Welcoming the Stranger
When J and M and their three children arrived on the doorstep of the Juan Diego Center in Omaha last July it had started to rain. They spent the night outside, huddled together, in the hope that morning would bring respite for their family and help in starting a new life. A collapsing government in Venezuela, coupled with extortion, death threats, and the inability to provide a safe life for their family had brought them to Omaha. Leaving their home in Venezuela, they had traveled mostly by foot, making their way through the dangerous Darien Gap jungle in Panama, north through Central America and on to Mexico and the U.S. border. Their hope for a better life had never abandoned them. As dawn broke, the midwestern morning light brought hope by way of assistance from Juan Diego Center, Catholic Charities and a new non-profit organization, Omaha Welcomes the Stranger (OWS).
OWS began with a small group of individuals concerned about the plight of migrants. In October, 2022, Sr. Kathleen Erickson, an Omaha Sister of Mercy who had served immigrants in the El Paso/Juarez area for many years, spoke with Ruben Garcia, Director of Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas. They discussed the number of migrants who were fleeing their home countries because of violence, drought, and religious and political persecution, leading to overcrowding in Annunciation House and other El Paso shelters. Garcia requested assistance from cities throughout the country, including Omaha, asking that they shoulder some of the load in a humanitarian effort to provide these migrants with basic necessities.
In December, 2022, OWS welcomed a bus of 39 asylum seekers, consisting of 14 families from 7 Central and South American countries. OWS volunteers housed them in a local shelter, providing hospitality in the form of meals, basic health care, and assistance connecting with their sponsors throughout the United States. Within a week all the families were on their way to friends and family in the hope of starting new lives.
In early 2023 the numbers crossing the border declined and buses to midwestern cities were no longer needed. Instead, the need shifted to resettling families like J and M’s, asylum seekers who have the legal right to be here but wait for months for work permits. Because they do not have refugee status they do not qualify for assistance from government funded resettlement agencies. They are lost in the limbo of waiting: waiting for the legal right to work to provide for their families.
Since that time the volunteers of OWS have been assisting families like J and M’s, providing safety and shelter and helping them resettle here: enrolling their children in school, taking them to medical appointments where they received needed immunizations, helping the adults enroll in English classes, searching for permanent housing, and providing monetary aid for groceries and rent. Religious congregations here in Omaha, as well as outstate Nebraska, have been instrumental in supporting the mission of OWS with monetary donations and clothing, meals, transportation, and people power.
J and M are now situated in their own apartment, their children are in school and are thriving. Their 16-year old daughter, a talented soccer-player, is now coaching children’s teams! OWS continues to provide support while the adults, eager to work, wait for government-issued permits, a long and arduous process.
OWS is composed entirely of volunteers and dependent on donations to provide the shelter, food and long-term support needed by these asylum seekers resettling in Omaha. This is both a commitment and a labor of love on the part of volunteers who have become mentors for and friends with the families they serve. The gratitude expressed by these families, who are so humbled to find welcome and safety here, provides motivation for OWS to continue its ministry.
For additional information about Omaha Welcomes the Stranger, please contact us via our webform.
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