The American Dream Center, an organization offering low-cost services to Tulsa immigrants, will host a fashion show Thursday in hopes of raising funds and becoming more financially stable this year.
Vera Burgess, the center’s executive director, said the organization has faced financial hurdles since the departure of its director Casey Jones in 2023.
“It’s been an extra burden because he did all the directing, as far as the public-facing things and fundraising … When he left, financially it was very difficult for about a year and a half,” said Burgess.
Their financial footing has gotten a bit better since the group received a grant from the Oklahoma Bar Association in December, Burgess said. All proceeds from ticket sales will go directly to American Dream Center’s work.
The American Dream Center will host a luncheon “DreamHer Summer of Global Fashion” starting at 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 4 at Hotel Indigo Tulsa Downtown-Entertainment Area by IHG. The event will feature lunch, silent auction, live music, a live artist and the fashion show.
They only have seven seat tickets left out of 80. You can purchase tickets here.
The organization helps immigrants with services, such as citizenship, green cards, family petitions and more.
The center has also recently started providing free services to help clients apply for U-Visas, which offer temporary legal status and work authorization to victims of criminal activity. The majority of the organization’s clients are women.
“We’re really trying to just uplift immigrant women and showcase them and their stories and raise funds at the same time to keep helping them,” Burgess said.
This article was produced as part of a partnership between the Tulsa Flyer and La Semana, a Tulsa-based bilingual Spanish-English newspaper serving Latino communities in Oklahoma.
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