Since October of 2018, Annunciation House–with tons of help from community partners–has been providing hospitality for many more refugees than usual, the vast majority of them families from Central America who had been released from ICE or even Border Patrol custody into our hospitality centers. By the spring of 2019, as many as a thousand refugees per day were being sent to Annunciation House and our network of helping organizations. During this time, we urgently sought additional short-term volunteers to help us provide hospitality to these refugees.
Since late June, the numbers of refugees we are receiving has dropped dramatically, to around 100-300 per day. This is likely due in large part to both increased enforcement at Mexico’s southern border and to implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols (“Remain in Mexico”) in El Paso/ Juarez. With the decreased numbers, most of the network of hospitality centers is closed. However, Annunciation House continues to operate at least one hospitality site to receive the hundred or more refugees still arriving daily, and we can still use some temporary help:
SHORT TERM VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS
- 2 WEEK MINIMUM TIME COMMITMENT – It takes time and effort to train a new volunteer and it takes a few days before that person can really be helpful. Therefore in general, we request a minimum two-week time commitment. We sometimes make exceptions to this time requirement on a case-by-case basis for people who have excellent Spanish. Even with these skills, we cannot accommodate any volunteers who have less than a week to spend with us.
- Age: volunteers must be at least 20 years old.
- Language: some Spanish preferred, though not required. People with limited Spanish should know that their interaction with guests will be limited.
- Willingness to do whatever is needed (within your capabilities).
- Overall good health.
READ MORE AND FIND APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS HERE.
We are ALWAYS accepting applications for year-long volunteers!
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Annunciation House is pleased to announce the 2018 Voice of the Voiceless Award recipient: Father Ismael “Melo” Moreno, S.J. from Honduras, a resolute and intrepid defender of democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression in one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Father Melo is the director of 
Along with other Honduran activists, Father Melo has received numerous and grave death threats for his criticism of the political corruption, extreme economic inequality, weak judicial and other corruption, extreme economic inequality, weak judicial and other institutions, militarization, and epidemic abuse and murder of members of vulnerable social groups in Honduras-circumstances that, in turn, drive the great migration of refugees from this and other Central American countries. The theme of the 2018 Voice of the Voiceless events is, IF THE WORLD KNEW... Fr. Melo’s work to uncover and broadcast truth exemplifies the hope that if the world knew, change would happen.