Chicago’s faith-based groups step up to house migrants

As more than 10,000 migrants have come to the city since August, overwhelming Chicago’s social services, and hundreds of families, mostly from Central and South America, continue to stay on the floor of police stations, nonprofit organizations and faith-based groups said Friday they are stepping up to help the government respond.

More than a dozen elected representatives and faith leaders gathered at a church Friday to ask for help from faith communities across the city to respond to the crisis, which deepened Friday when the Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed a migrant died that morning at a shelter in Woodlawn.

The migrant died at the former Wadsworth Elementary school building, where a temporary shelter was placed housing single individuals. Migrants told the Tribune recently they were crammed inside, sleeping close together and sharing few bathrooms.

Natalia Derevyanny, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office, told the Tribune an autopsy would likely be conducted Saturday.

The Rev. Beth Brown, pastor of Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church where the meeting was held, thanked the hundreds of volunteers who have stepped up to provide food and clothing for migrants staying at temporary shelters and police stations. She asked the thousands of faith communities in Chicago to commit to house and support those living in police stations.

Brown said that 40 years ago, her congregation partnered with Wellington United Church of Christ to provide sanctuary to people in danger of being deported. In 2019, they started housing and supporting a family of four seeking asylum. They are housing and supporting their fourth asylum-seeking family, she said.

A family of four is staying on an air mattress in a big room adjacent to the church kitchen. Another family of four lives on the floor above them.

“The cost varies depending on who’s in the group, but the financial commitment is somewhere between $600 and $900 a month if you can house them in your church, or synagogue, or mosque or temple,” she said.

Commitments would last one year, and participants would receive help with logistics and case management. She said anyone interested, faith-based or not, should go to lppchurch.org to submit an interest form.

Claudia Lucero, executive director of the Chicago Religious Leadership Network told the group that community integration goes beyond housing. She came to Chicago as a refugee, and it’s not a one-sided relationship, she said.

“It enriches both asylum-seekers, immigrants and our wider community. By fostering an environment of inclusivity, we give migrants their skills, talents and resilience,” she said.

But Brown emphasized that integration can be more complicated.

“I want to acknowledge the harm that wealth theft and neglect has reaped in some communities on the South and West sides of Chicago,” she said, acknowledging the pushback from some communities where temporary shelters have been placed in shuttered schools.

There are 10 city-run temporary shelters around the city housing 4,482 migrants, said spokeswoman Mary May in a statement Friday. Last weekend, hundreds of migrants were moved into the newest temporary shelter, at Wright College in Dunning.

Wright College has capacity for 385 and provides cots for each individual, according to the written statement from the city. It serves families with children under the age of 18.

[ Migrants moved to Park District field houses, as South Shore residents criticize city for shelter plans ]

“Decompressing the Chicago Police Department District stations is a top priority for the city,” the statement said. “As new arrivals and asylum-seekers continue to arrive in Chicago via bus and other means, city officials are working simultaneously to identify spaces to convert into temporary shelters and to assist individuals and families in identifying more permanent housing opportunities.”

Migrants are placed at different locations depending on if they are families or singles, said the statement. The “decompression” process from police stations is informed by needs such as pregnancy or other critical health conditions.

There are still 621 migrants in police districts and 17 at O’Hare International Airport, according to city data Friday. And more people arrive every day.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began sending busloads of migrants to Chicago to protest the influx coming to his state last fall.

Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared a state of emergency the week before she left office last month in response to the thousands of migrants who have settled in the city. This week, Chicago aldermen voted to spend $51 million on migrant care through June as Mayor Brandon Johnson works to get a handle on the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

[ Faces of volunteers: They provide more than donations and shelter to migrants in Chicago. They give love. ]

The cry from religious leaders and elected representatives Friday was clear. Movement from the city hasn’t been enough.

Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th, implored those listening in the airy church to answer the Rev. Brown’s call.

“There are so many solutions that we need in our own communities that government can’t or won’t provide,” she said. “And while we organize and work to change and form government to do the things we want it to do, we also need nongovernment efforts.”

Rabbi Seth Limmer founder of Open Judaism, opened his remarks by speaking about the Book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible

“It begins with 600,000 refugees taking account of themselves in the desert, with no city hall or Springfield to send resources,” he said. “How do you take account of 600,000 men plus women plus children plus the mixed multitude of people who also sought liberation alongside us?”

Instead of focusing on numbers, Limmer said people should try to focus on care and dignity.

“We elevate their heads, and we might look into their eyes and take account of their humanity as they take account of our humanity. That is what this incredible project … brings to us,” he said.

Ald. Timmy Knudsen, 43rd, spoke about his experience living in Tijuana at an LGBTQ+ shelter, conducting interviews with asylum-seekers about their journeys and the brutalities many of them faced.

On Thursday, four families staying in a police station in his ward moved to a church down the street.

“My goal is getting people out of those districts as quickly as they arrive. It’s a heavy goal, but we can only meet it with the faith community,” he said.

Zainab, an asylum-seeker from West Africa and mother of five came to the U.S. several months ago. She told the audience at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church that she came to flee violence, looking for security for herself and her children. After staying a few days at a hotel in Chicago, she was connected to several faith-based and nonprofit groups in the city, including United African Organization.

“These groups have been so very, very supportive to me and my kids,” she said. “They have helped with housing, food, transportation and many more things.”

Several people in the audience murmured “Amen” as she spoke and applauded loudly as she sat down.

Fasika Alem, programs director at United African Organization, said aid for refugees is a global issue. She read lines from a poem titled “Home” by Warsan Shire.

“No one leaves home unless home chases you. … You have to understand that no one puts their children in a boat, unless the water is safer than the land,” she said through tears.

Messages of hope and resilience were shared in English and Spanish. The speakers’ words reverberated around the church, over the red velvet carpet and high up to the stained-glass windows.

The Rev. Tom Terrell, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church of Albany Park, said he became aware of families sleeping on the ground in the 17th District station four weeks ago.

“We had no plan, we had money, we had no volunteers,” Terrell said.

Terrell said despite having no resources, they did have building space. They welcomed five families into their church.

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“It has been powerful for us to be able to offer them privacy, dignity, support and friendship. They may be with us for three months, six months or a year, but it doesn’t matter. They’re welcome as long as they need a home,” he said. “Let’s use our buildings to serve one another.”

Ald. Mike Rodriguez, 22nd, gave a brief summary of the different groups that have come to Chicago across centuries.

“Each of these migrant populations were searching for that hope in our great city. And they found it here, and they made this city a much greater city,” he said.

He said that Central and South American migrants and asylum-seekers are coming and searching for the same esperanza, or hope.

“They will be filling our classrooms. They will be essential workers. They will be a part of our society,” he said.

After the meeting, leaders thanked and hugged each other and slowly filed out of the dark church into the sunlight.

nsalzman@chicagotribune.com