Five years ago, UCE sponsored a Syrian refugee family—the Haj Khalafs.  We learned recently that Fatoum (the mother) will welcome her sister Ghufran Bakir, to the U.S. on September 2 along with her three children Ryaan, 13; Hatty, 12; and Talib, 8.  Ghufran, was widowed in the war, and has spent the last eight years in a refugee camp in Turkey. They are delighted to be reunited.   

A few members of the congregation and the Immigrant Solidarity Team would like to help the new family.  Our goal is to raise $5000 (or more) that will help them pay their rent for 4 or more months. The settlement agency that works with them has a very limited budget for 2 months of rent. Ghufran will need to learn English and get a job so she can provide for her children. The young adult Haj Khalafs will try to help the family out, but their finances are quite limited. Any amount, large or small will help them 

To donate to the refugee family 

1. Send a check made out to UCE to the church and write Refugee Family Fund in the memo line.   
2. You can also go to the Web site and choose GIVE in the top line (donate here). Follow the directions and put the amount in the Refugee Family Fund box.   

After the family arrives, we’ll have a better idea of exactly what they’ll need outside of rent. The immediate need will be school clothes and supplies. They will no doubt need help learning English. We will keep you posted as to specific needs in the newsletter and on the UCE Facebook pages. 

Thank you in advance for your generosity. May it bring joy to you. Reach out to one of us with any questions (our email addresses are in Realm). 

By Jeanne Kerl and Jane Kenamore

You may recall that UCE made a contribution from Endowment Funds last summer to help support Chalice House, a home associated with Countryside UU Church, which was made available for a family seeking asylum.  Here is some holiday news from them, which we hope will warm your season.  Please note that if you would like, there is an opportunity for individual donations for Christmas.  (See below.) 

Thank You from the Immigrant Solidarity Team. 

Family Update and Christmas 
We are happy to report that the family thoroughly enjoyed their Thanksgiving meal and was very grateful for the generous gift card to Eurofresh grocery. Thanks to all who contributed.

We’re hoping to make the Chalice House family’s first holiday season in the United States extra special, and we’d love your help and holiday spirit!

The family, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, celebrates Christmas, and the mentor team would like to provide them with some holiday cookies, a Christmas Eve and Christmas morning meal, and a few gifts. For more details, please visit this  SignUpGenius.  Donations of just a few dollars will help make their spirits bright.

“Nothing short of astounding” 

As you have no doubt noticed, immigration is in the news a lot lately.  On the positive side, a recent court ruling reinstated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; and President-elect Biden has pledge to renew and expand DACA protections and raise the refugee limit SEVENFOLD to 125,00 per year.

However, the need for community housing such as Chalice House will likely increase as a result of Biden’s pledge to rescind the “Remain in Mexico” program – which has tens of thousands of migrants with asylum claims at the U.S. – Mexico border, some living in tent cities that resemble refugee camps.

News like this only makes us more grateful than ever to know that with your support, we are able to provide one family with a home where they are safe and secure, and can work their way towards independence.  The Community Housing model is a good one. In fact, on a recent update call, the case manager from ICDI (Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants) said that what he’s seeing with the family in Chalice House is “nothing short of astounding.”

With that, we wish you a peaceful holiday season, and a healthy, happy new year.

Welcome to the Immigrant Solidarity Team Choose Your Own Adventure Newsletter Article! Below you will find a list of projects from last church year, which the IST sponsored. If any of these activities are of interest to you, and/or if you would like to participate in future, similar actions, join us! We meet on the third Saturday of the month, nearly every month.

A. Register New Citizens to Vote. Members of IST have participated in efforts by ICIRR to register newly naturalized citizens to vote. Learn more.

B. Oscar Chacon discussion on the causes of migration out of the Northern Triangle countries. IST sponsored a talk and discussion by Oscar Chacon, founder of Alianza Americas, on the causes for migration from the Northern Triangle countries.  More than 60 people attended.  This discussion led us to begin efforts to contact Senators Duckworth and Durbin and Congresswoman Schakowsky to discuss issues related to immigrants and immigration.  Also, a grant for $500 was applied for and approved to be given to Alianza Americas from our Endowment Fund. Learn more about Alianza Americas.

C. Shared plate for ICIRR. Requested that ICIRR become a shared plate recipient; the SRT approved this for June, 2020. Worked with Eileen to develop and participate in the Labor Day Immigrant themed service. Autumn, 2019:  Coat drive to provide cold weather jackets for migrants arriving in Chicago without appropriate clothing for our winter climate. Check out ICIRR.

D. Team Brownsville Shared Plate recipient. Requested of Carol Neilsen that Team Brownsville be a part of the Shared Plate contributions for November.  Carol kindly and enthusiastically agreed. Learn more about Team Brownsville.

E. Meeting with Representative Schakowsky. November, 2019:  Met with PASO and Representative Schakowsky to discuss immigration issues and conditions in Matamoros, Mexico.

G. Micro-education regarding Resistbot. December, 2019:  Held micro-education sessions with UCE members regarding how to use Resistbot to advocate against the Migrant Protection Protocol, aimed at harming migrants at the border with Mexico.

H. Supported Countryside Church efforts to establish Chalice House for asylees. Held meetings with members of members of Countryside Countryside Church, to support their efforts to open Chalice House as a temporary place for asylees to live while they await determination of their status.  Applied for and received a grant from the Endowment Committee to support these efforts of Countryside in this regard. Learn more about Chalice House.

F & I. Partnership with PASO & Water for Matamoros encampment of migrants. Met with Betty Alzamora from PASO regarding the conditions in Matamoros. Applied for and received a grant to pay for Team Brownsville to help provide potable water for migrants.

J. Donated Spanish books to Centro Romero. We delivered about 200 Spanish books to Centro Romero. Learn more about Centro Romero.

K & L. Helped inform immigrants of West Rogers Park of free health care options and about the census process and its importance. Met with Daniel Boone Elementary School principal and staff to plan and hold meetings to encourage parents to participate in the census.  Online efforts to the same end since the closing of school due to Covid 19.  Also requested that Boone principal to make sure that residents of that residents of that neighborhood in West Rogers Park are aware of the medical services offered by Heartland Clinic, which does not require payment of documentation for medical care, and that they are reminded of the need to complete the Census. Check out the Boone Newsletter.

M. Informed UCE members of opportunitiy to assist in Chalice House preparation. Requested assistance from UCE members to prepare and support Chalice House for the asylees. Check out this letter from the Chalice House Organizers below.

From Chalice House

Dear Chalice House Supporters, 

We are happy to report that the family – mom, dad, and 3-year-old daughter – is all settled into Chalice House!  The mentor team and ICDI case manager, Ryan, gave them a warm welcome and have spent some time getting them familiar with the home and the neighborhood. They are enjoying the park district walking trail down the road, the forest preserve, and the neighboring playground. While we can’t share more specifics to protect privacy and confidentiality, please know that all of your help, support, and contributions is very much appreciated.

Now that they are settled we’ve identified a few more needs that are unfilled. A few practical items like bikes (to go back and forth from the grocery — so a basket would be helpful too!), shoes and bed rails for the toddler are needed as soon as possible.

View the Sign Up HERE. 

IMPORTANT: Items should not be delivered to the home. Instead, donations can be delivered as follows:

• Drop off at Countryside (North door) on Friday August 14 from 10 – 11 AM
• Drop off at Countryside (North door) on Saturday August 15 from noon –  1 PM
• Drop off at Countryside (North door) on Sunday August 23 from 1 – 2:30 PM
• We’ll be happy to arrange another time for drop off OR pick things up from you up if these times aren’t convenient for you. Email us at ChaliceHouse@ccuu.org.

To Learn More About the Congo
If you are interested in learning about their home country, ICDI recommends King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild.  The book is available from this independent book store in Woodstock (nominal shipping fee) as well as from Amazon and other retailers. We are considering doing a study group based on the book in the fall; please email ChaliceHouse@ccuu.org if you would be interested in that.

Other Help Needed
We want to extend a huge thank you to Kathy Millin at Partners for our Community (POC) for inviting the family to POC yesterday to shop in the community store for clothing and food. If you are in a position to make some donations, Kathy tells us that the POC food pantry is really in need now. Like people everywhere, many of our neighbors face food insecurity challenges, and the pantry helps them feed their family and pay other bills.  Kathy suggests items like cornmeal, cornstarch, in addition to rice, beans, canned fruit, cereal and shelf-stable protein (tuna, peanut butter, etc.) “Your Chalice House family was searching to find those cultural foods and I am sure others would appreciate those also!”  Items can be dropped off at POC on Thursdays from 9 – 11 AM, or bring them to Countryside at any of the times listed above and we will make sure to get them over to POC right away. POC is located at 1585 North Rand Road — across from the McDonald’s on Rand Road just south of Dundee. Drive around to the southside of the POC building where volunteers are working the pantry.

Peace to you, 
Laura and Christine, Co-Chairs, Chalice House

You may have heard about Chalice House from previous articles in the newsletter.  It is a house owned by Countryside Church in which asylum seekers will live while they await determination of their application for asylum.  The UCE Endowment Committee approved an Immigrant Solidarity Team application for $1,800 to support these efforts.  We are very grateful to have had a chance to help with these efforts. 

Here is their letter announcing the readiness of the house and thanking us for our support: 

Dear Reverend Eileen and Joe, 

We are delighted to let you know that Chalice House is now ready for its new residents!  While we had hoped to celebrate with you in person, instead please enjoy watching the transformation in this video:  Chalice House. 

 
Literally hundreds of repairs and improvements have been made over the past couple of months. As you may know, due to Covid-19 restrictions, we had a smaller team do most of the work, but UCE along with many, many people and organizations also contributed by donating time, talent, furnishings, supplies and funding.     

Please extend our gratitude and share this good news with everyone at UCE. Your early interest and enthusiasm for the project helped us build momentum, and the 2020 financial support is greatly appreciated. 

ICDI is now taking steps to match Chalice House with a family who needs housing while they seek asylum in the United States. We will share more just as soon as we can.

More information about Chalice House is available here, and as always, if you have any questions or ideas for us, please don’t hesitate to contact us at ChaliceHouse@ccuu.org.

Gratefully,

Laura Mandell and Christine Organ
Co-Chairs, Chalice House