Asylum Seekers Ministry: December 2024 Update

Who are these people?
by Barb Soricelli
December 2024

Let's begin by borrowing from a poem written by Fr. Joe Veneroso, MM, that appeared in Maryknoll Magazine not too long ago. We as Christians, who believe that all of creation including every human person is worthy of respect and dignity, will resonate with the last words of this poem.

Who are these
    clamoring to enter
    our land, our homes, our hearts?
Why are they here
    disturbing our peace?
What do they want
    from us who have more
    than enough for ourselves?
Where do they come from,
    speaking such foreign words
    we do not understand?

We suspect they come to steal, harm or kill,
    to spoil our culture
    taking advantage of our good will.
We fear most what they themselves flee:
    hunger, poverty, disease,
    violence, war, oppression.
Most of all we dislike the truth
    they reveal about ourselves,
    who put conditions on God’s
    unconditional love for all.

Jesus, it’s your face we try not to see,
    your voice we strive not to hear,
    your word we’d rather not obey.
    Help us to recognize
    they are you and
    they are us.

Jesus... Help us to recognize they are you and they are us.
We believe that these sentiments reflect what motivates those of us at St. John XXIII parish in Evanston to minister to the current influx of asylum seekers in our country currently.
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Over 1 ½ years ago the Chicago archdiocese requested that our parish accompany a Haitian family of 4 (parents and 2 boys ages 4 & 5) given we had a significant Haitian community in our parish. The parish responded generously. We applied for and received a grant from Catholic Charities. We responded to this request with a flood of parish volunteers, monetary donations, finding apartments, assisting in setting up households, stocking food pantry, finding employment once work permits were received, navigating applications for benefits, legal issues, asylum applications and so many other innumerable ways to assist them in their journey towards independence in their new country. We have done this for three families.

It has not been easy! Lots of challenges attempting to provide case management. We’ve been learning a lot! However, the joy of being of service far outweighs the difficulties.

Fortunately, our parish’s Peace and Justice committee had considerable experience with how to organize this effort. Support groups for each family we are accompanying were quickly formed; two pronged groups for each of the families we are accompanying. The first, for those who could not sustain a long term volunteer commitment but could swing into action to find apartments, set up households stock food pantries etc. The second, for keeping up contact with the family and one another through home visits, face-to-face meetings, zooms, and WhatsApp groups to coordinate ongoing efforts as described above. We committed to doing this for one year but have found that the delay in receiving work permits necessitates extending this time commitment.
As relationships developed with families, we more and more realized that perhaps their agendas were not exactly ours. We had budgeted for public transportation cards to assist them; they were intent on getting cars as soon as possible! A much more expensive proposition but understandable since it often facilitated getting work. Our expectation was that any money they would earn by working and begging, (which they were encouraged to do by the shelter personnel) would go towards paying rent and other basic needs as much as they were able. They were more focused on sending money to help their extended families who were in dire need because of conditions back home.

We are learning much about unconditional love and respecting the agency of the other!

The money from our Catholic Charites grant will soon run out but we have a considerable amount that has been given by individual donors. We are now in the process of discerning how best to spend this money assisting asylum seekers. There are several faith-based groups in the Chicago area doing this work. We want to explore partnerships. Also, we are part of Interfaith Action of Evanston with whom we would like to explore partnering. The City of Evanston was contemplating opening a shelter but would only move forward if existing church groups who are already helping asylum seekers would also be involved in the endeavor.

What will happen in January 2025 is on everyone’s minds. We pray to remain hopeful and trusting in God’s steadfast love and to act accordingly, alert to what needs to be done!

We are continuously grateful to all who have contributed to this effort.

If you would like to volunteer as part of a support group as we move forward, please contact:
Sally Arden ([email protected]), Margaret Feit Clarke ([email protected]), or Barb Soricelli ([email protected])

Learn more on our Migrant Matters page.