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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - December 18, 2007
Neda Biggs Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
December 18, 2007

Smyrna, Delaware Resident Wins Cash Award To Fund Program Protecting And Empowering Immigrant Victims Of Violence


(New York, NY, December 18, 2007) Smyrna, Delaware resident Neda Biggs, 56, is committed to improving the lives of women and their families in her community. Neda was named this week’s winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, a weekly $5,000 cash award program from Avon Products, Inc. to support individuals in their work to empower women. Neda will apply her award towards her program at Sussex County’s La Esperanza Community Center, which will assist Latina victims of sexual crimes to obtain the special protective “U-visa,” thus empowering them to report the crimes committed against them without risk to their immigration status. Neda is the second resident of Delaware to win an Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award since the program launched in April.

As an immigration attorney at La Esperanza Community Center – a multi-service assimilation support organization located in the heart of Sussex County’s Latino community in Georgetown, Delaware – Neda sees a large population of extremely vulnerable Spanish-speaking immigrant women and young girls. Many have been the victims of crimes of violence, including sexual abuse, rape, and domestic violence. A significant number of these women do not have secure immigration status and are more reluctant to come forward to report the crimes or seek police protection for fear of deportation. This heightened vulnerability leads to an increased likelihood that sexual violence and other crimes – as well as the suffering of the victims – will continue unreported within this community.

The U.S. government recognized that insecure immigrants should be granted protective status for reporting such crimes and cooperating with law enforcement, and through the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, the “U-visa” was [one of two] created for non-citizen victims of crime. This legislature empowers women to come forward without fear of deportation or punishment. The evidence they provide during the legal process assists law enforcement in pursuit of criminals and benefits the community as a whole.

Through the victim services and immigration programs at La Esperanza, Neda works to empower victims with the critical information and access to services to make educated decisions about their legal options. The limited-funding for services such as “U-visa” assistance ended several years ago despite the program’s success. Now, thanks to her Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award, Neda will be able to offer this time-intensive assistance. The funds will be used to expand the hours of the immigration law practice to include time for a non-profit attorney to effectuate “U-visa” applications. A smaller amount will also be allocated towards educating the community’s Hispanic population – in Spanish-language materials – about the empowering protection women can receive for themselves and their families through this special visa if they courageously step up and report crimes of sexual violence. Thanks to both her vision and her Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award, Neda will be able to assist women and girls in her community to obtain the tools needed to secure their safety.

Neda’s winning application to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund fell under the category of “Community Service,” one of three areas the Fund supports. Her proposal met the criteria to clearly present unique and achievable objectives to empower women or girls and improve society. It was selected from a pool of strong contenders by an expert panel of judges, including Suze Orman, America’s most recognized expert on personal finance, and UNIFEM Public Affairs Specialist Joan Libby-Hawk, the most recent appointee to the Fund’s judging panel, who noted that “this project will use the award money in a very targeted and strategic program that leverages existing work and extends specialized legal services to immigrant women for their protection from violence.”

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