Comunidad Ignaciana in Massachusetts Raises Support to Help Provide Healthcare to Migrants at the US-Mexico Border
By Zandra Schiemann | Leer en español.
Fr. Francisco Javier Calvillo Salazar (Photo courtesy of Casa del Migrante in Juárez, Mexico)
The Office of Ignatian Spirituality’s Comunidades Hispanas Ignacianas are small groups of adults who gather to pray, accompany one another on their spiritual journeys, and put their faith into action.
After considerable discernment and searching for something to do as a group, the Comunidad Ignaciana at the Parish of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, settled on a concrete way they could work together as a group for the promotion of justice.
The Comunidad recently met via Zoom with Fr. Francisco Javier Calvillo Salazar, director of the Casa del Migrante in Juárez, Mexico, about his work and the needs of the Casa.
The Casa del Migrante has been serving migrants on the US-Mexico border for nearly 36 years. They consistently serve between 240 and 280 people who have been deported or are seeking asylum but have no place to stay and no food to eat.
Photo courtesy of Casa del Migrante in Juárez, Mexico.
The Casa has faced new challenges brought on by the pandemic and has had to adapt. Migrants, some arriving alone and others with their families, have had to remain there for more than seven months without knowing when or how their situations will be resolved.
This, of course, has increased the need for basic services, especially in caring for the health and safety of those staying at the Casa. At the same time, circumstances are making it difficult to procure the necessary food supply, which has led to a major effort to ensure that everyone at the Casa is adequately fed daily.
The Casa is also facing a lack of financial resources to pay medical staff to care for those who are sick.
At their meeting, the Comunidad at St. Ignatius Parish saw an opportunity to help. They are currently raising money each month to help pay for medical staff hours that are so needed.
This effort by the Comunidad has meant a lot to members and has brought the group together in such a way that led one of the participants to say, “Now we are truly a community.”
Donations to the Casa del Migrante in Juarez can be made via Paypal at paypal.me/casamigrantejuarez.
Photos courtesy of Casa del Migrante in Juárez, Mexico.