MIGRANT MINISTRY UPDATE: A Home for Christmas
The resettlement volunteers for Migrant Ministry have been working since 2022 to find housing for migrant families and then to furnish it and help with all the items needed to turn an empty apartment into a home. We are pleased that right before Christmas we will be resettling our 15th family. This does not include the 3 individual men we have resettled and several other families we have assisted with a few months of rent when they ran into financial issues. It does not include the other families who have received household goods and furniture items.
We appreciate Catholic Charities paying for a few months of rent for some of these families through their Parish Family Partnership Program. We ensure the landlords that rent will be paid through the first year and try to have the family start paying a part of that expense within six to nine months. We are only able to do this because of your generous donations.
We appreciate the volunteers who find apartments, furniture, review leases, interview new families, store household items, and make the moves happen. Then the mentors take over and walk with the families to make them feel at home. Welcome home, Family #15. We are so happy that you will be part of our community just in time for Christmas.
We are grateful for the generosity of so many donors, but we need to clear our backlog of unsorted donations before closing for the the holidays. Starting Monday, December 16, donations are halted until further notice. We will check in again after the New Year! Questions? Email us at [email protected]
A migrant straightens his shoulders and stands a little taller as he looks at himself in the mirror. He’s trying on a nice set of clothes and he’s quietly pleased with how he looks. His eyes tear up a bit, and he comments to the volunteer that it has been so long since he felt good about himself.
The Migrant Ministry is filled with these quiet victories. Parents select warm winter coats for themselves and their children. A newly-arrived migrant finds a new pair of shoes to replace the pair he wore out on the long trip north. Leaving an overcrowded shelter, a family moves into an apartment and begins to build their new life in the U.S. With the help of the legal team, a young man submits his asylum application. Another young man learns enough English to fill out a job application himself—and gets a well-paying job at O’Hare. A couple that has been living together for many years is finally able to be married.
These stories and so many others are possible because of the willingness of our parishes’ leadership to open the former St. Edmund School building to the needs of our migrant brothers and sisters, and to the generosity of our volunteers and donors with their time, talent, and treasure. We join the nearly 13,000 migrants who have been served by the Migrant Ministry since June 2023 in expressing our deepest gratitude.
We are grateful for the generosity of so many donors, but are facing a backlog of donations that we have not had time to sort. PLEASE LIMIT YOUR DONATIONS TO WHAT IS LISTED ON MM Donations 11.9.24 OUR GREATEST NEED IS FOR COATS, BOOTS, BLANKETS, SHEETS, TOWELS, TOILETRIES, MEN'S AND OLDER CHILDREN’S CLOTHING, AND WOMEN'S LEGGINGS AND SWEATPANTS.
MIGRANT MINISTRY UPDATE: Did you know?
Our data collection has not always been as good as it is now; however, we estimate that since we started Migrant Ministry Mornings we have assisted 13,000 migrants. That is thanks to your help and donations. We know that the breakfasts are all donated food and that the cost is over $3/person. That is a lot of food. The first 6 months of 2024 we were serving about 1,000 migrants/month. That went down to about 500 migrants/month in September. With the colder weather the numbers have started to increase. During the 2nd week of October we helped about 500 people, most seeking winter gear.
Other data:
40% of adults who registered this month were coming for the 1st time.
33% of adults who came have been in the US less that 2 months.
62% of adults coming live in shelters.
The percentage of Venezuelans has dropped from 70% to 60% but Ecuadorians has increased from 12% to 23%.
We have given away a lot of shoes.
Thanks to Don Woznica for all this information.
Please consult our updated Fall/Winter Limited Migrant Ministry Donations guide. You may click on the photo of the See our Amazon Wish List HERE
MIGRANT MINISTRY UPDATE: Need help with asylum applications
It’s crunch time for many of the migrants we serve. The migrants enter this country legally as asylum seekers, protected under international law. They have one year to submit their asylum application. For many migrants who crossed the border during the surge last fall, their time is running out and many have sought assistance from Centro San Edmundo.
If you are an attorney willing to volunteer a few hours once a month with our migrant brothers and sisters, we could use your help. A specialty in immigration law is not required. We can provide an interpreter. There are two ways you can help:
- Thursday morning Legal Assistance Clinic which consists of 15-minute consults to help migrants understand their legal documents and the next steps. A bilingual support team assists with interpretation and translation of documents.
- Once-a-month Asylum Application Workshops. This is a traveling team headed by a bilingual immigration lawyer from Ascension-St Eds. A team consisting of the immigration lawyer and support personal help migrants who have completed their application in Spanish finish the process by having the lawyer review the application and then get it translated.
A week ago we hosted an Asylum Workshop at CSE. We had more than 20 applicants attend with about half of them completing their asylum application. With a second attorney we could have doubled that number. If you are able to help, contact us at [email protected].
Migrant Ministry Update
Once again we want to share some stories from the families resettled by the Migrant Ministry of Catholic Parishes of Oak Park:
Having come to us only last August, all of the families (there were 3 sharing a house) are just about independent, and all of them express such gratitude for helping them get to this point. One couple found a new place all on their own, negotiated the lease and got utilities hooked up with virtually no help, and managed their move. The two other families will continue to share the house they all were in and can cover rent because all the adults are working. The little girls are learning English at a fast clip and the baby boy is happily in a childcare setting and thriving. Everyone is moving forward with their immigration cases. These families are a testament to what an enormous difference the Migrant Ministry support can make in a very short period of time as well as the ripple effect these investments make.
One family member starts Morton Collège this week. He took a tour and was offered ESL and GED classes at no charge and two years of credit classes at no charge after completing GED.
One mother shared with us a photo of her son on his way to kindergarten. When he arrived in Chicago he was having trouble with speech and Migrant Ministry was able to find housing for the family and then provide speech therapy sessions for the son. His mom says in a text: “I am very grateful to you because without you, none of this would have been possible. God bless you all. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you are doing for us.”
If you would like to help with resettling a family, email us at [email protected] You could help by paying for all or part of the rent for a year, or you could help by mentoring a family. To donate online through GiveCentral use the link below OR send donations to St. Catherine-St Lucy and St. Giles Parish, 1025 Columbian, Oak Park, IL 60302. Include a note that the donation is for the “Migrant Ministry”. Thank you for your generous heart!
https://www.givecentral.org/customizable-online-giving/580/event/38694
Monday, Sept. 2 is Labor Day and Centro San Edmundo will not be open for donations. We will start Fall donations on Monday, Sept. 9. Spring/Summer donations have stopped but we still need the essentials such as new underwear, new socks, school uniforms, shoes (no sandals), linens, blanket and personal items.
We are in particular need of coat racks for displaying the coats we will be providing the migrants with for the upcoming winter months. Thank you!
August 2024
att: Familia Guerra Mieres
Att: Guerra Mieres family
• Assistance to start the asylum or TPS application
• Translation of birth certificates or other documents
• Change of venue for immigration court dates
• ITIN Applications
Later in the summer we hope to also include a visiting immigration attorney on a rotating basis.
If you would like to volunteer to help with this important new service please contact us at the email below.
Our asylum-seeking brothers and sisters whom we serve through the Migrant Ministry consistently refer to Centro San Edmundo (the former St Edmund School) as “la iglesia” (the church). For a long time we corrected them, explaining that the church was the building across the street with all the scaffolding, that we were located in the former school building.
Let’s Google it.
UPDATED DONATIONS FLYER:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P_7tS6lzypWEOK9Is_Mt0HlaMR7Cs8ts/view