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The Immigrants’ Assistance Center presented its inaugural Laurie Bullard Award for “relentless advocacy and unwavering devotion to the immigrant community” to Laurie Bullard, formerly of New Bedford and now of Westport, on Friday.

From late 2016 through early 2018, the IAC experienced a 35 percent increase in the need for services to more than 9,000 clients from multiple immigrant communities in the New Bedford region, according to a news release.

It was into such an environment that Bullard brought her strengths of energy, passion and extensive organizational leadership, according to IAC. Drawing on decades of development and fundraising success, and an ability to identify and communicate the needs of the IAC with precision and clarity, she utilized her network to coalesce resources for the center.

This story first appeared in the Standard-Times on April 4th, 2019 – HERE

Bullard engaged a student volunteer team to research funding sources. She created and produced a periodic newsletter of the center’s activities, and, engaging the help of others, orchestrated an email and postal mail distribution system devised to get the newsletter to hundreds of homes and businesses. As the leader of the Immigration Huddle of the Marching Forward Massachusetts group, she encouraged her team to focus on helping the IAC with tutoring and advocacy. A “legal team” produced informational literature helping to illuminate the sometimes confusing terminology of immigration regulations and status.

Beginning in 2021, at its 50th-anniversary celebration, and continuing every 5 years, the IAC will select a recipient and present the Laurie Bullard Award to the volunteer who most exemplifies the skills, tenacity, fierce drive and dedication.

This story first appeared in the Standard-Times on April 4th, 2019 – HERE