Background: Since the summer of 2014, when the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began detaining large numbers of Central American migrants along our southern border and releasing them in El Paso, Annunciation House has been providing temporary hospitality and travel assistance in a new site called Nazareth House. Each week, we receive anywhere from dozens to hundreds of newly released migrants, most of whom have family elsewhere in the United States and simply need a few days to rest, recover, and make travel plans.
The house: Once they arrive at Nazareth House, guests are given the opportunity to shower, eat, and pick out clean clothes from our donation room. We assist them with contacting friends or family elsewhere in the U.S. and making travel plans (they all have permission to travel within the United States). Then we take them to the airport or bus station at the appointed time and provide them with food and supplies for their journey. Most guests stay 1-3 days before traveling on.
The need for volunteers: We’re are in great need of responsible, committed, organized and trustworthy people who can commit to at least a week of service. We will gladly accept former volunteers, former BAE participants, people who have previous experience with organizations such as ours, and men and women from religious communities. Spanish proficiency is useful, but not a requirement; we have many areas of responsibility that don’t depend on speaking Spanish. Volunteers may help with the following tasks:
- Welcome/intake
- security
- travel arrangements
- local transportation
- food and meals
- clothing bank
- care package assembly
- stocking supplies
- laundry
- medical issues
- legal issues
- set-up and clean-up
Interested in volunteering? Please contact the volunteer coordinator.