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CARE PROGRAM: Living Out the Gospel and Connecting Our Cultures
Caring for our immigrant and refugee parishioners and neighbors has been a natural step for our parish. While St. Monica officially adopted the CARE program in 2019, our parish had already seen and begun ministering to the needs of immigrants in our community. It started with recommendation letters for the immigration process, then parishioners began offering rides and meals to immigrant families in need. In 2019, our parish turned this ministry into the Catholic Accompaniment and Reflection Experience, or CARE Program.
CARE, a program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and our diocese, stems from Catholic social teaching, which guides us towards deeper respect for one another and calls us to act in charity and justice. Anne Corcoran, retired pastoral associate and active member of the CARE team at St. Monica, takes a simple approach.
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“Catholic social teaching is in every word of the Gospel,” Anne says. “The two greatest commandments are all about love and seeing God in every single person.”
When the program started in 2019 and sign-ups for volunteers were placed in the narthex of the church, 25 parishioners immediately signed on. There are six ways a parishioner can support CARE — accompany someone to a court appointment, pray for specific needs, deliver a meal, visit or call someone to check in, be a translator, or donate money. Whenever there is a specific need, an email is sent out to anyone who signed up to help in that way.
Volunteers have found that when they accompany someone to a court appointment, the immigrant is treated differently and having a support there gets better results. In one instance, a man was deported, leaving his pregnant wife and four children. St. Monica CARE volunteers provided meals and support until she was able to get back on her feet.
“They’re so grateful and you really do build a relationship,” Anne says. “It starts dissolving barriers like crazy when you spend time with someone.”
Each CARE volunteer is able to respond to a need whenever and however it fits their schedule. Having more volunteers makes light work of many needs. Parishioners work together when they accompany someone in need. While initially it can feel uncomfortable to spend time with a stranger, especially with language barriers, there are many small ways to dip a toe in and slowly expand your comfort zone.
“I think volunteers feel really good because they can do a little thing that fits into their life,” Anne says. “However, it’s extremely significant to the people they support.”
As the CARE Program grows in our parish, there will be more opportunities for reflection and education, and some new opportunities will arise for supporting immigrants as well as unaccompanied minors and their foster families. Participating in any small way allows us to serve as Christ’s hands in our own community.
“This work changes the way we relate to each other in the neighborhood, community, and parish,” Anne says. “Through patient grace from God, it is making people more connected across cultures.”
