Collaboration at the Border
Mary Ryan-Hotchkiss – Portland Chapter
While working this April at the Casa del Refugiado (CDR), one of the Annunciation House’s migrant refuges, we were impressed by the collaboration we saw in El Paso. Rueben Garcia, who founded Annunciation House about 40 years ago, oriented us at the beginning of our term of service.
The Annunciation House has survived for all those years because of collaboration with many organizations. Rueben talked about going to various towns and cities in the Southwest, even as far as Denver, to build a network of organizations who provide services to migrants. When the numbers of migrants released by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) become too great for the El Paso refuges to handle, some are sent by bus to other locations to connect with their sponsors across the US.
The value of collaboration between various groups was also evident at CDR. Volunteers to CDR come from across the US. When we worked at CDR, we met lay volunteers from Albuquerque, Seattle, Pennsylvania, New York, and Kansas. Especially since the Leadership Conference of Women Religious called for women religious to assist with the crisis at the Border a few years ago, many nuns have been serving at various refuges in El Paso. Besides several Maryknoll Sisters, we met a member of the Sisters of Loretto and a Franciscan at CDR.
Sr. Janet Hockman, MM, and Coralis Salvador, MKLM
Sr. Janet Miller, MM, and Sr. Deirdre Griffin, SSJ
Sr. Dierdre Griffin, SSJ, who lives at the Marist-Maryknoll House, is collaborating by serving with the Maryknoll Lay Missioners. She participates in the El Paso Maryknoll community and does legal work at Las Americas in El Paso, another collaboration. Her order, The Sisters of St. Joseph, is also exploring ministry at the Border.
Many churches besides Catholic churches in El Paso provide resources and volunteers to CDR. Volunteers frequently drop off donations of clothing, toys, diapers, etc. The Salvation Army prepares and delivers to CDR most of the fresh-cooked food for three meals a day and provides plates, utensils, and drinks. The El Paso Food Bank provides milk and other items. I saw peanut butter provided by the Mormons. Barbara, who shepherds the donated clothing distribution at CDR, attends a local evangelical church.
Two Marist brothers in El Paso are now collaborating with the Maryknoll Lay Missioners by providing several of them housing and a like-minded community. Brother Eduardo Navarro De La Torre (Lalo) , who also serves at CDR, told us that the Marist order researched various locations in Mexico and the US Border when deciding where they might serve the most vulnerable. They chose El Paso because the needs certainly were there, and because they saw that so many institutions in El Paso were collaborating. And the El Pasoans welcomed them.
Symbol of the Marists, which graces the chapel altar cloth at Marist-Maryknoll House
Brother Lalo showed us the Spanish prayer book used each morning in their backyard chapel.
Brother Lalo points out the Holy Child, a refugee in Egypt, painted in an alcove of the Marist-Maryknoll House.
Other Maryknoll Lay Missioners in El Paso, Debbie Northern and Coralis Salvador, collaborate with Todd Patenaude, a Marist Brother, on Encuentro, a border immersion/education program for high school or college students and for adults. Encuentro was started by a Jesuit, Father Rafael Garcia, and the Marist Bothers. Debbie also assists with finding volunteers for the Jesuit JRS/USA Migrant Accompaniment Network which encourages groups and individuals in communities across the US to accompany migrants in their area. http://www.jrsusa.org/jrs-usa-migrant-accompaniment-network/
At CDR, volunteers Mary and Manny Hotchkiss addressed mountains of daily laundry from
over 100 guests.
When we were at CDR, Manny and I appreciated the breadth of the community that serves the migrants. We encourage more Affiliates to collaborate in El Paso by volunteering or by providing needed items. See their web site for more information: https://annunciationhouse.org/.