Amanda Sixta, senior English and Theater major at University of Northwestern, St. Paul, served as a communications intern with IAFR Jonathan House this summer. Photo: Jonathan Horn
My name is Amanda Sixta, and I am a Senior English and Theatre student at the University of Northwestern – St. Paul. I have had the privilege of working with Jonathan House this summer as a Communications and Writing Intern. In this role, I have primarily worked with SEO strategy for Jonathan House; I was also able to work on the Jonathan House Facebook page and website. While this may have looked a bit different during COVID-19, I was uniquely blessed to witness the work that God has been doing during this strange season we find ourselves in.
Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” I have been meditating on the concept of justice the past few months. The world has been crying out for racial justice in a world so fraught with systemic racism, and we need Jesus-seeking, life-renewing justice to bring relief. This is an integral part of our mission as followers of Christ.
The staff and residents of Jonathan House have shown me that following Christ’s example of justice and compassion is more essential than ever. This summer, I was able to attend two socially-distanced, outdoor Community Meals with the staff and residents of Jonathan House. The way these Community Meals take place look a lot differently with COVID-19, but everyone responded to changes cheerfully, and the relationships I saw there were full of strength and hope.
Because of this, being an intern at Jonathan House has shown me that justice-seeking can be an everyday act, a simple output of living life faithfully in the day-to-day. The mission of Jonathan House demonstrates this very fact: providing stable and supportive housing to asylum seekers and living in community with them is seeking justice in the everyday. Asylum seekers are facing some of the most difficult times in the history of the United States, and they often experience imprisonment, homelessness, and restrictions on employment when they arrive. Seeking justice in this world means having compassion for and listening to asylum seekers and advocating alongside them for their human rights.
I want to share one more verse that I have been pondering lately: “The foreigners residing among you must be treated as native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 19:34
In the United States today, foreigners are not being treated as native-born, as God commands. But we can all be a voice for change and help elevate voices that may have been silenced. When Christ gave His life on the cross, He showed us what love really is: giving your life for your neighbor. Following His example is what He desires for us: to seek justice and to love mercy.
IAFR Jonathan House residents and staff enjoy the waters of Lake Superior during time at Camp Amnicon in late August.
Labor Day has ended. School has started. Summer is starting to close. We hope you’ve had a chance to make meaningful memories with loved ones and be renewed in the sunshine.
Before summer ended, IAFR Jonathan House also had a chance to make good memories. We’re so grateful to Camp Amnicon for hosting the Jonathan House community for camping on Wisconsin’s North Shore!
Gathering around the campfire
Here were some of the highlights, in residents’ own words:
It was my first time since I’ve come to the United States to be able to get out of the city and see scenery like that.
I had never been canoeing before. At first I was scared to get into the canoe, but then I did it and really enjoyed it!
I loved getting to eat food that was cooked over the fire.
I enjoyed getting to make new friends. It made us feel special that you [a new staff person] wanted to spend time getting to know us.
Relaxing on the beach
Rest and re-creation is a necessary and healing thing for everyone. Time for fun and relaxation contributes to emotional wellbeing and builds hope. Spending days together with no agenda allowed stories that haven’t been previously voiced to be shared and received in compassionate community.
Thank you to Camp Amnicon for providing a place for asylum-seeking refugees to rest and recreate in the beauty of God’s creation as they recover from forced displacement. Jonathan House is already abuzz with plans for next year’s trip!
Shoutout to our featured staff, SJ Holsteen! SJ is our ministry leader here at Jonathan House.
I’m the IAFR Minneapolis-St. Paul Ministry Leader, which means that I’m responsible for guiding and implementing IAFR’s ministry in Minneapolis-St. Paul (including Jonathan House) through strategic planning, partnership, communication, and program and staff development. I also live at Jonathan House Frogtown, our site for women and children, so I’m blessed to share daily life with asylum-seeking individuals who have welcomed me with grace and kindness.
How did you first learn about the plight of asylum-seeking individuals in America?
In 2003, when I was a sophomore in college, I volunteered at a walk-in clinic for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF-AZG) in Antwerp, Belgium. The clinic mainly served migrant populations, many who were in the process of seeking asylum. I learned about what made someone an asylum seeker as well as the many systemic barriers that they face during that process. That experience was very impactful for me, but I didn’t really think about asylum seekers’ experience in the US for many years.
Then, in 2016, I met Sarah Miller, IAFR’s US Regional Director, who was in the initial stages of launching an asylum-seeker housing ministry in the Twin Cities. My experience from Belgium came flooding back to me, and I suddenly wanted to learn everything I could about what the asylum process was like in the US. I learned a lot through my time with Sarah and IAFR, as well as through personal research and attending gatherings of individuals across the US and Canada who were supporting and walking alongside refugees, such as the Refugee Highway Partnership – North America.
How did you first get involved in Jonathan House?
It really started by meeting with Sarah Miller. When she first shared the vision of establishing safe, stable shelter for asylum seekers in the Twin Cities metro area, I had an immediate sense of affirmation in my spirit that it was something Christ was inviting me into, a path down which He was calling me to follow Him. I was living and working in western Wisconsin at the time, so initially I volunteered as I could in my free time – helping write fundraising campaigns and grants. By God’s grace, the funding came in to launch the first house, and at that point, Sarah invited me to be a volunteer member of the IAFR MSP team, helping welcome the first Jonathan House residents and be part of program development. In 2018, I decided to officially join IAFR as a full-time staff.
What’s something that everyone can do to help the cause of asylum-seeking individuals in the US?
When I first started engaging with Jonathan House, it struck me how little I actually knew about the asylum process in the US. So, I think reading articles, watching movies, or listening to stories about or by individuals who have sought asylum is a good way to give yourself a base knowledge about the many challenges of the asylum journey. I think learning about that journey opens people’s eyes to the injustice and dehumanization of a reality they might not even have been aware existed. When I visit churches to share about Jonathan House, I’m always encouraged how willing and open people are to learn and how ready they are to respond as they’re able with the radical love and welcome we know in Jesus Christ.
Another thing that US citizens can do is keep informed on national policies or laws that impact our asylum-seeking brothers and sisters. Asylum seekers are in a vulnerable position where they do not have access to democratic processes in a country that is making serious decisions that impact their futures. As an enfranchised citizen, you are able to use your voice to advocate for justice for asylum seekers to our government and your elected representatives.
Is there a statistic or fact that has surprised you concerning asylum seeking individuals?
In 2018, the United States received 254,300 new asylum claims, making us the leading recipient of new asylum claims in the world. (UNHCR Global Trends 2018). In the same year, 22,491 refugees came to the US through the federal refugee resettlement program (Migration Policy Institute). Asylum seekers are sometimes referred to as the “hidden refugee population,” and I think this statistic demonstrates that well… most people think of refugees as those who come to the US through resettlement, but each year a far greater number of forcibly-displaced individuals arrive in the US as asylum seekers and do not have access to the system of welcome and support that resettled refugees receive.
What is something asylum-seeking individuals have taught us?
One of my housemates told me once, “If there is life, there is hope.” That was very impactful for me. Because sometimes the past has left us with wounds, sometimes present life feels unbearable, and it can be hard to imagine that things will ever get better or that it is worth moving on. But my sister’s statement encouraged me and reminded me that God does not intend destruction or despair for us; He intends life and hope for us. My asylum-seeking friends have reminded me of this reality again and again, through their stories, their faith, their courage, and their love.
What languages do you speak?
English, French, and Spanish.
Any other line of work you’re in?
Nope.
Hobbies?
I like walking in the woods, reading, and visiting art museums.
A.A. learned to clean the house at the age of five. At age six, her mother taught her to cook bidena (a type of bread) and sauce. “In our country a girl gets married at an early age,” she explains, “so we learn housekeeping as children.”
“I wouldn’t go out and play. I preferred to be in the house cooking.” A.A. smiles at the memory. “My mother and neighbors blessed me when they saw that I worked like that.”
A.A. remembers with particular fondness cooking a special meal for Eid, the day after Arafah, a Muslim celebration to commemorate the Hajj. “It was like a test,” she says, “You had to cook bidena, chicken, sauce, and kineto.” She worked beside her mother to produce a feast that sustained more than her family. “Our neighbors were invited,” she shares, “and the poor would be fed.”
As A.A.’s story reflects, food is more than a basic human need; it expresses culture, community, history, and personality. For someone who is seeking asylum, having consistent access to nutritious and culturally-appropriate food is an important step in recovering both physical and mental health in the midst of forced displacement.
However, many asylum seekers in the US find themselves in a situation where basic survival, including food security, is at risk. Without access to government assistance and barred from legal employment for an extended period of time, asylum-seeking individuals must rely on others to meet their basic needs. This can result in inadequate or inconsistent access to nutritious food, culturally-inappropriate food, or disempowering dynamics between the individual and those she must rely on for assistance. This was the case for A.A.:
“Before I came to Jonathan House, I was living with another family from my ethnic community. They gave me food, but it wasn’t always well prepared, and they would give me a begrudging look when they gave it to me. My social worker offered me food from their center’s pantry, but when I took it home, my hosts told me, ‘We don’t need outside food’ and put it in the trash. After that, I would keep food in my purse and eat it at night after other people had gone to bed.”
The dependency and isolation of her situation became a psychological burden to A.A. “They would tell me, ‘You need to leave our house,’ and I would just cry, because I didn’t have anywhere to go. What life was like before I came to Jonathan House, I felt like it wasn’t much different than what I suffered in my home country. It even got to the point where I wanted to put myself in front of a car.”
Thankfully, A.A. shared her struggles with a friend, and he counseled her to stay hopeful. Soon after, her social worker told her about a new house opening for asylum-seeking women. “She told me, ‘Wait, because maybe they will have a place for you.’” A.A. became the first resident at Jonathan House’s site for women and children after its launch in March 2019.
The day after her arrival, church partners helped welcome her with groceries and a special griddle for cooking bidena, the bread her mother taught her to make as a child. “I cooked and enjoyed my meal in freedom,” she says.
Monthly food assistance provided through the generosity of partners like you now allows A.A. to purchase her own food at a neighborhood ethnic market owned by her friend. “I’m able to go to the store and buy everything that I need. At Jonathan House, I’m able to live, eat, sleep, and go in and out in peace.” A.A. has also put a lot of care into tending a small garden at Jonathan House, where she’s planted peppers and tea plants she knows from her home country.
When asked what she desires for the future, A.A. expresses a hope to be granted asylum and work authorization soon. “Being reunited with my kids must also be part of my journey,” she adds firmly. ”I eat good food now, I sleep good sleep, but my kids are scattered all over the place.” Her children, still in a place of active conflict, face their own serious problems of food insecurity.
As she waits for this longed-for reunification with her children, she continues to bless, love, and welcome others at Jonathan House with her gardening, her cooking, and her friendship. “I don’t have any relatives nearby except God and Jonathan House,” A.A. says, “I am a woman who didn’t have a home or relatives. You made that woman settled, made her safe.”
Thank you for helping our asylum-seeking neighbors access healthy, culturally-appropriate food as they recover from forced displacement. Your support of Jonathan House residents has a life-changing impact.
** All details and photos used with the individual’s permission.
“You are here, but you can’t go out. You can’t work or interact with others. You’re stuck and you don’t know how long it will stay that way.”
For many of us, this describes life under the recent government’s guidelines for preventing COVID-19. But in fact, this is how a resident of IAFR Jonathan House describes life as an asylum seeker.
“COVID-19 didn’t change anything for me,” he says. “If someone asks what the asylum process is like, I could say, do you remember the inconvenience of COVID-19? Well, that is 15% of what it’s like to be an asylum seeker.”
“For Americans, this is totally new. I can imagine there are challenges you face and possible impacts on mental health with the loss of routine and restricted movement. I feel like with COVID-19, I have an advantage. Considering what I’ve gone through already, this doesn’t take that much from me. I am resilient.”
We’re grateful for this asylum-seeking brother’s willingness to share his story, the lessons of resilience he’s learned, and his encouragement for us as we lean into the recent realities of a global pandemic, economic instability, the murder of George Floyd, and political unrest. Here is what he has to say:
Life Interrupted
Back home, I was the helper of vulnerable people. After graduating from university, I was a manager working with NGOs. I put in a lot of effort to be comfortable. I had my own plans for my life.
But then something happened that changed the whole direction. I had to leave my country. I had been a helper of vulnerable people; I never thought that that would be me.
When I first came to the US, I found myself thinking, “It’s unfair: I’ve been made helpless. I’m not able to afford food or accommodation.” It took a year and a half before I was even permitted to work.
Someone might say, “That’s the law; at least you’re safe.” But it’s still not okay. When you’re able to develop a routine and do something normal, you don’t think so much about what happened to you. It reduces the burden a little. But when you come to the US as an asylum seeker, there are immediately lots of barriers that stop you from being able to go back to normal or from making social connections.
Perhaps I don’t worry so much about safety now, but how can I be stress-free? Without routine, without community, you are mentally stuck and tied up, just thinking about the trauma and how you’re not sure whether your family is safe.
You can start to lose hope and to challenge the very basic things you live for …
You saw the people who were protesting because they were tired of the restrictions because of COVID-19. But as an asylum seeker, how do you protest that you’re so tired?
~ Jonathan House resident
The Road to Resilience
Being an asylum seeker has helped me build some skills of resilience, though. I’m grateful to IAFR and The Advocates for Human Rights for their support. Over the past several months, I’ve had resources that have helped me improve my mental health.
Someone gave me the book The Body Keeps The Score, which has helped me understand trauma, and that people can have many types of traumatizing experiences, like bullying or facing rejections, that they are able to heal from. I’ve learned the importance of routine, of doing activities for yourself that just help you feel normal and grounded, like sharing a meal or biking, being active.
I appreciate the community I have at Jonathan House, too. My roommates are also seeking asylum, so we can relate to each other in the difficulties. It gives me encouragement to be able to talk with people who understand.
Through the availability of community and building up a routine, I’ve learned resilience over time. I feel much stronger now. My perspective on my experience has started shifting. Yes, it was bad; it could have been worse. I’m still alive. I’m learning the stories of many people who have overcome trauma, and I know I’m not alone.
An Asylum Seeker’s Perspective on the Pandemic
America is a country where life never stops. COVID-19 came abruptly, and no one could predict the impact it would have on the world. Especially here in the US, nothing like this has happened in living memory. Then, the events surrounding the killing of George Floyd were also a new, uncertain experience for many people.
But for me, I could relate it to things I experienced in my home country. Where I come from, there are cycles of post-election violence, where even if you’re my neighbor and we grew up together, politicians will pit you against each other based on ethnicity, and then you’re no longer my friend.
With protests there, the police will just kill people. So, when these ethnic clashes happen, life stops. People are afraid to go outside. You see people stocking up, like at the beginning of the pandemic. Once, when I was starting university, it lasted for three months. People were running out of food. It was such a terrible time.
So, the restrictions of COVID-19 reminded me of these times at home. And because I’m an asylum seeker, being stuck felt familiar. But I imagine for many Americans, the loss of routine and community is a new and uncomfortable challenge.
The greatest impact that COVID-19 has for me as an asylum seeker is that it means more waiting in terms of my asylum case. This is difficult because the time spent waiting to rebuild your life is already so long, and makes you feel like you have no value.
I know that Americans can relate to how difficult this is. You saw the people who were protesting because they were tired of the restrictions because of COVID-19. But as an asylum seeker, how do you protest that you’re so tired? Here in the US, we have no political voice.
An Asylum Seeker’s Encouragement for Uncertain Times
Because of the pandemic and other events, there are people who have a lot of uncertainty right now. Some have lost jobs, some are separated from their loved ones, some are struggling emotionally. My encouragement for these people is: the challenge might look beyond you, you might think you won’t come through. Your emotions may even get so much that it feels like you’re better off dead than alive. I can assure you: you will definitely come through. The situation of COVID-19 is not permanent. Keep hopeful.
Faith and hope is what gives you strength. For myself, I hope God gives me the opportunity to see my daughter again someday.
I could sit and feel sorry for myself, but instead, I try to look at the next person and consider what they’re going through. For example, I think of George Floyd’s family, I think of his young daughter who just lost her father. How do you think that little girl feels?
Every human being has their own journey. My experiences are a blessing in disguise. It has made me empathetic toward other people.
Resilience doesn’t mean a perfect state; I still slip back, I still ask lots of questions. Stuff is going to happen in life that deeply affects you, but that cycle is necessary for resilience.
When I first arrived in Minnesota, it was in the middle of January, in the deep winter. I was in shock! Now, I’ve come to appreciate the seasons, and see in them an important symbolism. The winter is going to end. No matter how hard life is, you know the winter will end. And even when you are deep in January – the sun is still going to rise.”
* * *
This asylum-seeking resident recently received his work permit, and is currently working toward a certification as a nursing assistant. He’s excited to come alongside and affirm the stories and journeys of the patients he will serve in health care settings.
Shoutout to our featured volunteer, Elisa Walt! Elisa manages administrative work here at Jonathan House.
“I have the privilege of working behind the scenes in scheduling and organizing things so we can work smoothly to serve our residence.”
How did you first learn about the plight of asylum-seeking individuals in America?
In growing up overseas in an environment that worked closely with refugees, I was introduced to the life of asylum seekers fairly early on in my life, learning about the journey and the hardships of those seeking asylum and now much it differed from my own life. From there there the Lord slowly but continuously opened my heart and eyes to asylum seekers globally.
I first learned about Jonathan House after reaching out to IAFR in search of ways to walk alongside asylum seekers.
What is something everyone can do to help the cause of asylum-seeking individuals in the US?
Get connected! There are so many different organizations that work one on one with asylum seekers, be a voice for many people right now that don’t have the ability to speak for themselves.
Is there a statistic or fact that has surprised you concerning Jonathan House’s cause?
One of the main statistics that surprised me to learn was that Minnesota has some of the highest numbers of forcibly displaced people who have either received asylum or are seeking it.
What is something that the Jonathan House residents have taught you?
There is a whole list of different things that I have learned from my asylum seeker friends. One of the most impactful ones has been joy in the midst of hardship. Along with how to cook some wonderful food!
What languages do you speak?
I speak German and English.
Is there any other line of work you’re in?
Along with working with Jonathan House, I work at Spyhouse Coffee, come by anytime for some coffee!
What are your hobbies?
Some of my hobbies include; making and drinking coffee, baking and cooking, being in nature, creating art and spending time at a coffee shop reading.
Photo: Jonah Broberg, senior writing major at University of Northwestern, St. Paul, served as a web content intern with IAFR Jonathan House this semester.
My name is Jonah Broberg, and I’m a senior at the University of Northwestern, St. Paul. Part of my professional writing major includes working for an organization of my choice on their communications: writing and creating content for them and helping them find their voice. For the past semester, I had the opportunity to serve as IAFR Jonathan House’s communications and social media intern.
Every week, SJ Holsteen, the IAFR Minneapolis-St. Paul Ministry Leader, and I went through The God Who Sees by Karen Gonzalez and talked through the discussion questions. It was a spiritually enriching experience that shaped my views on asylum policy both as a citizen and a Christian. It helped me see myself and all of us as citizens of the world instead of just citizens of the United States. I now understand more what the role of Christians should be in this world, as our loyalty lies not primarily to our country, but primarily to God.
One of the highlights of this internship was meeting one of the residents at a training day. I was fascinated to learn that he spoke five languages. As a student of linguistics, I have to say I was a bit jealous!
Though I could not understand French, I was able to hear his story translated into English, and I was shocked to hear that upon arriving in America, he was detained arbitrarily for five months (read more about A.S.’s story here). Through hearing his story and seeing the way that Jonathan House’s staff welcomed him in, helping him with his asylum case and English-learning, I could tell that they were fulfilling God’s role for Christians in modern America.
During my time at IAFR Jonathan House, I’ve learned more about its mission to extend shelter, hope, and healing to asylum seekers in Minneapolis/St. Paul. This has informed my own views on an increasingly complex crisis. As a Christian, this semester has been a period of strengthening for my faith and figuring out how to integrate it into my daily life and actions. I now have a renewed perspective for what it means to follow God’s commands in our political climate. I will aspire to write with the same compassion and care that I’ve seen exemplified by the staff of Jonathan House.
As I close my internship, I’d like to share a verse that especially stuck out to me throughout my internship:
James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
I understand the need better now—the need to extend a welcoming hand to asylum seekers in the US, the need for a better system that doesn’t wait so long to grant people work permits and the need for a system that doesn’t detain people arbitrarily when they come over.
When the world falls into crisis, we have a choice. We can let ourselves be overwhelmed and crushed by the world’s chaos and panic, or we can remember Christ and know that, whatever may happen, He’s in control. We can remember God’s command to love one another, helping those in need.
I’m the Jonathan House Program Manager, which means I’m responsible for the day-to-day operations of Jonathan House, including the program and the premises.
How did you first get involved in Jonathan House?
Tom, the president of IAFR, told me about Jonathan House after I had just returned from Italy where I’d been doing volunteer work with another organization. At that time, Jonathan House was just an idea; it didn’t exist yet. After my time in Italy, I was looking for a way to continue working with displaced people, and the idea of working here in the Twin Cities with Jonathan House appealed to me. It just felt like a good fit.
What’s something that everyone can do to help the cause of asylum-seeking individuals in the US?
I think it’s important to be well-informed. There’s a lot of misinformation out there because the immigration and asylum-seeking issue has been a fairly hot and trendy political topic for some time now. It can lead to false perceptions of people. I think it’s important to hear firsthand experiences from asylum-seekers themselves. There’s plenty of that stuff that can be found online, in podcasts, and in books. If I were to make a shameless plug, our website is a good place to start.
Is there a statistic or fact that has surprised you concerning asylum seeking individuals?
Concerning asylum-seekers in the United States, something that surprised me is how long they need to wait before they can get a work permit. It’s a minimum of 180 days, and that’s a minimum. It can take longer than that.
What is something asylum seeking individuals have taught us?
Gratitude. Just an appreciation for life and other things that I too often take for granted. I distinctly remember a friend who, every time he prayed, he always thanked God that we all woke up this morning, and he’d continue to say, “because some people went to bed last night and never woke up.” And I knew that that had been an actual reality for him. Those weren’t just empty words, and that’s something that’s always stuck with me: an appreciation and gratitude for just being alive.
Hobbies?
I love outdoor activities. This time of year, I spend a lot of time at the family farm making maple syrup. Really, anything that gets me out in the forest: backpacking, camping, rock climbing, canoeing, snow shoeing, etc.
** All photos and details used with the permission of the individual.
A.G. reads in the living room of IAFR Jonathan House. She recalls how she found strength in her faith during an emergency hospitalization in February.
For A.G., IAFR Jonathan House has been more than a safe, stable place to stay while she rebuilds her life as an asylum seeker in the United States. It also provided a protective community when she became critically ill.
In February, A.G. started having sharp pains in her abdomen. One day she became very sick. Her housemate called their neighbor Lynn Thompson, a Jonathan House volunteer who the women know and trust.
Thompson took A.G. to a nearby Urgent Care, but when her symptoms became more serious, they decided to call an ambulance. An IAFR staff person met them in the hospital emergency room, to be present with A.G. while the doctors ran tests to identify the issue. “Everybody came together to save my life,” A.G. says.
Even beyond the physical cure, when facing illness in an unknown land far from family, community is healing. Asylum seekers often face social isolation and marginalization from basic need services like healthcare. Because of your support, Jonathan House residents like A.G. have access to community partners and resources that ensure they receive medical treatment and sustain good health.
IAFR staff and Thompson continued to visit A.G. during her hospitalization. A.G. asked staff to pray with her before she went in for procedures. She gets teary-eyed as she recalls it. “You were with me night and day,” she says. “You were such an encouragement to me; you helped me more than the doctor.”
A.G. gives thanks to God that she was able to receive the medical care she needed and return healthy to IAFR Jonathan House. She was recently granted asylum and is working toward finding independent housing. She hopes someday to be reunited with her family.
A.G. wraps herself in the multicolored blanket she has crocheted to “record” her time at IAFR Jonathan House.
The current global pandemic clearly shows the tie between being able to “shelter in place” and safeguarding our health. But what if you have been forcibly displaced? What if you have no shelter? This is the reality for many asylum-seeking individuals in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The importance of housing and quick, easy access to healthcare becomes ever clearer, particularly for vulnerable populations such as asylum seekers.
Because of supporters like you, asylum-seeking individuals can have their healthcare needs met in safe, stable shelter with supportive community.
“Jonathan House helped me a lot with my health when I was sick. They help fulfill all my needs. Even when I move to my own home, I want to stay connected with Jonathan House.”
In the meantime, A.G.’s place is woven into the fabric of IAFR Jonathan House. She is quick to laugh with her housemates, helps care for her roommate’s infant, and enjoys crocheting in her downtime. She recently completed a large colorful blanket crocheted from various sources of yarn, including some knitted clothes she unraveled and repurposed.
She wraps herself in the blanket like a hug. “It’s my ‘record’ of Jonathan House,” she says. “It is really a Jonathan House memory for me.”
Kelsey is our Community Coordinator here at IAFR Jonathan House.
“I oversee our trainings, volunteer system, and overall engagement. I also work pretty closely with our residents regarding some aspects of our programming, such as goal meetings. During this time, I meet with residents to discuss their ambitions for the future and together we work through steps to get where they want to be.
I really like this aspect of the work because it is a tangible way to provide support (and maybe some hope), and it gives me a chance to get to know our residents better. It has also become a way to just share life. We all have hopes, dreams, disappointments, insecurities, and so forth, and when our residents are willing to take time to share those intimate feelings with me, I feel a deep sense of connection and joy. I hope they do too!
How did you first learn about the plight of asylum-seeking individuals in America?
I don’t remember exactly, but the first time I was really struck by the situation I was interning with a Boston based nonprofit. Through my work there I ended up becoming close friends with a displaced family that was in a really horrible situation at the time. Even in the midst of it, they were constantly taking time to care for me physically, mentally, and spiritually and I was touched by the mutual benefit of sharing our lives.
How did you first get involved in Jonathan House?
I first got involved with asylum seekers in Rome, Italy. I was studying there and volunteering at a drop-in center, which I later learned was run by IAFR. I ended up really loving the work there and went back to Italy for a time with IAFR before returning to the United States to work with Jonathan House. In between my two stints in Italy I was interning at a nonprofit in Boston where we were exploring community style housing options for displaced people and I connected with Jonathan House at that time to interview them for a research project. I never would have imagined I would end up working with them at the time!
What’s something that everyone can do to help the cause of asylum-seeking individuals in the US?
I guess I would say that all people who have been displaced are far more than people in need. There is a temptation to label people in a certain manner when we read only one part of their story. At Jonathan House for example, our residents are not only seeking asylum, they are also doctors, language gurus, international finance managers, parents, expert knitters, basketball and soccer fans, incredible chefs, curious, funny, bright, and a million other things. They are full humans who have, due to circumstances out of their control, found themselves in a hard spot.
Something everyone can do is be aware of both of those things when they meet an asylum-seeker. Sensitivity to the fact that seeking asylum in the U.S. genuinely puts you in a very vulnerable situation that sometimes requires tangible help, and sensitive to the fact that “asylum seeker” is one title of many.
Is there a statistic or fact that has surprised you concerning asylum seeking individuals?
I think one thing that is surprising is that, according to the most recent statistic I have seen, asylum seekers are waiting an average of 1,000 days to have resolution on their cases. That is nearly three years of living in uncertainty, sometimes with lack of access to services to help meet the most basic needs, let alone sustaining “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
What is something asylum seeking individuals have taught you?
I have learned a lot from the willingness of my asylum-seeking friends to open their lives to me. They have shared stories and wisdom that they have collected along their lives journeys, they have shared practical advice and perspective in my moments of difficulty, they have shared hugs and tender moments of laughter, they have fed me, given me clothing, then given me more food! I guess to sum it up, they have taught me a lot about what it means to love someone openly, and without condition, in a way that invites you to let your guard down, knowing you are safe enough to come as you are.
What languages do you speak?
English and Italian. I also studied German in school, but it would be a stretch to say I speak it now. I also have built my Oromo vocabulary to a solid 5-10 words, so it seems that should count for something.
Do you have any hobbies?
Reading, studying Italian, yoga, going to the gym, and cooking.
