Volunteer Opportunities and Events
WHAT: Working with several faith communities to provide meals, clothing, and needed assistance for migrant children and their families passing through and settling in our area.
There are many opportunities to help migrants in our city. Email socialjustice@stmarks.net for more information.
For all those who see “home” and all it means disappear behind them,
For all those who cannot see a home in the days ahead of them,
For all those who dwell in daily insecurity,
For all those who are weary and without a safe place to rest their heads,
For all families in migration,
We pray.
May the image of the Holy Family fleeing oppression stay with us as we enter each new day,
And stay with us each night as we are blessed with returning to a home.
May we be blessed with compassion for those still weary, still seeking, still with so far to go.
In the spring of 2022, the governors of Texas and Arizona began sending asylum seekers from Central and South America to northern cities, including Washington, D.C. To date, we believe that more than 11,000 men, women, and children have been bused to our city with little more than the clothes on their back.
Several neighbor churches on Capitol Hill stepped up to be respite sites for these travelers could get a good meal, select from donated clothing items, charge their cellphones, and receive guidance and assistance for the next part of their journeys.
St. Mark’s volunteers have been working at the Welcome Centers providing meals and other needed assistance to those living here in hotels and shelters. Many helped at summer camps for migrant children living in city shelters.
HERE ARE WAYS YOU CAN GET INVOLVED:
- DELIVERING FOOD AND OTHER ESSENTIALS TO FAMILIES:
FOOD JUSTICE DMV – Email Julie Murphy at juliaabbotmurphy@gmail.com to find out how you can help distribute food to migrant families in Virginia, Maryland and DC through this vital organization.
CLOTHES SORTING – Email Holly Kreutter at hkreutts@hotmail.com to sort clothes donated for migrant families. This occurs weekly on Monday afternoons at a Capitol Hill church and on Saturday mornings at a location in DC.
Find other ways to help at dcmigrantmutualaid.org/volunteer.
- ACCOMPANYING MIGRANTS TO ICE CHECK-INS AND IMMIGRATION COURT and COURT WATCH
MIGRANT ACCOMPANIMENT – Email Holly Kreutter at hkreutts@hotmail.com to find out how you can be trained to accompany migrants to their immigration check-ins and court appearances. These legal proceedings are highly stressful and consequential, and your presence can be a balm in the midst of trauma.
IMMIGRATION COURT WATCH: Show solidarity with immigrant neighbors by presence in court. Serve as civic witness to inform advocacy and policy and raise awareness. Hyattsville Interfaith Immigration Court Monitoring Group. Contact: Julie or Holly.
- POST DETENTION CARE POD
CARE POD: Late last year, a grandmother, mother and two school-age children lost 4 wage-earning family members to deportation to Venezuela. Through Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid (MSMA), St. Mark’s was matched with this family. If you would like to know more or find ways that you could help, email Mary at marysmiller@gmail.com or Julie at juliaabbotmurphy@gmail.com.
If you would like to receive regular emails about opportunities to serve and to advocate for the migrant community, email Julie at juliaabbotmurphy@gmail.com.