To migrant boys: ‘Our house is your house’
It never fails. People who help others through a trauma or a disaster say they get back so much more than they give.
Acts of compassion put life in perspective and make blessings easier to count, especially when they involve children.
That’s how it has been for those who have welcomed the nearly 1,000 Central American boys now being sheltered at the Freeman Coliseum east of downtown.
By the time they reached San Antonio, the children had been through the worst of their ordeal.
The teenage boys, already lean, lost weight during their long journeys across Mexico. Once at the U.S. border, they were held in Customs and Border Protection detention centers that were never intended for children, let alone in large numbers.
They slept on mats under foil blankets, partitioned into groups by sheets of clear plastic.
The county-owned Freeman Coliseum may not be the most comfortable of settings, either, but it’s an improvement, said Antonio Fernandez, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of San Antonio and the agency’s lead volunteer.
On Thursday night, he wrapped up a 20-hour shift at the coliseum.
So far, the agency has recruited about 900 volunteers, all of whom must undergo background checks, Fernandez said.
Their first task was to set up cots for the boys, who range in age from 13 to 17.
Colorful welcome bags were prepared for the youngsters, each filled with art supplies, Spurs T-shirts and caps courtesy of donors including Nustar Energy, the Greehey Family Foundation and Spurs Give. They’ll be distributed Saturday.
The volunteer effort was jumpstarted by an informal group of volunteers, a sisterhood that calls itself the “skirt mafia.”
They’re women CEOS, foundation officials, judges and other professionals with “big hearts and extensive networks,” said former State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte.
Each of the welcome bags contains a note in Spanish and English against a backdrop of flowers, Easter eggs and a silhouette of an Easter bunny.
“Welcome to San Antonio! We are happy to have you in our city, and we want you to know our house is your house while you are here.”
Mi casa es tu casa.
Of course, not everyone in San Antonio agrees with this sentiment. Some of the boys may know their presence is divisive and that some U.S. citizens don’t want them here.
Fernandez said you won’t find that attitude among the volunteers. For them, the work isn’t political, it’s humanitarian. Faith calls them to help, perhaps especially during the holiest of weeks on the Christian calendar.
On Thursday night, as they were getting ready for bed, many of the boys gathered in front of a statue of la Virgen de Guadalupe that Catholic Charities had brought to the coliseum.
By bedtime, as many as 100 boys had knelt before the beloved, brown-skinned Marian figure, Fernandez recalled.
They “prayed and cried, and prayed more,” he said.
He was especially moved by a boy who told him Guadalupe had walked with him to the United States and was here when he arrived at the coliseum.
“Their devotion is inspiring and an example to follow,” he said. “Volunteers are so touched by them.”
The boys’ stay in San Antonio will be short. The aim is for each to spend a week or less at the shelter before being released to family members or other sponsors while they await a decision on their asylum applications. But as some leave, more will come.
Fernandez expects the shelter, overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to continue operating through the end of May.
A mini-soccer field has been set up inside the coliseum, and a well-meaning donor delivered supplies for an Easter egg hunt, a tradition the boys don’t recognize.
On Easter Sunday, they’ll receive a gift they’ll better understand.
Archbishop Gustavo Garcíasiller will visit them and celebrate two Masses in the coliseum. Like Fernandez, who’s from Spain, the archbishop is an immigrant, born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. He became a U.S. citizen in 1988.
Fernandez wrote to Catholic Charities’ supporters this week and told them what he told me: It’s a privilege to help such children, especially because they’ve been apart from their parents, some for a long time.
He’s asking for more volunteers, who can sign up online at ccaosa.org/migrant-youth-support. Volunteers serve four- or eight-hour shifts beginning at 7 a.m., 3 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Catholic Charities needs sets of dominoes, playing cards and puzzles for the boys, Fernandez said.
“Please, pray for the children, and all the people in San Antonio who will be providing for them,” his email to supporters said.
Fernandez believes the boys are happy to be in San Antonio. They feel bienvenidos. That may be because they’re so much closer to the end of their journeys.