An ad hoc group of friars continues to quietly help newly arrived refugee families that are resettling in Westchester County and the metro New York area.

The Province began its collaboration with Hearts & Homes for Refugees, an interfaith non-profit from Pelham, N.Y., in 2018. Over the years, we have provided short-term material aid to families that the U.S. government has welcomed here from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine, as well as a few countries from Central America. We have provided everything from store gift cards and MetroCard passes to clothing, computers, home furnishings, hygiene items, medical equipment, and temporary rental assistance. In all, we have provided thousands of dollars’ worth of material aid to at least a dozen families.

Currently, we are supporting a family of seven from Afghanistan that has found a home in Elmsford, N.Y., next to White Plains. The family is here on a Special Immigrant Visa that they were granted because of the services they rendered in support of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. To date, we have donated about $300.00 in debit cards and MetroCards, and we purchased another $230.00 in home furnishings, including a prayer rug. We thank our ad hoc team of Fr. John McHugh, Fr. Jack Rathschmidt, Br. Terence Taffe, and Br. Anthony Zuba for coordinating the delivery of material assistance. In addition, Brother Anthony is working with the cohort of lay volunteers from Hearts & Homes for Refugees to find employment for the father and show the family how to use public transportation as they apply for driver’s licenses.

Also, Father John has worked with Fr. Robert Abbatiello and Sacred Heart High School to involve the students in Hearts & Homes for Refugees. With the support of Kyle O’Donnell and Georgina Nieves, the principal and assistant principal, the students are forming an extracurricular club, Students for Refugees, to welcome and support newly arrived families.

Also, thanks to Father Robert and Father John, the former convent for the Sisters of St. Agnes (who used to teach in the grade school and high school) has been repurposed as a temporary storage space for furniture and other household items collected by Hearts & Homes for Refugees. These items are held here until just-arrived families are ready to move into their new homes.

To support the provincial refugee ministry, please send donations to the Province of St. Mary, Mission & Development Office, 110 Shonnard Place, Yonkers, NY 10703, and write “Provincial Refugee Ministry” in the memo line of your check. Thank you.