We're kicking off December with 12 Days of Nonprofits — a 12-day celebration of the many local organizations that provide needed services to our community.
Having community members come together to help 60,000 migrants over seven years is Teresa Cavendish’s favorite part about working at Casa Alitas.
Casa Alitas, under the nonprofit Catholic Community Services, provides assistance to asylum seekers. It launched in the summer of 2014 when Tucson was starting to experience big arrivals of migrants who were released by the Department of Homeland Security, said Cavendish, the director of Casa Alitas.
This year, Casa Alitas is expected to help 14,000 immigrants, Cavendish said.
“Unfortunately, the migrants are suffering from the conditions that had led them to leave their home countries,” Cavendish said. “On top of that, they had this very long and dangerous journey and then are often being held for extended periods of time in DHS custody. By the time that folks were being released, they were ill, dehydrated and may not have had eaten adequately for several days.”
Once migrants make their way to Casa Alitas, they are given food, beverages, a change of clothes and shelter for as many days as they need before they make their travel arrangements. Cavendish said they can also help those with medical conditions see local medical providers.
Cavendish said Casa Alitas often sees families who have been separated during the immigration process.
“Moms or families come to us with infants who have no idea where their spouses are,” Cavendish said. “I don't have the sponsor information, so they can't move forward and they are completely terrified.”
On occasion, Cavendish has been able to work with the shelter network within Arizona and find where the missing family member is. In some cases, they are able to bring them to Tucson and reunite with their families.
Migrant children play at Catholic Community Services’ Casa Alitas shelter, which focuses on sheltering migrant families making their initial transition into the United States.
Similar to other organizations, COVID-19 made things tricky for Casa Alitas. Due to the pandemic, very few people were crossing the border, but migrants in detention centers were being released because of high COVID-19 positivity rates, Cavendish said.
After Casa Alitas identified the situation as a community health risk, the organization was able to work with detention centers and some local immigration attorneys to provide COVID-19 testing. If they were positive, Casa Alitas would provide them a space to quarantine, Cavendish said.
“I think we were very effective at minimizing the impact of those who are being released without having a clear knowledge about their COVID-19 status,” Cavendish said.
Now, migrants are tested for COVID-19 right when they arrive at Casa Alitas and are taken to a separate location if they tested positive.
Receiving over 100 people a day, Cavendish believes that without Casa Alitas’ help, Tucson would see the same problems it did in 2014.
“They would have nowhere to go and no idea how to get anywhere,” Cavendish said. “It would quickly become a problem because there's absolutely no advantage to have people who are essentially homeless. With uncertain health conditions and no ability to navigate out of the community, there's no benefit to just not have that help.”
Marjorie King, 71, volunteers at the Casa Alitas Welcome Center in Tucson, where migrant families are given clothing, food and help in finding resources.
Most importantly, Cavendish believes it’s the mission of the work that benefits the Tucson community. She said she finds it inspiring that volunteers come together to help migrants.
“It's having the community come together through volunteers to correct something that we consider to be an injustice,” Cavendish said.
How to help
According to its website, Casa Alitas has over 700 volunteers who help the organization live up to its mission. Cavendish encourages community members to reach out and help volunteer.
Cavendish also said they are happy to accept donations. Socks and underwear in all sizes are always welcome as well as jackets and hoodies since the weather is getting colder.
“Having this collective effort of people of who are administering social justice for migrants is very inspirational,” Cavendish said.
