Daniel Woodham, Case Manager
My goal is a more just world, and I love being with people from other countries, so I feel very lucky to be able to do both in my own community.
I’m also fortunate to help Kingston be a place that embraces diversity. And, finally, I am excited about immigrant friends helping to make Kingston a more vibrant, inclusive community.
In December 2021, Daniel Woodham became UIDN’s first employee. Working part-time he manages the helpline and caseload. An Ulster County native, Daniel was born in Kingston Hospital. He attended Tillson Elementary School, Bailey Middle, and Kingston High School. He then lived elsewhere — mostly Oregon and North Carolina — while also spending time in Belgium, Germany, South Asia, and many Central and South American countries.
Daniel returned to the Hudson Valley in 2016, moving to Kingston with his wife Andrea and son Miles. He is fluent in Spanish, English, and French.
Daniel’s earlier work included providing crisis intervention and mental health services to youth and adults and teaching English as a New Language (ENL) to Montagnard immigrants from Vietnam. Since 2010 Daniel has been a full-time organic vegetable farmer. He continues to farm part time as an outdoor counterbalance to working with UIDN.
“I feel honored to work with UIDN,” Daniel says. “The volunteers demonstrate an incredible commitment to solidarity and helping ‘our community of friends.’ The Kingston community has a markedly different face than when I was growing up here. I’m fortunate to now help Kingston be a place that embraces a diversity of people.”
In January 2022, Daniel and Evelio Martinez, a volunteer with UIDN, were interviewed by the Good Work Institute on Radio Kingston. Click here to listen. If you don’t see the interview, hide the player in the upper right corner.
Maria Espinal, Case Manager
UIDN’s mission “to provide a network of safety and support to immigrants, regardless of status” resonated with me having grown up in an immigrant community.
That diversity has enriched my life in countless ways, and I will work hard to make it possible for that diversity to continue at the core of the “American Story.”
Maria has been volunteering with UIDN since May 2023 — helping with the food pantry, delivering furniture for the household team, picking up calls from the Helpline, and giving rides to medical and legal appointments. Then, she took on the role of co-lead of the transportation team.
Maria’s parents came to the U.S. in 1962, trading life on a farm for work in a factory and Brooklyn apartment living. Her father found housing and work because he was put in touch with a newly arrived friend-of-a-friend who showed him the way.
This man, a stranger to Maria’s dad, was kind and supportive. Her father was able to secure passage for her mom and Maria joined them several years later. In the early years they lived surrounded by mostly Italians, Irish, and Polish immigrants. As the years went on Maria’s neighbors were Haitian, Mexican, Salvadorian, Guatemalan, Chinese, Iranian, Lebanese, and Cuban, just to name a few.
Despite her parents having only made it to second and third grade, they have done well and paved the way for numerous family and community members. It was that spirit of lending a helping hand to create networks of support that made it possible for Maria’s family to succeed and it sparked her commitment to service.
Stephanie Kristal, Development
I am inspired by the enormous courage of those in our community and all over the world who have had to leave their country of origins, making arduous journeys to create better lives for themselves and their families.
I celebrate the richness and diversity that people of different cultures and backgrounds bring to our communities. I am honored to be a part of this diverse community and to be a part of a family of people who hold a vision of a fair and just world.
Stephanie Kristal has been working with UIDN since 2018. She first volunteered with the transportation team, driving people to ICE check-ins and legal consultations. Stephanie later joined the board and the administrative team and served as co-president from December 2020-November 2021. She helped develop and run UIDN’s case management program until February 2022.
Stephanie co-led UIDN’s fundraising committee for several years, and we were fortunate in 2022 to have her continue this work as our development director and second part time staff member.
She has been a social justice advocate most of her life, volunteering with the Women’s Human Rights Commission at Amnesty International; South Africa Now, a group fighting against apartheid; and the Black Mesa Trust, a Hopi grassroots organization addressing water pollution and the destruction of sacred land and sites.
Stephanie has a private practice in counseling and hypnotherapy. In 1992, she established mindfulness-based yoga and meditation classes for those living with HIV/AIDs in Ulster County.