Our first overnight guests in almost three years!
We closed our hospitality house in March of 2020 when the pandemic struck. ICE ordered all visitation at immigration detention centers shut down, and without visitation we would not have any guests. We were so scared and confused. What was COVID-19? How was it transmitted? How long would the pandemic last? How would people in detention protect themselves?
Then time went on and the pandemic continued, we found other ways to accompany people at SDC and their loved ones. Our house stood empty, but we took the opportunity to make repairs and partner with Southface Energy Institute to install solar panels and make other energy-efficient enhancements.
Later, when prisons around the country re-opened visitation, but immigration detention centers, with one exception in Virginia, continued to deny people visits from loved ones. El Refugio and other organizations advocated for the re-opening of visitation. Finally, in September, SDC re-opened and visitation resumed and families are once again making the drive from North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and other states to see their loved ones.
El Refugio volunteers are once again visiting people who requested a social visit. While waiting to visit, volunteers chat with families in the waiting room and tell them about our hospitality house. Some have stopped by to check it out and to rest. But, until recently, no one spent the night. Undaunted, coordinators kept going to Lumpkin, opening the house, and waiting for guests.
On Jan. 8, 2023, we hosted our first overnight guests since the pandemic shutdown!
A young couple with a seven-month-old baby and their cousin stopped by the hospitality house and decided to stay the night! Greg Wickersham, El Refugio’s longtime volunteer and board treasurer, was the coordinator, and, he had a college student from Indiana was volunteering as well. The family was able to visit their loved one on Saturday, have lunch and dinner at the hospitality house, sleep late on Sunday, and enjoy a relaxing breakfast before heading home.
“It was a blessing to have overnight guests,” Greg said.
El Refugio does many things to accompany people at SDC and their loved ones in addition to operating our hospitality house on the weekends. Hospitality is at the core of our mission, and it’s the reason our organization was started. It feels so good to be back. If you are interested in volunteering at the hospitality house, fill out this form. Spanish is NOT required to volunteer at the house.