SHELTERING SKY

Nonprofit helps immigrant children reunite with their families

GROTON –- The sun beats down on two landscapers cutting grass in the shadows of the submarine shipyard that dominates the shoreline of this small coastal city. Paul’s Pasta Shop is crowded as usual with loyal locals, and a ferry horn sounds from the shimmering Thames River, harkening to the days when whaling captains were the big men in town.

The grit and charm of this former fishing village, just south of Mystic, is like many maritime communities in New England that maintain a certain pride of place even as times change.

But as headlines have made clear all week, there is nothing parochial about Groton — it’s the only place in Connecticut that is sheltering immigrant children who’ve been separated from their parents.

“Part of me is proud that somebody from here has stepped up to do that, because they’re kids,” said Willard Durnall 40, a resident of Groton for 30 years. “I don’t think they come with malicious intent.”

If reactions of about a dozen Groton locals on Friday indicates a wider feeling in town, it’s welcome news that a nonprofit has been quietly sheltering migrant children as part of a three-year agreement with the federal government.

Dawn Bittner, who moved to Groton from Washington, D.C., two years ago so her husband could take a job as a welding engineer with the nuclear submarine maker General Dynamics, said the city’s diverse spirit is one of its strongest selling points.

“I did not know about the nonprofit sheltering children, but I am really glad that with so many awful things happening every day, something good is happening in my community, and there are actually people who are looking out for other people,” she said.

Hamidulah Muhammad agrees.

“I think the community as a whole should rally behind them and do whatever we can do to help, because that is part of our job as a community,” said Muhammad, 66, of nearby New London, who comes to Groton twice daily to pray at the New London Islamic Center off Thames Street. “This community is very strong.”

The short version of how migrant children are being reconnected to their families from Groton is that the nonprofit Noank Community Support Services offered to help when the federal government needed it.

“When an urgent appeal came out saying ‘We need a residential facility for migrant children who are experiencing trauma, we had the expertise, we had the space, we had the Spanish speaking staff and we had a mission that says ‘Hope for the Future,’ so we said if not us, who?” Said Regina Moller, executive director of the Noank nonprofit.

That was 2014, when Noank signed a three-year, $5 million agreement with the federal department of Health and Human Services to find sponsors — preferably family — for separated children.

Separated immigrant kids became a flashpoint when President Trump began a policy of turning over undocumented parents to prosecutors, and sending children to separate facilities. Trump suspended the separation policy last week, but not before some 2,300 families had been separated from children.

One child of that separation policy is being sheltered in Groton. Eleven other children in the Groton shelter had no parents with them when they were taken into custody by border agents, Moller said.

So far, every child that has been brought to Groton has been reunited with a family member.

“We have had 90 children we have reunited with their family — not a single one has been sent to foster care,” Moller said Friday. “Everybody we get, we reunify.”

The pink Victorian that houses Noank Community Support Services is part of the quaint streetscape of tackle shops, marinas and old red brick buildings that have seen better days. The occasional speed boat cruises up the Thames to the Long Island Sound.

Noank’s success is due in part to the support it gets from Groton. Born 46 years ago in affiliation with the Noank Baptist Church, the nonprofit is respected for its commitment to the homeless, and other vulnerable people.

The notoriety Noank is receiving for its work on one of the nation’s highest profile problems can only help the nonprofit, a Groton oldtimer said.

“If people are concerned about things like this, which they should be, it will attract more donations for the work of the organization,” said Jim Street, a 73, a Groton native and the town historian.

Moller said the children are doing well to overcome the injuries that drove them from their homes.

The next step, she said, is to urge Washington to find ways to stop the violence in Latin American countries that are displacing families.

“We can make a difference,” she said.

H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Rick Foltz has his photo taken by his wife, Kafey, in Groton, where a nonprofit is helping immigrant children from the border find their families.

H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media A water taxi takes off from Thames Street Friday near Noank Community Support Services in Groton, which is helping reunite immigrant children with their families.