As the little girl peeked around the door of the Esquire Hotel, I recognized her. I hadn’t met her before, but I knew who she was.
Moved by the refugee crisis, my church First Presbyterian Church of Wilmette (FPCW) committed to welcoming and walking alongside a refugee family as they transitioned to a new life in the Chicagoland area in 2016. When World Relief called to tell us that the Beshara family would be arriving in just one week from Sudan via an Ethiopian refugee camp, we were thrilled to welcome this family of six. Two days later, World Relief called back and said that there was a snag and the Besharas would not be arriving according to schedule. They asked if we would instead like to welcome the Habibs, a family of five from Afghanistan with one son and two twin girls, one of whom had cerebral palsy. We said no, concerned that we didn’t have the resources to support a family with special needs.
We waited and the Besharas finally arrived! Due to a housing shortage in the fall of 2016, many refugees resettling in Chicago were initially put up in hotels until housing became available, which would sometimes take two months. The Besharas had a room – all six of them in one room! – at the Esquire Hotel. Our team did our best to help the family feel settled; we brought food, did laundry, took the family on outings, helped secure a cell phone and helped navigate the burdensome and difficult process of acquiring a social security card, accessing food stamps, visiting the doctor etc.
One afternoon as we drove away from the hotel, my colleague Pete and I commented how difficult it would be to be a newly arrived refugee without the help of a local community. He said we should go back to the hotel and ask if the other refugee families needed help. I said that I didn’t have time today but would investigate it next time. I don’t know if Pete didn’t hear me or didn’t care what I said, but he turned the car around and soon we were back at the Esquire. The hotel directed us to room six, which is where I saw the face of the young girl from Afghanistan peaking around the door. She had cerebral palsy, and I knew she was part of the family my church had passed on helping.
I will never forget the way the Spirit slapped me in the face as Marjan looked around the door. — not in a shaming way or “I told you so” sort of way but through an overwhelming sense of relief. I felt relieved that our fear, concern and lack of generosity didn’t thwart God’s work of welcome and love. I felt relieved that God didn’t give up on us even in our short-sightedness. I felt relieved that God spoke clearly. FPCW now had two families to welcome!
As we helped both families in the following months, we quickly learned that being a refugee in the U.S. was harder than we had imagined and that refugees don’t often have the resources they need to lead thriving lives. For example, refugee children begin attending school and adults do their best to secure a job within weeks of arriving in the U.S. But necessary hygiene and home products are expensive and not covered by government aid. Imagine interviewing for a job without access to a razor or soap or feminine hygiene items. Imagine attending your first day of school without deodorant, a toothbrush or toothpaste. Or, imagine choosing between diapers for your baby or toilet paper for your family.
FPCW’s community is well-resourced and home to many residents who wanted to come alongside and support refugees. They just don’t know how. Donating hand-me-down clothes and toys are not super helpful and communicates to refugees a message of assimilation: they need to look like and act like Americans to be successful and welcomed.
As FPCW got to know the Besharas, Habibs and the refugee community in Chicago, we learned a specific need for hygiene products and other items the government doesn’t pay for. So, we eventually assembled an interfaith team of congregations to form Stock the Shelves. As we shared the problem, cash and product donations began pouring in from individuals, schools and congregational members of all faiths.
In May of 2016, Stock the Shelves loaded them onto a rented truck, set up a mini-store at a community center parking lot in the West Ridge neighborhood, home to a large refugee community, and invited refugees to shop for what they needed among the new, unopened items. It was a success! We served over 100 families that day.
Today, Stock the Shelves is a year-round, once-monthly resource, providing nearly 500 Chicago area refugees and families with the household and hygiene supplies they most need.
Thinking back to the first time I saw Marjan, I am grateful that our misguided decisions, our fear and our lack of generosity don’t prevent God’s work in the world. I am grateful for people like Pete, who turned the car around even when it seemed too late. And I am grateful for how God works through community.
Erin Raska is now a pastor at Glencoe Union Church. She lives in the Chicagoland area with her husband, Brent, and two girls, Esme (6) and Brooklyn (3).
