Juan Melendez spent almost eighteen years on Florida's death row for a crime he did not commit. Upon his release from death row on January 3, 2002, he has been educating and inspiring thousands of people all across the country (and abroad) with his story of supreme injustice. The feedback we have received demonstrates that Juan is an extraordinarily effective advocate for abolition of the death penalty and that he is opening and changing the hearts and minds of many who hear his message-- the hearts and minds of people all across the political spectrum. We have also learned that his legislative testimonies and one-on-one visits with elected officials have proved effective in shifting the positions and views of these individuals. Furthermore, we have been overwhelmed by the response of youth to Juan's message. When addressing youth, Juan incorporates a compelling anti-violence message which resonates particularly powerfully with disadvantaged, often minority youth. Please see feedback at: www.voicesunited4justice.com/feedback.htm. <http://www.voicesunited4justice.com/feedback.htm.niton> Juan Melendez is hoping to expand upon his anti-death penalty (and anti-violence) outreach by creating a project: Juan Melendez Voices United for Justice. Please see Juan's website at www.voicesunited4justice.com. In order to begin the very necessary fundraising to support Juan's work, we are looking for fiscal sponsorship through an existing 501(c)(3) organization with the mutual goal of (ultimate) abolition of the death penalty and/or with the more general goal of reforming our criminal justice system which continues to be plagued with racial, ethnic and socioeconomic discrimination. By way of background, I have been coordinating and organizing speaking events and media interviews for Juan, at his request, over the past two years. As an attorney and anti-death penalty activist, I also quite often accompany him to law schools, universities and high-schools where I supplement his presentation from a legal/activist perspective. The fact that I am a fluent Spanish speaker and that Juan is a native Spanish-speaker has enabled us to do a lot of outreach to Spanish-speaking communities, primarily through Spanish-language media. Juan's uniquely dynamic and captivating style coupled with his ability to connect with others has generated such a demand for him as speaker that my work on his behalf has become essentially a full-time job, with little time to practice law or generate an income elsewhere. As you can imagine, I also incur not insubstantial costs. By nature of Juan's somewhat sporadic speaking schedule, the many travel days and currently modest honoraria that he requests, he continues to live from hand to mouth. Upon his release from Florida's death row, he received $100, a pair of pants and a shirt. His prospects of receiving any additional compensation are virtually zero. We are hoping that if we can find an existing 501(c)(3) to act as a fiscal sponsor for our "project" that we will then be able to raise funds so that Juan can not only continue to do the remarkable work that he is currently doing, but actually expand upon it and reach many more communities that he is currently not able to reach because of a lack of funding. We would like to find an existing 501(c)(3) with mutual goals to serve (at a minimum) as a fiscal agent for our project, enabling us to apply for funding as a 501(c)(3). The fiscal agent would manage an account on our behalf consisting of any individual or institutional donations and grant awards, provide checks as requested from these funds and report as required under federal tax law. In exchange for these services, the fiscal agent would receive a certain percentage of all grant awards and of all institutional donations (terms negotiable). We would ideally like to operate more closely with our fiscal sponsor, in terms of actually working together to help achieve our mutual goals, offering Juan's services as a speaker at events organized by the fiscal sponsor, jointly organizing conferences, etc. But this is something that we can perhaps discuss further down the road. Right now, what we need most of all is the ability to apply for and receive funding. Thank you very much for your help with this. Judi E. Caruso [email protected] 505-362-1784
