LIFT Annual Report 2013: Building Strong Foundations | Page 16

Laura’s STORY
Finding Oneself Through Service
To Others

It was during her summer LIFTing in the Bronx that Tufts University Senior
Laura Garbes chose a career for herself. “I was so inspired by the Bronx
Defenders,” she says, referring to the group that supplies LIFT members with
legal advice. “And now I want to become an immigration lawyer.”
As a LIFT fellow in the summer of 2013, she worked full-time at LIFT-The
Bronx’s office, within walking distance of where most members live. Enoc,
for example, was originally from Puerto Rico. His wife, who was in the
hospital after a kidney transplant, was coming home soon, but he knew it
would be impossible for her to get up to their third-floor apartment. The fact
that the apartment didn’t have hot water underscored the urgency to move,
and when Enoc had a small stroke, Laura knew something had to be done
right away.
She enlisted the help of a LIFT advisor with expertise in housing law and
helped Enoc transfer to a more suitable apartment. “That’s why LIFT works,”
she explains. “Advocates learn just how far they