Members of the Immigrant Neighbors Network share successes, challenges, at April meeting

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

The Immigrant Neighbors Network (INN) held a meeting, April 23, in Bishop Howard Memorial Auditorium at the Diocese of Covington Curia, Covington. Established by the Intercommunity Sisters Peace and Justice Committee, the INN consists of individuals and agencies dedicated to supporting and uplifting immigrant neighbors in the diocesan community.

Joining the women religious present were representatives of agencies such as Esperanza, Kentucky Refugee Agencies, Fiesta, and the Mother of God St. Vincent de Paul conference. These agencies provided updates of its individual ministries, including current outreach efforts.

Divine Providence Sister Kay Kramer, a member of the Intercommunity Sisters Peace and Justice Committee, began the evening. She started by sharing recent successes — including the recent Community Baby Shower hosted by the Diocese of Covington’s Pro-life Office, which offered necessities and resources to expecting mothers, including immigrant families.

Sister Kay also shared news of the committee’s most recent efforts. As Kentucky horse racing season continues, many workers who provide direct care to horses are immigrants themselves, with Sister Kay reporting 600 of these workers, employed by the owners of the horses, living on Turfway Park’s premises during the last racing season.

“It’s what’s called the ‘backside,’” Sister Kay explained, describing inhumane and unfavorable conditions — with many of these workers, both at Turfway Park and other tracks, staying in “cinderblock buildings” with limited access to non-processed food and other necessities, such as running water.

The INN have been supporting these workers since the season began — cooking meals for them twice a month and providing clothing and hotplate heaters for cooking their own meals.

“We are finally at a point where we’re able to have Mass there,” Sister Kay said, “because that was recognized early when we started there, that they wanted to have Mass in Spanish and the ability to go to confession — so we’re really grateful that we’re making some progress, there.”

Violetta Coleman, who works with Esperanza Latino Center, Covington, spoke also of her ministry’s efforts — which includes services to the local Latino community such as a health clinic and an in-house immigration lawyer. They also collaborate with the Mother of God St. Vincent de Paul conference, which provides clothing vouchers and food necessities — with members additionally offering to pray with individuals whom they support.

Most recently, Esperanza, as Ms. Coleman reported, met with the mayor of Covington. Having previously expressed the agency’s concerns, Esperanza “expressed their needs” — forming as a result “a very smooth connection” with the Kenton County Jail.

“It’s important because we have seen that in many cases, when people are detained (for immigration reasons), it is only one member of the family while the others are left behind,” said Ms. Coleman. “The families are separated, and the children are born mostly in the US.”

A “complex situation,” according to Ms. Coleman, Esperanza’s relationship with the jail helps to bridge a gap that helps the agency to work to overcome challenges of authorization and paperwork that keeps families separated.

Non-profit Fiesta, who describes its goal as to help families by supporting self-sufficiency and “uplifting and advancing the Hispanic community of Northern Kentucky,” according to founder Teresa Cruz — who was also present at the meeting — gave updates on its outreach efforts.

“We’ve grown,” said Ms. Cruz, “and we are very blessed to have had the capacity to grow. We’ve expanded our service and expanded our programs for the families,” which included an added “diaper program,” which is supported by the Diocese of Covington, and provides diapers and wipes to families with infants.

Fiesta was also able to recently open a health clinic, in partnership with the UK School of Medicine, which serves an average of 20-24 patients a month. Ms. Cruz also described the success of Fiesta’s “culturally relevant” food pantry, which provides cultural necessities such as rice, lentils, familiar proteins and beans.

The INN also heard from Jared Lopez, of the refugee resettlement agency Kentucky Refugee Ministries. With funding cut and the government-contracted program of resettlement within the ministry ending in January, KRM is now focused on supporting the 800 clients that they were able to resettle during the programs run, according to Mr. Lopez.

“We’re still dedicated to our clients that are here in Northern Kentucky,” Mr. Lopez said, “offering employment services and case management.”

At the meeting’s conclusion, Sister Kay spoke again to those gathered regarding the context given by the attending ministries. “Hopefully,” she said, “we’re all going to leave just feeling grateful that so many good things are happening in our community … gratitude helps us stay hopeful, too — and we have to stay hopeful in the midst of everything that’s happening now.”