El Paso, Texas – Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua

Donation Goal: $44,000

The situation at the U.S. – Mexico border has devolved into a humanitarian crisis, and one of the largest hot-spots is El Paso – Ciudad Juárez, with a combined population of over 2.7 million people, it is the second largest binational metropolitan area on the southern border.  Thousands of refugees and migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. have been expelled to Mexico or prevented from entering the states, leaving families stranded at the border.

These families are seeking a better life – escaping lives of poverty and violence – and would face great personal risk by returning home.  Exacerbating the dangers these families face, Juárez has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the refugees are among the most vulnerable to exposure.

The Oscar Romero Shelter (Casa San Oscar Romero) helps refugees stranded in Juárez that need food, shelter, medicine, legal assistance, counseling, and educational resources for their children.  Nearly thirty refugees currently live at the shelter, with over half of them children. The shelter also assists other stranded migrants in temporary living situations with mattresses and bedding, clothing, and other basic needs. Operated by Fr. Carl Quebedeaux, a Claretian priest, Casa San Oscar Romero desperately needs financial support to help the growing numbers of refugees at the shelter.

The immigrants at Casa San Oscar Romero are from Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.  They are honest, hardworking people.  Although it is difficult to find jobs in Juárez, the migrants work at factories and as day-laborers, sending the majority of their pay to their families in their homelands.

Donations will help provide the following in 2021:

• Shelter, $24,000: Monthly utilities including electricity and water.  There is only one bathroom at the shelter: another needs to be built.  The structure is largely unimproved, and needs additional rooms.
• Food, $9,600: Refugees currently subsist on basic supplies of rice and beans. $800 per month would afford fresh eggs, milk, fruit, and vegetables.
• Education, $6,400: 12 Surface-Pro tablets for remote learning, and books and related school supplies.
• Medicine, $1000:  Basic medicines and PPE to protect the refugees from COVID-19.
• Basic living needs, $1000: blankets, pillows, mattresses, and clothing.
  Therapy, $1000: Many migrants have been through traumatic experiences including violence and murder, and separation from family and loved ones.
• Legal aid, $2000: U.S. lawyers for asylum hearings.