HIGH POINT, N.C. — It's tough times for a nonprofit that gives computers to kids after a technical mistake caused its founders to face deportation.
What You Need To Know
The nonprofit is called Technology For The Future
It provides computers to kids in High Point
The founders, who are Canadian citizens, returned to Canada due to immigration issues
Adrian Matinca and Miriam Martincova are siblings who live and work in Guilford County, supplying thousands of computers to students in need.
“We call the boxes we have them stored in, 'dream boxes.' That's essentially the concept. What these computers can do is bring about the possibility of kids being able to fulfill their dreams,” Martincova Matinca, president of Technology For The Future, said.
The computers are part of a nonprofit Martincova Matinca and her brother Adrian Matinca run called Technology For The Future. It helps students in High Point have access to the internet and is a cause very personal to the siblings.
“I have experienced that, not being able to use our parents' computers, and just want these kids not to fall behind on all their potential just because they don’t have access to a tool,” Martincova said.
The two are originally from Slovakia and moved to Canada with their parents when they were young. They are Canadian citizens but moved to the Triad 14 years ago.
“As a little kid all I wanted to do was fight for them and make sure they always had what they needed, and that began as simple as a computer. But in reality, it was the fact that a computer was the gateway to the freedom I created and was a source of victory throughout my entire life,” Adrian Martinca, founder of Technology For The Future, said.
Adrian Martinca is the brains behind the organization, spinning off the nonprofit from his tech company A.M. Technologies. But all their hard work is in jeopardy because they have to return to Canada due to an oversight. They missed the deadline to file a renewal on their I-94 immigration form for their E2 visas, which where valid until 2023.
“We’re trying to make a difference in our community and like, no it’s not an excuse. I just wish they weren’t trying to take that away and continuing doing what we were doing,” Martincova said.
They’re trying to figure out how to make the nonprofit work in their absence.
“And without us being here to ensure the processes and make sure everything is working the way it’s suppose to, it’s really difficult for us to know how to continue if we are not here,” Martincova said.
The siblings voluntarily departed back to Canada at the end of June.
They started a change.org petition in hopes of being able to get their E2 visas reinstated and regain their legal status in the United States. They're hoping signatures will get them back.
The petition needs at least 30,000 signatures to get in front of U.S. Customs in order for their case to be reconsidered. The two are hoping it reaches that threshold to receive greater change.
Editor's Note: This article and its headline were updated on Nov. 12, 2021 to clarify the founders' immigration status.