- [Find help](https://dignitytoolkit.org/legal.html)
- [Become a volunteer](https://dignitytoolkit.org/volunteer.html)
- [Family Toolkit](https://dignitytoolkit.org/family-toolkit.html)

## What it is

A free, volunteer-run community network in Brooklyn: an immigration clinic, a support tent at the MDC, food delivery, clothing, and programs for kids.

## Who it is for

Immigrant families facing detention, deportation, or a confusing legal process, and neighbors who want to show up for them.

## Five lines of care, running every week

1. **[Immigration Clinic](https://dignitytoolkit.org/legal.html)**: 20–40 families helped every week. Free help understanding your case and preparing paperwork, from your community. Volunteers are not lawyers and say so the moment a lawyer is needed.
2. **[La Carpa](https://dignitytoolkit.org/la-carpa.html)**: 3–4 families accompanied every Saturday at a support tent outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. A silent vigil every Tuesday, 6–7 PM.
3. **[Food Delivery](https://dignitytoolkit.org/food-delivery.html)**: 10 families receive groceries every week on a direct delivery route. Separate from the host church's larger Saturday distribution, which reaches roughly 200 families on its own.
4. **[Clothing Distribution](https://dignitytoolkit.org/clothing-distribution.html)**: Sorted by size and season and handed directly to whoever needs it. No forms, appointments, or explanations required.
5. **[Education](https://dignitytoolkit.org/education.html)**: English classes for around 15 adults, alongside activities for 10 to 20 children, in the same building on the same afternoon.

## One network

The five lines are one network. A family met outside the MDC can find the clinic; a need spotted at the clinic can start a grocery route; a child who grows up inside the network can one day become a volunteer. See [The Network](https://dignitytoolkit.org/network.html) and [The Model](https://dignitytoolkit.org/model.html).

### The Dignity Loop

Safe request → Triage → Certified response → Verified outcome → Measured impact. No one sees a case they are not trained to see, and nothing counts as impact unless it is verified. See [Protocols](https://dignitytoolkit.org/protocols.html) and [Dignity Toolkit OS](https://dignitytoolkit.org/os.html).

## The network at a glance

- 20–40 families helped weekly at the Immigration Clinic
- 40 active volunteers, with about 300 more people connected through the wider network
- 3–4 families accompanied weekly at La Carpa
- 0% immigration status collected

## Partners

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is a founding member. Dignity Toolkit is also part of the [MDC Brooklyn Community Support Coalition](https://dignitytoolkit.org/partner.html).

## Campaign: Dignity Before Damage

A public campaign about immigrant children detained inside the United States: [read the campaign](https://children.dignitytoolkit.org).

## Ways to take part

- [Volunteer](https://dignitytoolkit.org/volunteer.html)
- [Partner](https://dignitytoolkit.org/partner.html)
- [Donate](https://dignitytoolkit.org/donate.html)
- [For Funders](https://dignitytoolkit.org/funders.html)
- [The Model](https://dignitytoolkit.org/model.html)
- [Bring an Idea](https://dignitytoolkit.org/bring-an-idea.html)

## About, contact, and legal

- [About](https://dignitytoolkit.org/about.html)
- [Contact](https://dignitytoolkit.org/contact.html): info@dignitytoolkit.org
- [Privacy Policy](https://dignitytoolkit.org/privacy.html)
- [Terms](https://dignitytoolkit.org/terms.html)

Dignity Toolkit Inc. is a New York nonprofit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York. Legal materials are educational information, not legal advice.