New Year's Update

Happy New Year! I am so excited to share that ICSJ’s Refugee Ministry is starting off strong in 2025 with a new financial co-sponsorship for a family resettling in the Chicago area.

You may remember at the end of last year, we collected items for a family of six who recently resettled in West Rogers Park. We also connected the family with “New Neighbors” from our very own ICSJ parish community, Dan and Kim Stolze and Jaime and Maria Valle, to help them get settled into their new life in Chicago! These efforts are through our partners at Exodus World Service who support newly resettled families with many supportive services like home furnishing, ESL classes, tutoring, and facilitating social connections between Chicagoans and their program participants. Exodus World Service works with other local agencies who work to resettle the families that eventually enter EWS’s program. One of these agencies is Refugee One.

This month, we are financially co-sponsoring the resettlement of a refugee family through Refugee One with the generous donations we have collected from our ICSJ community over the years. Over the next six months, we will be getting updates on the family we have helped sponsor as they settle into their new home and life in Chicago! To learn more about Refugee One and the good work they do, check out their website: https://refugeeone.org .

If you are interested in ways to contribute to our refugee ministry, we have several avenues for you to get involved!

1. Purchase one of the items on our Welcome to America Pack Amazon list.

2. Get on our “Call List” for volunteers to set up new apartments for resettling families using our collected items from the Welcome to America Packs.

3. Become a New Neighbor through Exodus World Service and accompany a newly resettled family through their first months in Chicago.

4. Donate money to our Refugee Ministry fund for family resettlement co-sponsorship through Refugee One.

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have about the Refugee Ministry or to get involved!

Peace, Elly
erodriguez@icsjparish.org

Meet our 10th Refugee Family!

We are so excited to share with you a bit of an introduction to the sweet family I’ve been spending time with as a refugee volunteer - the Thabit family; a father, mother, and 4 year old boy. They waited 9 long years in Jordan after fleeing their home country of Yemen and finally made it safely to Chicago. Because of all of this, there is a nearly tangible, overflowing spirit of gratitude when you’re around them.

The time my sons and I have spent with them has been seriously wonderful. I expected the first meeting to be a little awkward - just meeting one another, not speaking the same language, and having an Exodus World Service representative present to kind of explain to us how this all works - but I was wrong. When my two sons and I arrived at the door of their apartment the mother was instantly helping me take my baby out of the carrier and kissing his feet and the father was introducing their son to my 2 year old. And now, with each visit that passes, we are more comfortable with one another, and it feels like we are spending time with friends.

Conversation is still tricky of course, and we mostly use Google Translate, but I can see improvement each week in their English! They are taking English classes Monday - Thursday. The last time we visited the father said to me, “Won’t it be amazing years from now when we can talk to each other without a phone?!”. When we are there, the mother loves on my baby, makes us food and tea, and together she and I try to keep our 2 and 4 year olds from climbing on everything, potentially breaking something, and we are continually cleaning up their crumbs. There is plenty of shaking our heads and laughing together. The father mans the phone to help us all communicate because we have our hands occupied with the little ones, and plays with the two older boys who are usually racing trucks or trying to stick their tongues into the standing fan.

If I’m being honest, I word-vomited when I said I would volunteer with this family - their arrival happened so quickly and I knew they needed a volunteer quickly and the words “I’ll do it” just spilled out, despite my feeling that life was too crazy and busy already. But, as these things usually go, you later realize it was the Holy Spirit getting you right where you’re supposed to be. Here are a couple of photos from our most recent visit - we celebrated their son’s 4th birthday and took a walk to a nearby park.

Thanks to your generosity, ICSJ’s refugee fund made it possible to pay for the first three months of their rent and basic furniture for their apartment. This was coordinated through the resettlement agency, Catholic Charities. The family is now being assisted by both Catholic Charities and Exodus World Service as they continue to make Chicago their new home. They are so willing and eager to learn, I know they will do well here, but please keep them in your prayers.

While they don’t ask me for anything, there are some things they’ve needed since their arrival. Through a couple of moms groups I’m in, and more work of the Holy Spirit/their generosity, I’ve been able to provide them with a dresser, a nightstand, and a tv. The family would also like to have a cart for their groceries, as they are walking to and from the store, and some sort of a water filter. In addition, any books or toys or clothes for a 4 year old boy would be so appreciated. If you would like to donate any of these items or provide the funds for me to purchase them, please don’t drop them at the church, but rather contact me at the parish office.

— Allie Klazura, Outreach Ministries Coordinator

More U.S. Citizens!

In December of 2022, our first ‘Pioneer Refugee’ family’s father became a U.S. Citizen. We are thrilled to share that his wife became a citizen in November, enabling their minor children to gain their citizenship also! They are grateful beyond words for the love and support from our ICSJ family of families since their arrival from Kabul, Afghanistan nearly seven years ago where the father had worked with our US Military. He has been employed consistently since their arrival, the mother has beautifully managed the family, and the children have been model students and great athletes at their schools.

We Have Our Second Refugee Family!!

And they are from Burma (or, as it was renamed in 1989, Myanmar). The country struggled under military rule for over 50 years till Aung San Suu Kyi, the former Prisoner of Conscience, won an overwhelming electoral victory in 2015. However, the military is not letting go—they redrafted the Constitution so she could only be “State Counselor,” not President.

So the problems continue. According to UNICEF, over 150 kids under the age of five die every day unnecessarily; 2.2 million are affected by violence; the military blocks aid deliveries along the borders; the use of children as soldiers escalates as the military steps up its persecution of various groups and ethnic cleansing is occurring along the country’s borders.

But out of this chaos, via a number of years in Malaysia, our new family arrived in Chicago in April. At that time, Catholic Charities was unable to identify a sponsoring Parish so they used money from their refugee emergency fund. But thanks to the generous support of our ICSJ family, we can use our contributions to replenish their emergency fund AND begin to help this family.

Which consists of 3.5 persons right now! The father, Aa Ka; the mother, Nan Htwe who is expecting their second child (a girl!); and their (almost) two-year-old son Tristan Sai. Aa Ka, who speaks some English, completed 10th grade and worked both as a general laborer and waiter. He does not have a job here as yet, but Catholic Charities is trying to place him at O’Hare in food service or janitorial work. His wife was a farmer in Burma where she completed 8th grade but, as of yet, speaks no English. They are living in Rogers Park, in the same building where another refugee family—from Somalia—will be moving in next month.

How can you help?

As happened with our Afghan family in Skokie, our Refugee Committee stepped up to offer their help to this family, so we think we have enough volunteers to cover once-a-week visits. However, we welcome any/all interested Parishioners in this effort as, we all know, life sometimes interferes with the best laid plans and we could be in need of extra hands next week.

Those who can’t contribute their time, however, might consider donating items that each family needs. Our next update will include some specific items for the Burma family; the few items below would be extremely helpful for our Afghan family. One of our most dedicated volunteers, Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend, has already offered them a swing set and activity gym.

Items Still Needed by Our Afghan Family

• A Bicycle with a Basket — so the father can more efficiently do the grocery shopping.

• Floor fans — for the upcoming Chicago summer.

• Soccer and/or basketballs — for the eight and ten year old boys.

• Legos — for all the kids!

Angela Gore, Assistant to the Pastor, is our Go-To person for any donations and can be reached at (312) 787-7144, ext. 2112 or agore@icsjparish.org. For any questions/suggestions, please email Betty Woodward at betdmiowa@gmail.com.

We Surpassed Our Fundraising Goal!

Thank you to all who recently contributed to our Refugee Family Collection. We were able to raise $20,469 to support the family that arrived in Chicago on March 29 from Afghanistan—far surpassing the $8,000 we needed. Besides this incredible financial support, so many of our parishioners have graciously offered to help the family get settled and adjusted in our big city, and offered other services as well.

The response has been phenomenal. Thank you for your generosity and support. This has been a great hallmark of our Lenten journey this year.