Guest Welfare

Along with weekly rotations, permanent rotations, and several 8-hour shifts, each volunteer is paired up with a guest to make sure he or she doesn't get stuck in a rut and is following a concrete plan. This ensures that there is a constant cycle of guests in the house and that there is enough space for new arrivals. Right now, I have three guests, a low number due to the lack of people in the house. For some people, being a Contact Volunteer is more hands off. However, I sometimes feel like a case worker, often doing things that I'm definitely not trained to do.

Although we have a lot of Social Security women, who I've mentioned before, I thought I would tell the stories of other guests at Annunciation House, so you guys could get an idea of who stays here.


Laura

In the past month, I've gotten to know Laura, a young mother of two, fairly well. I was briefly her Contact Volunteer while our House Coordinator was on vacation and was able to talk to her about her situation. She and her husband come from Ciudad Juarez, just over the border. Her husband was unable to find stable work there, so the two of them crossed over. Her children (I believe) are US citizens, and so are able to access social services like Medicaid.

While they've been at A-House, they've been able to save up enough money to rent an apartment. In talking to Laura recently, she seemed excited at the chance to finally be independent and able to provide a home for her kids, Andrea and Kenia.

However, this past week, her husband Jaime lost his construction job. On top of that, his employers only paid him half of what he was owed (about $150 for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week). When asking Laura about this, she just said, "Somos ilegales. Es la realidad de la vida." [We're illegal. That's just the reality of life.]

Laura's resilient attitude toward her situation amazes me. As we were looking through the banco de ropa [clothing bank] in the basement of A-House, I expressed how frustrated I was with this "reality," with how unjust it was for employers to take advantage of people like that. In response, she just sighed. She told me that Kenia, her youngest daughter, tested positive for TB and had to go to the doctor in order to get an X-ray. However, the doctor tried to charge her $150, an outrageous amount for a public health concern. She said she was unable to pay it and, although it took her an entire day to take the bus over to the clinic, she had to come back home empty-handed. When she came to A-House and told the House Coordinator, Cindy, she learned that the clinic was unable to charge her for something like a TB X-ray. So, the next day, she had to take the bus all the way to the clinic and try again.

"¿Pero es la vida, verdad?" she said again, and continued to look through the baby clothes. Then, she moved to the newly-added maternity rack and began to hold some shirts up to herself. Not knowing what to say about Kenia, I awkwardly pointed out that the clothes she was looking at were for pregnant women.

"Ay, no sabes? Creo que estoy embarazada otra vez." [Oh, you don't know? I believe I'm pregnant again.]

I was absolutely floored. Laura, an 18-year old girl with two kids and with all the problems she's experienced, is now pregnant with a third child. I asked her if she had gone to the clinic for herself.

"Mañana. Pero soy una mujer. Yo sé." [Tomorrow. But I'm a woman. I know.]

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I realize that people have made the argument that immigrants "leech off the system" and create their own problems, but when I talk to guests like Laura, those arguments all seem distant and empty. Laura and her husband came to the US because they wanted a better life than the one they were living in Mexico. While that means that Mexico needs to take responsibility for its citizens' standard of living, in the meantime, we need to treat immigrants like humans and not like threats.

I've come to really respect the Catholic attitude towards immigration. There are a huge amount of Catholic Worker houses who do similar things as A-House. (Learn about the Catholic Worker Movement here). I've also met a lot of nuns who work towards social justice, especially concerning immigration. Yesterday, I was able to go to Juarez for a priest's 85th birthday party, where I met about 20 nuns who all are active in pursuing immigration reform.

So, I'm seeing a lot of hope here. While there are things that I'm angry about (like the government's inability to address this issue and some employers' disrespect for human life), I've found hope in the resilience of the community I live in and the people that I work with.