As an agency committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we serve and empower thousands of vulnerable people a year of all ages and backgrounds. Among our many varied services, we are continually blessed to assist migrants and refugees, a population of our one human family we have served since our founding in 1916. Recently, many of our migrant brothers and sisters have been the targets of hateful actions and demeaning rhetoric contrary to their infinite dignity as children of God. We are grateful for the Catholic Bishops of Ohio for sharing a firm statement concerning the dignity of migrants and the grave dangers of gossip and uncritical social media. Furthermore, there have been questions about our critical work in this area, which we aim to briefly address here as a complement to the bishops’ statement.
For over 100 years, we have stayed true to the vision to serve those in need and protect the vulnerable. In recent years, areas such as Springfield and the Greater Cincinnati area have experienced an influx of migrants who have relocated of their own accord to Southwestern Ohio. Given the history and mission of our work, we have been requested by government entities, other non-profits and community leaders to join them in providing whatever services possible.
As a designated refugee resettlement agency since 1980, we also work with the U.S. State Department to welcome a limited number of refugees who are placed in Southwestern Ohio by the U.S. government through the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. To learn more, please check out our FAQ here. It is important to understand, however, that Catholic Charities has had no role in resettling the migrant populations featured in recent news, such as Haitians and Mauritanians. We join with community leaders in calling for more federal attention and resources to overcome real and immediate challenges and to advance the wellbeing of all local residents.
In Springfield, where there are no resettlement services, we introduced just earlier this year job development, case management, immigration legal and interpretation services to add to the greater community response for Haitian migrants. We are honored to now stand beside so many other exceptional local leaders who are welcoming the contributions these newcomers are making towards a more flourishing region that has experienced decades of disinvestment. It echoes the work done for nearly 30 years now in Greater Cincinnati to offer successful empowerment services for the Hispanic and Latino community. Helping our new neighbors allows us to strengthen our local communities for long-term success.
Over the last few weeks, we have received an incredible outpouring of solidarity and support for our work. We are heartened by the prayers and well-wishes from all over the country. We ask you to join us in please praying for the communities involved, our migrant brothers and sisters and our staff and volunteers working to support them.