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EAST NEW YORK — The number of migrants arriving here at St. Michael’s St. Malachy Parish in East New York has been running low on food and clothing in recent days, but that may be a good thing.
That’s because some migrants — mostly young Venezuelans who bus from Texas to New York City after crossing the border from Mexico — may not attend the church because they’re taking jobs elsewhere in the city, church leaders said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3Xn1Xxupo
Pastor, Father Brendan Buckley OFM Cap., the church currently sees about 40 migrants every Tuesday and Thursday, where volunteers provide the new arrivals with hot food and warm clothes. This is down from previous weeks, when 50-70 migrants found their way to the church’s doors after arriving by bus into the city.
St. Michael-St. Malachy Parish has been helping migrants since August.
One reason for the decline is that migrants are heading to the Bronx, where the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is offering free training to pave the way for them to obtain safety certifications that allow them to take construction jobs. A safety clearance is required for employment as a construction worker.
“Everyone wants a job. “None of them are looking for a handout,” Father Buckley said, adding that the people he saw were mostly young men who were staying at a Tri-Cities homeless men’s shelter a few blocks from his church in East New York.
But while the number of requests for help is dwindling, the need is still there, Father Buckley and church leaders said.
Vanessa Garcia, the church’s director of religious education, who runs the food and clothing program with her mother, Barbara Garcia, a business manager, said about 1,000 people have come since August.
According to city officials, 22,000 migrants have been bussed from Texas to New York since April. The buses have stopped coming in recent weeks, but the migrants who are here are getting help from several sources, including churches in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Churches in the B6 deanery of the Diocese of East Brooklyn stepped up to the plate in a variety of ways:
- St. Gabriel’s Church offers free meals on Sundays for newcomers.
- St. Matthew’s Church held a clothing drive.
- St. Pius V Church donates food to migrants.
Migrants from St. Michael-St. Malachi finds a hot meal cooked just for them on Tuesdays and Thursdays—on November 15, it was chicken and rice made by Brother Francisco Serrano OFM Cap. — as well as a room full of coats, hats, shirts, trousers, stockings, and undergarments, all carefully laid out on display tables for them to pick out and take away with them.
All food and clothing are provided by parishioners and community residents. “We are blessed with our community,” explained Vanessa Garcia. “We asked for clothes, we got them. We asked for food, we got food.”
Barbara Garcia, a parishioner for 30 years, said the program is a lot of work, but very rewarding. “We will do whatever God gives me. For some reason, God will give, – he added.
Brother Francisco was busy in the kitchen, heating plates of chicken and rice on the stove. “A lot of them go back for seconds, so I always like to have a plate ready,” she explained.
On this day, he also prepared a dessert; guests can choose between bread pudding or Jello, or both.
Jesus Ospino, who traveled from his native Venezuela and arrived in New York over the border on October 16, was satisfied eating chicken and rice. He said through an interpreter, “I am grateful to God that I came here to eat and get warm clothes.” She learned about the free meals from a friend at a nearby shelter.
In addition to hot food and warm clothes, the church provides another important thing – spiritual healing. The Garcias and other volunteers offer friendship.
“We build a relationship with them,” Vanessa Garcia said. “Come, take your food and clothes and leave” is not a word. We recognize them as a nation, and they recognize us.”
As Father Buckley said, the church is also benefiting.
“A bunch of them came to Mass,” he said. “We see 25 to 30 of them on Sundays.”
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