Shelter entrance near the portable showers
Thank you!
We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your prayerful and financial support of our Assumptionist mission and apostolic works in the United States and around the world, especially for this new project. With your generosity, we have raised $2,000 so far, but our goal for the complete showers still lies far ahead. Please read about the project below, and feel free to share this newsletter with your family and friends. We understand that not everyone can give financially, but spreading the word is one of the best ways to support this goal!
The construction of the new showers in the former archive room
New Showers for Migrants
The Augustinians of the Assumption serve our vagrant brothers and sisters by operating a migrant shelter at the St. Francis Xavier parish in El Paso, Texas, just a few hundred feet from the border with Mexico. When migrants leave the detention centers after many weeks of deplorable conditions, shelters like our own provide a welcoming refuge. A number Assumptionists have dedicated their lives to taking migrants under their wing by leading the St. Francis Xavier parish community in providing a safe shelter, warm meals, clothing, and prayer for the men, women, and families who stay for a few days before continuing their journeys to their U.S. sponsors.
Our shelter is currently using four portable showers that were installed in September 2021 thanks to your generous donations. However, these showers are located in an alleyway and do not have changing rooms or enough privacy for our migrants. Additionally, we must pay a monthly fee for these showers.
In two weeks, we hope to begin building three new showers in our shelter. They will include a changing room for more privacy, free up more space on the parish grounds, and will save us money in the long run, as there will be no monthly fee. Most importantly, these new showers will support us in creating a safer and more comfortable environment for the migrants and staff.
A young man in his 30’s arrived at our shelter in El Paso in March 2022, after fleeing his home country of Nicaragua due to the political turmoil and lack of human rights. “It’s very risky and difficult to get here,” he expressed. “It’s very sad because you have to pass through many countries, and when you get inspected by the immigration law enforcement and the cartels, some are lucky, and some are not. It’s very tiring; you travel by day and by night, and you pass through very dangerous places. So we fear for our lives, and we fear for our families.” When he arrived at our shelter after the unpredictable journey, he told us, “Well, I feel at home here; I do! As some friends and I were just saying, for me, you are angels that God has placed on our journey, because God does not abandon anyone.”
This is just one story of so many who face pain and heartache as they travel to the States, and once they arrive, we strive to provide them with a safe and restful shelter. Think of how many migrants, after being treated like animals elsewhere, would feel welcome with a clean shower, a changing room with clean clothes, and with medical attention.
It will take us $11,700 to complete this project, and we could never provide this care without your help. We take this moment to invite you to contribute to this project financially, as well as through prayer and spreading the word. Your generous donation will help us show God’s love to the migrants and uphold their dignity as they navigate such an oppressive journey. You have the opportunity to become an angel of hope for those who feel alone, abandoned, and believe that people do not care about their suffering. Please help us in showing that God’s love is with our brothers and sisters. Know that we continue to remember the migrants and you, their supporters, in our daily prayers.
Thank you for your prayers and generosity!