Meet Franca Jalloh

Jalloh's Upright Services of NC

“Support, Empower, and Develop”

How did your organization start?

Jalloh’s Upright Services established our non-profit organization in 2016, in order to meet the growing needs of our refugee and immigrant population in the North Carolina Triad area, and soon after, we became "recognized" and “accredited” by the Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration Appeals. We are an organization that is run by-immigrants, for-immigrants & refugees, we are not faith based nor are we ethnicity based which means anyone who is low income is welcome to access our services without bias or prejudice. We established to liaise with, advocate for and assist immigrants and refugees with the tools they need to become self-sufficient, productive members of society by proving essential immigration legal services, housing assistance, job development/ job placements and adult literacy programs. Our organization started as a way to provide assistance in the immigrant community to those who were having trouble integrating with proper assistance and navigating the system as they first immigrate to the United States.

What issue are you addressing?

Many of the Immigrants/Refugees we assist through our programs lack the finances and navigation skills needed to pay for legal fees associated with acquiring lawful immigration status and thereby progressing with their families. Because of this, many fall victims to fraud schemes. Our Immigration Legal Service Program helps refugees, parolees, asylees, human trafficking victims and other immigrant groups by assessing their eligibility for adjustment of status or citizenship, preparing the necessary legal documents and fully representing them before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) so they can become self sufficient. JUS-NC offers scholarships to Immigrants/Refugees who are unable to pay for their legal services in addition of legally representing them. Our organization is responsible for a variety of services to all low-income immigrants, refugees, asylees, parolees and human trafficking victims including our Immigration Legal Services, Adult Literacy Program, Employment Services & Job Development Program, Housing Assistance as well as Transitional & Cultural Orientation Program. JUS-NC’s General Immigration Program is Accredited & Recognized by the Department of Justice and will assist with the legal representation of our low-income immigrants, refugees and asylees in applying for citizenship, green cards, travel documents, work permits, affirmative asylum, as well as refugee/asylee family reunification petitions.

Where did your passion for this cause come from?

Jalloh’s Upright Services of NC, Inc. is fortunate to have a group of diverse leaders starting with its Founder & Executive Director, Franca Jalloh along with our dedicated Board of Directors. Ms. Franca Jalloh represents the immigrant population as she herself is an immigrant having been born in Sierra Leone, in West Africa, grew up in Brunei, South East Asia for about 10 years and has lived in the United States for about 20 years now. Her passion and dedication to serving this population stems from experiencing the immigration process first hand herself. Each of our esteemed board members are passionate about the mission of JUS-NC and serves faithfully in our community as nonprofit board members and as leaders of other organizations.

Why is your work so important for Greensboro?

We strive to improve the overall standard of living of our indigent minority community by providing vital immigration services, supporting education and economic development among some of Greensboro’s most vulnerable residents.

What are you most excited for as it relates to FF10?

We are so excited to be able to reach a broader audience through Future Fund, which will grant us with an opportunity to provide more awareness and visibility regarding our grassroot nonprofit organization, Jalloh's Upright Services and the good work we do serving our indigent international community members here in North Carolina. Future Fund 10 will aid in expanding our capacity to provide more assistance in our black and brown minority community by awarding us with the necessary resources to further help all those in need of our services.

What have you already learned from the process?

We have learned that the Future Fund provides great opportunity and resources to help our Greensboro non profit organizations in the community reach their goals and maximize our full potential. We are extremely grateful for the FF consultants and advisors who have been simply amazing and so instrumental in helping us along the way.

What do you hope to get out of FF10?

We hope to gain lifelong partners and sponsors as we move forward in serving our through our nonprofit organization. In addition, we at JUS-NC hope to continue building our diverse Greensboro community to be more inclusive, supportive, informed, empowering, developed and much safer with Future Fund being a huge part of that dream of Building Our Community With A Heart!