Alumbrando Oak Ridge

“Tennessee's Hands Free law prohibits drivers from holding cell phones while operating a vehicle. This includes talking, texting, or using apps.

If a driver needs to use their phone, they must pull over to a safe location.“

Tennessee's Hands Free law prohibits drivers from holding cell phones while operating a vehicle. This includes talking, texting, or using apps.

If a driver needs to use their phone, they must pull over to a safe location.

Violations can result in fines and points on a driving record, with increased penalties for repeat offenses.

Learn more: handsfreetn.com

When ICE impacts a family, the crisis does not end with the arrest, hold, or detention. In many cases, that is when the hardest part begins.

It becomes rent coming due. Groceries running low. A utility bill that still has to be paid. Gas to get where they need to go. A hotel room for the night. A bus ticket. Help replacing documents. A family trying to keep itself together while everything has been thrown into chaos.

That is one way Alumbrando steps in.

We provide direct financial assistance to families who have been directly impacted by ICE. That support helps cover urgent needs like food, fuel, rent, utilities, temporary shelter, transportation, and identification or passport costs. Support is provided through a structured internal process so funds go toward urgent household needs in the immediate aftermath.

This is real help for real families in real time.

These needs are immediate, and our ability to respond depends on what resources we have available when the call comes in. If you have been wondering how to support Alumbrando’s work in a direct, tangible way, this is one of the clearest ways to do it.

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/AlumbrandoNetwork

Every dollar helps us show up with something real when a family is in crisis. Give if you can. Share if you can’t. Both matter.

Alumbrando Network | @AlumbrandoNetwork Venmo is a digital wallet that lets you make and share payments with friends. You can easily split the bill, cab fare, or much more. Download the iOS or Android app or sign up on Venmo.com today.

We post these because right now, in Tennessee, many ICE encounters begin with routine traffic stops by the Highway Patrol. When we know where sobriety checkpoints are, our community can make informed choices and help keep our neighbors safe.

Sobriety Checkpoint Locations
Friday, April 3, 2026

Loudon
US 70 @ CREEKWOOD COVE LANE

Anderson County
NEW HENDERSON ROAD @ TVA BOAD

Blount County
SR 333 MISER STATION ROAD @

Please drive safe, buckle up, and look out for one another.

— light in the darkness

TOMORROW (Sat): Community Update + Training (12–2pm)

If you’ve been watching the news, hearing rumors, feeling that knot in your stomach, or asking “what do we do?”… this is your door.

We’re hosting a Community Update + Training tomorrow, Saturday, 12–2pm in Oak Ridge.

We’ll be covering Where we stand as a community & what we can do about it.

This is an open community update.
If you know someone who’s said: “I want to help my immigrant neighbors, I just don’t know how,” invite them and bring them with you.

But you MUST RSVP: https://forms.gle/vtnRzi5FDUYCevfy9

If you’ve been trained with us before, please come anyway. We’ve updated the model, and we need everyone aligned.

Alumbrando: Community Update + Training (Oak Ridge) To help us plan and keep the session focused and respectful, registration is required for entry. We’ll cover current local realities, the updated “see something” guidance, and how our family support pipeline works. Please RSVP so we can communicate any updates and ensure we have enough materia...

Community Update on Alumbrando and immigration enforcement

We want to share a clear, careful update with the broader community: immigration enforcement is impacting families connected to the Oak Ridge area. It is happening here… just not in the way many of us expected.

What many of us prepared for was “house raids.” What we’re seeing instead are pickups that begin with routine stops (often outside Oak Ridge) and the fallout lands at home: kids, jobs, housing, school, and family stability.

A lot of people are feeling uncertain right now. That’s understandable. Information changes quickly, rumors move faster, and when everyday life starts feeling unpredictable, people don’t know what to believe… or what to do.

That’s why Alumbrando exists: to help community members understand how to respond safely and responsibly in these moments, and to help families who are impacted navigate next steps and get support. We’re leaning into both, and adjusting our approach to meet what’s actually happening on the ground.

If you’ve been asking how to help, join us for an in-person Community Update + Training on Saturday, Feb 21 (12–2 PM) |

Registration is required.

We are looking for bilingual volunteers!
Most of the calls and situations we respond to happen in both English and Spanish, and having dual-language volunteers makes all the difference.

If you speak both, and want to help neighbors when they need it most — message us to get involved.

Alumbrando Oak Ridge Statement on Highway Patrol Incident at Staples Parking Lot

At 11:32AM today, Wednesday October 1, Alumbrando Oak Ridge was alerted to an incident in the parking lot of Staples in Oak Ridge involving a commercial truck stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Our community response team arrived on site to remain present and aware.

Two Tennessee Highway Patrol vehicles and two Oak Ridge Police Department vehicles responded to the scene. After a little over ninety minutes, officers concluded their work at 1:06PM. The driver of the vehicle was not arrested. The company seems to have been cited with violations related to the condition of their vehicle. No arrests were made.

We want to thank our volunteers and neighbors who helped monitor this situation. Alumbrando Oak Ridge will continue showing up when activities like this occur in our community. Because transparency, accountability, and trust matter.

We post these because right now, in Tennessee, many ICE encounters begin with routine traffic stops by the Highway Patrol. When we know where sobriety checkpoints are, our community can make informed choices and help keep our neighbors safe.

Sobriety Checkpoint Locations
Friday, September 5, 2025

Knox County
Martin Mill Pike @ Ogle Avenue

Anderson County
E. Wolf Valley @ Wolf Valley Baptist

Loudon County
US 70 @ Creek Wood Cove Lane

Please drive safe, buckle up, and look out for one another.

— light in the darkness

We post these because right now, in Tennessee, many ICE encounters begin with routine traffic stops by the Highway Patrol. When we know where checkpoints are, our community can make informed choices and help keep our neighbors safe.

Sobriety Checkpoint Locations – Friday, August 29, 2025

📍 Anderson County
State Route 61/62 @ Leaf Baptist Church / Richards Lane

📍 Knox County
Cherokee Trail @ Cherokee Bluff Drive

📍 Roane County
Highway 61 @ Highway 62

Please drive safe, buckle up, and look out for one another.

— light in the darkness.

Fifty-plus Oak Ridge community members came out on a Saturday morning for training. Because when our friends and neighbors need us, the Oak Ridge community stands together.

Why “Alumbrando”?

In Spanish, alumbrar means to give light. Not just light in the dark, but light to an idea… to make something seen, to bring it into focus.

Alumbrando is the action of giving that light.

That’s what we’re doing here. In a moment when fear is being used as a weapon against our immigrant neighbors, we are choosing light.

We are shining it on the truth. That this community is stronger when we stand together.
We are shining it on the lies. That some of us belong and others don’t.
We are shining it in the places they hope will stay in shadow, where families are scared to open the door, where people are told to keep their heads down and hope no one notices.

Light doesn’t just reveal. It connects. It says: I see you. You’re not alone.

Alumbrando Oak Ridge is about building that light, holding it up, and keeping it lit. No matter how dark they try to make it.

We can’t stop the storms from coming, but together, we can make sure no one faces them alone, unseen, and in the dark.