Catholic Charities, Diocese of Camden has been selected as one of just eight Catholic Charities agencies across the country to participate in a pilot program designed to support migrants who are being relocated.
“The Border is Everywhere” is an initiative of Catholic Charities USA designed “to ensure asylum-seekers – individuals and families – are properly referred from border communities to an interior city destination where they will receive ongoing support and social services, including access to legal assistance.”
Along with four Catholic Charities agencies along the southern border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, the program includes four interior agencies – with Camden being one of them, beginning in September for a one-year period.
“Catholic Charities Camden will have a better understanding of the migrants coming to our community,” says Jose Sanchez, director of community services for the Immigration, Refugee and Migrants Program. “Some of these people are already here and looking for us. Because of this pilot program, we will be made aware that migrants are resettling in South Jersey.”
In the past, Sanchez explains, migrants could arrive in South Jersey without any type of referral to Catholic Charities Diocese of Camden.
“They would end up at their relative’s house, friend’s house or so on,” he says. Eventually, they might find their way to Sanchez’s office to request support, and would then start the process of meeting with staff and finding out what services they would be eligible to receive.
“The Border is Everywhere” program would streamline the process to ensure more prompt support and outreach, with Catholic Charities USA contacting Camden’s Catholic Charities staff when migrants are on their way for relocation to South Jersey.
“Instead of waiting, we would be proactive, and we would make a phone call to them,” Sanchez says.
Volunteers are being sought to support this initiative through contacting clients, finding out what services they might already be receiving, and helping to identify possible needs. Information gleaned by volunteers through those contacts would then be shared with staff to ensure the asylum-seekers receive comprehensive support.
“Cubans, Haitians, Guatemalan, Hondurans, Ukrainians, among others, are making South Jersey and the Diocese of Camden’s service area their home, [and] this makes them our neighbor,” Sanchez says.
Those interested in volunteering can email Sanchez at jose.sanchez@camdendiocese.org. “We see them [newcomers] as people who are coming as our neighbors,” he says. “We give them the utmost respect and allow them to maintain their dignity while they are receiving services.”
Sanchez says there are also migrants in South Jersey who don’t know they qualify for services such as Refugee Cash Assistance, Medicaid, nutrition assistance, English as a Second Language classes and employment services.
“Others want to live quietly without raising eyebrows and get singled out,” Sanchez adds. “By doing this, they remain the poorest of the poor in our communities.”
Kevin Hickey, executive director of Catholic Charities Diocese of Camden, says the program “is meant to provide a continuum of care beginning at the border and then a handoff to the interior agency.”
Reflecting on Camden’s selection as one of very few agencies to participate, he spoke to the steadfast commitment of his team to support their newest neighbors in South Jersey.
“I think our commitment to recognize and serve Christ in the immigrant, the refugee, and the migrant and our recognition of their innate dignity is very clear to Catholic Charities USA,” Hickey says. “And, the resources that we have spent from our own treasure is likewise a reflection of our holy compulsion to serve the abandoned and excluded.”
What You Can Do
Catholic Charities Diocese of Camden is seeking volunteers for “The Border is Everywhere” program. Volunteers will be trained to contact asylum-seekers once they arrive in South Jersey to identify what services they are in need of. For more information, email jose.sanchez@camdendiocese.org.
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