Real Time Changes
On Wednesday, we convened nearly 75 local pastors, non-profit staff members, school administrators and concerned citizens at The PLACE to discuss the dismantling of the Refugee Resettlement Program and the effects of those Executive Orders on our local community. As a result of the dizzying array of national changes to policies regarding immigration, a drastic reduction in services to refugees and immigrants in Amarillo has taken place over the past several weeks. For those of you who read our last newsletter, you know that RLP has not lost funding because we do not depend on any federal grants. In fact, we are poised to respond with new energy and capacity, especially with a new COO coming on next month. However, that is not the case for many local organizations, including Amarillo’s only refugee resettlement agency, Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle. For a very brief overview of recent changes and their local impact, please check out the graphic below:
We are confident that one of our most important roles is to facilitate the cooperation of the ministries, churches, organizations and other entities whose work either directly serves or intersects with Amarillo’s immigrant and refugee populations. To that end, we issued invitations across the city to revive the Refugee Advisory Council—a monthly meeting intended to share resources, solve problems and work together in our unique community. After a few years without meeting, now was the right time to begin again.
It was such an encouragement to see people brainstorming how we can respond faithfully to fill in the gaps that are being left by the dismantling of previous systems of support. As an example, one local organization jumped in to finance the outstanding rent for 6 recently-arrived families who never received the government funds they were promised. These new neighbors now have jobs and can pay for their own rent, but they were left stranded by these rapid government changes and were facing immediate eviction. We’re thankful to have facilitated a solution to resolve this urgent crisis that would have trickled down throughout the community.
While this meeting did not solve every emergency, it reconnected a community of people who care about these vulnerable communities in our city. We are developing a list of organizations and services so that we can connect our friends with new help that they previously received from caseworkers. For more on this meeting, read the recent article in the Amarillo Tribune.
Even though CCTXP only recently had to cut their workforce, the PLACE already noticed an uptick in visits with around a hundred new visits last month alone. Our ESL classes are also growing as well. We expect those numbers to rise as more people are redirected to the PLACE and other partners.
If you would like to help facilitate these unique solutions to problem-solve in our community, please consider donating to support the mission of RLP. One-time gifts and regular donations help us flex to meet the moment and respond to the needs of our community. Tap below to donate through our website.
