To be without an ID in the United States is to be illegible to the state, which can mean tumbling into a netherworld of nonexistence, locked out of basic services like jobs, housing, and healthcare, a situation that relegates many to the streets. Anyone who has been houseless or worked in homeless services is familiar with the bitter adage, “you have to have an ID to get an ID.” Even those of us who’ve lived relatively stable lives can relate to the aggravating experience of waiting hours in line at the DMV only to be turned away, your trip wasted, because you lacked some critical redundant document that you didn’t know you needed.

It is a mere annoyance if the missing document – say, an original birth certificate – is sitting in a file cabinet at home, but it’s another matter if you never had it, or it was lost in a fire or flood. Then you’ve faced a classic real-life catch-22: you have to show a birth certificate to get an ID, but if your original birth certificate is gone, it might seem like you’re out of luck.

But if you happen to be in Charlottesville, VA, the Cville ID Team is there to help! Founding volunteers Jean Knorr and Judy Harmon have been helping people break the catch-22 for years, and formally launched the ID Team under a joint plan of work with Virginia Organizing this February. The program came together out of pre-existing volunteer work they’ve been doing through Project ID and The Haven, and they now host drop-in hours at the Jefferson School every Monday and Friday from 10am-12pm. In addition, ID Team volunteers are available for email and phone consults, and offer rides to the DMV for appointments.

Jean tells the story of one woman she assisted at The Haven who was unable to get her ID because of a one-letter discrepancy between her ID and her birth certificate. “She was from New York City, and it took three years to get a legal name change order. Every time we gave them what they asked for, they demanded something else. It’s often like doing detective work – you have to try approaching it from different angles.”

Another client was recently retired and trying to access Social Security benefits, but because they were born at home instead of a hospital, they lacked a birth certificate and couldn’t collect the benefits they’d accrued. Each person’s situation is unique, and the degree of difficulty can depend on where and when you were born. And if you are in crisis, it can be difficult to find the capacity to navigate what is often a dehumanizing bureaucracy, all just to prove that you are, in fact, human. It is work that takes time, persistence, compassion, and often some expertise.

That is why the team looks for volunteers with dogged determination and a penchant for sleuthing, because sometimes it takes a literal act of Congress to break the logjam for someone: “I’m bolder helping people get their IDs than I am in my personal life,” Judy says. “Call up Senator Warner? Sure!”

In just the first few months, Cville ID Team has assisted 75 unique individuals, referred from 20 other organizations. Prior to that, the number of people served exceeded 400 per year at The Haven and Project ID respectively, and the demand for assistance is only rising as ID laws become more stringent and people become more socially and economically vulnerable.

Interested in getting involved? Reach out to the team HERE to learn more!