A Celebration of Immigrants and Their Contributions to Somerville
For the first time since 2019, The Welcome Project was proud to host
YUM: A Taste of Immigrant City in person!
On May 2nd, we celebrated the many ways immigrants have made Somerville and Greater Boston a better place to live for all.
YUM 2024 featured delicious food provided by local restaurants, live music, and conversations with current and former participants in our programming.
YUM: A Taste of Immigrant City in person!
On May 2nd, we celebrated the many ways immigrants have made Somerville and Greater Boston a better place to live for all.
YUM 2024 featured delicious food provided by local restaurants, live music, and conversations with current and former participants in our programming.
Participating Restaurants
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2024 YUM Awardees
Founder's Award Recipient: John Willshire Carrera
John Willshire Carrera is Co-Managing Director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic at Greater Boston Legal Services and senior clinical instructor at Harvard Law School. He is originally from the central Peruvian Andes. John has worked in the area of immigrant, asylum and human rights for over 30 years. He has contributed to the recognition and development of asylum/human rights law as it applies to women, children and indigenous persons. He served as adjunct faculty at Northeastern Law School, where he taught asylum law. He has represented immigrant workers detained during the Michael Bianco Factory raid of 2007, as well as children and mothers who have recently fled Central America. In 1987, he directed the Ford Foundation national research and organizing project on implementation of Plyler v. Doe, the Supreme Court decision that established the right of all immigrant students to a public education in the United States. He has litigated numerous asylum cases before federal appellate courts. John is a recipient of the AILA Founders Award in 1994, HLS Dean’s Award for Excellence, John G. Brooks Award from the Boston Bar Association, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review award for outstanding work in public interest, Access to Legal Justice award by the MBA and was named a Lawyer of the Year by Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly 2007.
John Willshire Carrera is Co-Managing Director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic at Greater Boston Legal Services and senior clinical instructor at Harvard Law School. He is originally from the central Peruvian Andes. John has worked in the area of immigrant, asylum and human rights for over 30 years. He has contributed to the recognition and development of asylum/human rights law as it applies to women, children and indigenous persons. He served as adjunct faculty at Northeastern Law School, where he taught asylum law. He has represented immigrant workers detained during the Michael Bianco Factory raid of 2007, as well as children and mothers who have recently fled Central America. In 1987, he directed the Ford Foundation national research and organizing project on implementation of Plyler v. Doe, the Supreme Court decision that established the right of all immigrant students to a public education in the United States. He has litigated numerous asylum cases before federal appellate courts. John is a recipient of the AILA Founders Award in 1994, HLS Dean’s Award for Excellence, John G. Brooks Award from the Boston Bar Association, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review award for outstanding work in public interest, Access to Legal Justice award by the MBA and was named a Lawyer of the Year by Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly 2007.
Intercultural Award Recipient: Irma Flores
Few individuals are more committed to making Somerville a welcoming place for immigrants than Irma Flores. Her story begins in El Salvador, where her desire to work for the betterment of her community was born. She was pursuing a degree in International Relations at the National University of El Salvador when Irma’s life changed forever. The Civil War led to the destabilization of Salvadoran society, as almost two decades of brutal violence made going to college and raising a family in safety nearly impossible. The final straw was the 2001 earthquakes, which killed over a thousand people and destroyed communities across El Salvador. Seeing this untenable situation and having a young family to care for, Irma immigrated to the US to give her son and daughter the best chance at a better life.
Since 2001, Irma Flores has been working tirelessly to help thousands like herself make a new life for themselves and to give back to the community that welcomed her. She began as a community organizer within the Salvadoran and broader Latin American immigrant communities in a range of settings, including La Comisión de Asuntos Hispanos de Chelsea. She has been instrumental in helping her community get more engaged in local affairs, taking the inaugural position of Spanish liaison in the Somerville Office of Immigrant Affairs, also known as SomerViva, and a founding member of the Somerville Sanctuary Steering Committee. She now continues to serve the Greater Boston immigrant community through the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants.
Few individuals are more committed to making Somerville a welcoming place for immigrants than Irma Flores. Her story begins in El Salvador, where her desire to work for the betterment of her community was born. She was pursuing a degree in International Relations at the National University of El Salvador when Irma’s life changed forever. The Civil War led to the destabilization of Salvadoran society, as almost two decades of brutal violence made going to college and raising a family in safety nearly impossible. The final straw was the 2001 earthquakes, which killed over a thousand people and destroyed communities across El Salvador. Seeing this untenable situation and having a young family to care for, Irma immigrated to the US to give her son and daughter the best chance at a better life.
Since 2001, Irma Flores has been working tirelessly to help thousands like herself make a new life for themselves and to give back to the community that welcomed her. She began as a community organizer within the Salvadoran and broader Latin American immigrant communities in a range of settings, including La Comisión de Asuntos Hispanos de Chelsea. She has been instrumental in helping her community get more engaged in local affairs, taking the inaugural position of Spanish liaison in the Somerville Office of Immigrant Affairs, also known as SomerViva, and a founding member of the Somerville Sanctuary Steering Committee. She now continues to serve the Greater Boston immigrant community through the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants.
Thank you to our Diamond and Emerald Sponsors!
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Eastern Bank
Deborah and David Brooks Laura Brooks and Nelson Salazar Jane Carey Martin Cawsey Warren and Marcy Goldstein-Gelb |
Leslie Hergert
Maya Honda Korinne Manders Margaret Pricejones Janet Pula Tufts University |