Amid a wave of arrests and apprehensions of undocumented immigrants, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced plans to bolster delivery of hot meals, groceries and prescription medicines to parishioners living in fear of deportation amid ongoing enforcement raids.<\/p>\n
The archdiocese\u2019s donation-funded Family Assistance Program seeks to assist some of its 4 million congregants throughout its 288 parishes in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.<\/p>\n
Immigrants targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are \u201cgood, hard-working men and women\u201d who are \u201cmaking important contributions to our economy,\u201d Los Angeles Archbishop Jos\u00e9 Gomez said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow they are afraid to go to work or be seen in public for fear that they will get arrested and be deported,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Money donated directly to the Family Assistance Program will be funneled to parishes with vulnerable members. Donations can be made online<\/a> or at a local church.<\/p>\n Catherine Fraser, the archdiocese\u2019s chief development officer, said every dollar contributed would go directly to helping families in need. <\/p>\n Most churches already have programs to serve elderly and homebound congregants that were developed during the interruptions and limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Yannina Diaz, a spokesperson for the archdiocese.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re tapping into what already exists and what already works,\u201d Diaz said.<\/p>\n Diaz noted that St. Patrick\u2019s Catholic Church in South L.A. boasts a robust program that helps with food, clothing and medicine delivery for homebound individuals.<\/p>\n That church\u2019s pastor, Msgr. Timothy Dyer, helped come up with the Family Assistance Program.<\/p>\n At St. Agatha Catholic Church in Los Angeles, volunteer Azalie Nickleberry founded the St. Agatha\u2019s Hands Are Reaching Everywhere, or SHARE, program.<\/p>\n The ministry opened in 1980, providing hot meals on Christmas Day, and serves around 2,000 people annually.<\/p>\n SHARE typically provides 70 to 80 bags of groceries \u2014 containing cereal, pancake mix, canned goods and pasta \u2014 to clients monthly. So far in July, that number has already shot up to 150.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a real need for this service, and we\u2019re happy for the help,\u201d Nickleberry said. <\/p>\n About 2,800 undocumented immigrants have been arrested since ICE began conducting widespread raids in Los Angeles in early June.<\/p>\n Those arrests have included hundreds of undocumented immigrants without any criminal record<\/a>. Some U.S. citizens and immigrants with legal status have also been detained. <\/p>\n Many members of the Greater Los Angeles Catholic community are immigrants or have family members who were born outside of the United States, leaving the archdiocese particularly exposed to the raids\u2019 impacts.<\/p>\n