Recently, 28 people from Atlanta’s St. Bede’s Episcopal Church trekked to the village of Lumpkin located 35 miles south of Columbus to serve families at El Refugio, a ministry for those visiting loved ones detained at the I.C.E. detention center.
One of those the group cared for at El Refugio had traveled from Delaware.
[editor’s note: We are using only first names for those in this article concerned for their safety.]
Jaqueline flew into Atlanta from Delaware to visit her daughter. After spending the night in the home of longtime El Refugio volunteer, house coordinator, and board member Helen, Jaqueline made the trip by car to Lumpkin with Helen and another volunteer, Ann.
“She was absolutely so grateful for El Refugio helping her get down to see her daughter,” Helen said.
When they got to the hospitality house, volunteers from St. Bede’s Episcopal Church were waiting on the front porch.
Two Spanish-speaking volunteers from St. Bede’s went to visit people at SDC, while everyone else got to work around the house making it a place of comfort for the people who came and went during the day. A group of eight gathered around the dining room table for lunch. They were waiting until 2 p.m. when visitation for men opened. Mornings at SDC are for visiting women.
“People completely independent of one another commented on the deep, healing energy they felt here at the house,” Helen said. “We had people coming and going until 7:30 in the evening.”
That evening St. Bede’s volunteers served dinner to a crowd gathered around the 20-seat dining room table. When it was time for bed, every downstairs bed was full. A group of six siblings from Houston who had driven to visit their father didn’t stay. After they ate, showered, and rested, they left in the middle of the night to drive back to Houston.
On Sunday, Jaqueline visited her daughter a second time. Ann visited a man from South Africa at his wife’s request. Ann returned to El Refugio with a woman who had driven from Charlotte to visit her 76-year-old father, who has serious health issues.
After the group from St. Bede’s left for their return to Atlanta Helen, Ann, and Jaqueline closed up the house in the late afternoon and dropped Jaqueline at the Atlanta airport for her flight back to Delaware.
Helen said it had been “Another fulfilling weekend of service, hope, and heart expansion.”
“Thank you, St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, for a much-needed infusion of gas cards as well as a bundle of handmade cards for people at SDC,” Helen said. “And a big thank you to the volunteers who just roll with whatever situation presents itself.”
Trip organizer Claudia Fedarko reported to St. Bede’s parishioners in the parish newsletter that her group arrived at El Refugio with 40 $25 gas cards.
“We gathered $1000 and were able to buy 40 $25.00 gas cards for families who drive to Stewart Detention Center from all over the Southeast. While we were waiting to see detainees this past Saturday, we sent three families over to El Refugio (there were long waits) so that the children could play and folks could eat and rest while waiting hours before they could see their loved ones. They all left with gas cards and thanked us over and over for the hospitality and the love,” Fedarko wrote.
She also thanked St. Bede’s Vacation Bible School teachers and children for handmade cards for detainees adorned with “artwork and well wishes on more than 50 cards which will be sent to detainees over the next few weeks.”
“Many never receive a card or visit, so those cards will do so much to brighten someone’s day, she wrote.
“The vast majority of these detainees have never broken any laws. They have sought asylum in this country, fleeing repression, gang violence and economic insecurity in their countries,” Fedarko wrote.
Fedarko’s claim is backed up by research that indicates that immigrants, regardless of their legal status, are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens. For example, a 2023 study by Stanford University found that immigrants are 30% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born individuals. (1)
El Refugio was founded in 2010 by a community of recently arrived asylum seekers and U.S. citizens. The founders include current Executive Director Amilcar Valencia, his wife Katie Beno-Valencia, and a number of others, who were driven by compassion and a desire to provide hospitality and support to detained people and their families at the Stewart Detention Center.
After operating for nearly a decade in their original tiny three-bedroom home, a generous gift from comedian and late-night host, Samantha Bee allowed El Refugio to relocate to a much larger six-bedroom home.
The larger home provides more space for volunteer lawyers and interpreters advocating for detainees and a place of rest and comfort for more families who travel long distances to visit those detained in the nearby I.C.E. detention facility.
But El Refugio’s mission continues to be accompanying immigrants at I.C.E. Stewart Detention Center and working towards a world without immigration detention. El Refugio offers many ways to volunteer including visiting individuals in detention, hosting families at the hospitality house, writing letters, and raising awareness about immigration detention in your community.
St. Bede’s and other parishes of The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta are active supporters of El Refugio by partnering with pastoral care, emotional support, and advocacy for detained individuals and their families.
Episcopalians from the Diocese of Atlanta have been actively involved in supporting El Refugio’s work with immigrants and their families since 2015 when Diocesan Bishop Robert Wright visited Stewart Detention Center and met with El Refugio founders to show solidarity and learn more about their ministry.
In addition to visits by members of St. Bede’s Episcopal Church and other parishes, St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Columbus has organized efforts for El Refugio to offer comfort and support to families of detained individuals.
The Episcopal Community Foundation for Middle and North Georgia provided a $20,000 grant in 2020 to El Refugio to support their hospitality house’s post-release program offering short-term accommodations for those released from the SDC.
To learn how the Diocese welcomes Hispanic communities, read this 2024 Pathways article and another about how you and your parish can follow Jesus’ Matthew 25 admonition to welcome the stranger.