📊 What the Rapid Response Hotline Data Can Teach Us

Numbers don't tell the whole story. Behind every point on a graph are real people, families, and communities navigating systems that can be difficult to understand and even harder to change.

In our latest Ashrei Insights Webinar, Executive Director Sara Ruiz reflects on what the latest immigration enforcement data can teach us about where harm is happening, the role of local police in immigration enforcement, and the importance of building communities of care around people experiencing detention.

We also take a first look at emerging data on health concerns in detention and the questions it raises about conditions in Missouri jails.

The conversation asks a bigger question: How do we move from documenting what is happening to building the collective power needed to change it?

👉 Watch this month's webinar and read the full blog for our reflections and questions we continuing to ask on our Blog

We’re excited to welcome Meredith Rataj to the Ashrei team as our new Program Manager for Immigration Justice efforts including the Rapid Response Hotline and the IFER Fund!

Meredith brings more than 15 years of experience in immigrant services, along with a deep commitment to building welcoming communities and removing barriers to opportunity. Before joining Ashrei, she spent four years as Program Director at SLU’s Transformative Workforce Academy, developing workforce initiatives that connect justice-involved individuals with fair chance employment opportunities.

Prior to that, Meredith spent 15 years with St. Francis Community Services, where she served as both a Licensed Bilingual Therapist and Director of Immigrant Services.

We’re grateful to have Meredith’s experience, compassion, and commitment to community joining our immigration justice work. We’re so glad she’s here!

When she’s not working or bragging about her teens, Meredith can be found running on a paved trail, listening to an NPR podcast, or dreaming of being in the mountains.

Welcome to Ashrei, Meredith!

📅 Visit our new Community Calendar

📅 Visit Ashrei's Event Calendar

ICE arrests surge in Missouri, most have no criminal conviction,

Gateway Journalism Review

Ashrei is looking ahead, and we want to make sure the people who know our work best help shape what comes next.

As part of our long-range planning process, we’re launching Community Impact Surveys to listen to you, the people who make up the Ashrei community.

Over the next month, you may receive an invitation to a short conversation or a digital survey to allow us to listen to volunteers, donors, partners, coalition members, and the people who experience our programs directly.

Your perspective will help us understand what’s working, what’s needed, and where there are new opportunities to make an impact.

We’re using a Catalytic Thinking approach to help guide this process, starting with curiosity rather than assumptions. We’ll ask questions that help us notice what’s happening in our communities, imagine what could be possible, and think together about the conditions that can create meaningful change.

Keep an eye on your inbox. We’re grateful for your time, your honesty, and your help imagining what’s next for Ashrei.

If you need an ID, want to share this with someone who does, we’re here.

Find information about getting assistance here: ashreifoundation.org/photoid-help

If you want to join our incredible volunteers who work one on one with our clinic guests to complete paperwork to obtain vital documents, visit our volunteer page.

If you ARE an incredible volunteer, put us on your calendar and grab your September shifts in POINT.

Third Annual 2026 Missouri ID Access Summit

October 15–16 | The International Institute, St. Louis

Ashrei is proud to serve as the administrative and backbone organization for the Missouri State ID Access Coalition. Ashrei also serves on the Coalition’s Steering Committee, leads the Direct Programs Committee, and administers the Coalition’s subgrant program, helping bring organizations and advocates together to remove barriers to photo ID access across Missouri.

Join us for the 2026 Missouri ID Access Summit in St. Louis!

Connect with people from across Missouri who are working to make ID access more equitable, share ideas, and build new partnerships. Registration is free.