Jonathan House
What services does the Jonathan House provide?
Jonathan House provides supportive housing, connections to community services, practical assistance, and a welcoming community for asylum seekers who have faced forced displacement and who are now trying to rebuild their lives.
Is Jonathan House affiliated with any organizations or church denominations?
The Jonathan House is a program of the International Association of Refugees (IAFR). IAFR is an ecumenical Christian organization on a mission, together with the church, to help people survive and recover from forced displacement.
Where are Jonathan House residents housed?
Jonathan House operates three separate sites in partnership with local churches: a women’s house, a men’s house, and a family house. The houses are in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood, St. Paul’s East Side, and South Minneapolis. The specific locations of the houses are confidential to protect the privacy of our residents.
Jonathan House does not have a bricks-and-mortar administrative office. One staff member has a live-in staff role, while the others work remotely and visit sites frequently.
What are some of the challenges asylum seekers experience in Minnesota?
Asylum seekers experience many challenges, including constant worry about their family back home, lack of resources to meet day-to-day needs, difficulty finding legal representation, difficulty obtaining a work permit and then finding work, and recovering from the trauma of forced displacement. While survival-level challenges are always top-of-mind, asylum seekers also tell us that in order to rebuild their lives in a new place they need to build community connections, heal emotionally, find resources for spiritual support, and find opportunities to contribute their gifts in their new home.
What countries do Jonathan House residents come from?
Over the history of Jonathan House, we have supported residents from 18 countries on three continents and received inquiries from many more. Historically, the largest group of Jonathan House residents have come from Africa.
How is Jonathan House staffed?
Jonathan House currently has a staff of four. Its staff include:
- Bethany Ringdal, Ministry Leader
- Josh Levin, Program Manager
- Kelsey Ueland, Support Coordinator
- Ella Skiens, Live-In Staff and Projects
What is the Jonathan House annual budget?
The Jonathan House annual budget for 2024 is $155,000.
What role do partner churches play?
Our vision is to see the church journeying with asylum seekers so that all grow in God’s hope and belonging. We believe these partnerships create mutual blessing between the Church and asylum seekers and it is the key to how we function.
We invite congregations to start their journey with these new neighbors through learning and prayer; our staff are available for educational sessions, preaching, and to help your congregation pray in solidarity with displaced people.
Congregations can assist Jonathan House practically by gathering needed household supplies or hosting Jonathan House events, including our monthly community potluck. We also need congregations to assemble and anchor our volunteer Accompaniment Teams—3 to 4 people who commit to walking with a particular resident for practical assistance and mutual friendship. Congregations are also an important source of financial support for Jonathan House. Contact us to discuss how your church can walk with asylum seekers.
What are the primary challenges that Jonathan House faces?
Jonathan House’s primary challenge is capacity. We see much more demand for housing than we can provide. We are currently developing a strategic plan that will allow us to double our housing capacity.
Is Jonathan House a nonprofit?
Jonathan House is a program of IAFR and IAFR is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.
International Association for Refugees (IAFR)
What is IAFR?
The International Association for Refugees (IAFR) is a Christian nonprofit on a mission, together with the church, to help people survive and recover from forced displacement.
Our teams around the world partner with local churches to serve displaced people according to the contextual needs of each location. We’ve worked on projects as varied as providing clean water in refugee camps, offering language education in Europe, and providing trauma care training to refugee pastors.
Everywhere we work, we live out our core values through our partnerships with refugee-led and host country churches. We strive to form long-term relationships and collaborations that reflect reciprocity, respect, and dignity, while honoring the host country’s economy.
Along with direct services in several locations, IAFR trains and consults with churches locally and internationally to extend hospitality, hope, and healing to refugees. IAFR provides expert consultation to refugee churches and education programs. Our training programs for churches and ministries serving refugees are in demand across the globe.
Asylum Seekers and the Asylum Process
What international policy defines and governs asylum?
The United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol define and govern asylum among United Nations members.
How do asylum-seekers legally enter the United States?
Asylum-seekers may make an initial request for protection in the United States in two ways: affirmative asylum or defensive asylum.
Some may come with a visa, such as a visitors visa, student visa, or temporary work visa and request protection from our government upon determining it is no longer safe for them to return home. This is called “affirmative asylum.”
Others arrive at a port of entry, such as certain points along the southern border, and present themselves to immigration officials there, requesting asylum in the United States. Or, they may cross between ports of entry, then seek out an immigration official to make an asylum claim. Both of these methods, begun at a border, are called, “defensive asylum.”
Someone may also present a defensive claim if they are apprehended by Immigration and placed into removal proceedings after having been in the United States. Similarly, if the government does not grant an affirmative request for asylum and the person is placed into removal proceedings at the immigration court, they can renew their request for asylum before the immigration judge as a defense to their removal.
Under the United Nations policy, asylum seekers are granted the right to seek asylum from any nation member of the United Nations. Article 14 of the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” Further, both U.S. and international law stipulate that those seeking asylum should not be penalized for crossing the border between ports of entry. This Infographic is a helpful visual for understanding different ways of seeking humanitarian protection in the United States, including refugee resettlement and affirmative and defensive asylum.
Does the U.S. detain asylum seekers at the border?
While asylum seekers have a legal right to request asylum, they are often held in detention centers while waiting to pass what is called a credible fear interview, which demonstrates that they have reasonable cause to seek asylum in the United States. Asylum seekers may wait anywhere from a few hours to many months before they are granted the interview.
Are asylum seekers eligible for government services?
They are generally not eligible for most federal government services at the beginning of their process unless they are pregnant or in need of emergency medical care. Some states and counties may have more expansive eligibility criteria. In Minnesota, asylum seekers are eligible for certain private services, WIC, and health insurance.
Once they have applied for asylum and waited for a minimum of 150 days, asylum seekers are eligible to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (work permit), which can be granted after 180 days. Once a work permit has been obtained, they can apply for a Social Security number, which opens up access to many other services. In the past, it was difficult for asylum seekers to get health insurance and a Minnesota ID/Driver’s License too, but new Minnesota legislation has made it easier to do so.
Realistically, many asylum seekers lack a work permit and SSN for a year or more—time during which, regardless of their skills, resilience, and work ethic, they are unable to meet their own needs.
What is someone’s chance of being granted asylum?
The denial rates vary widely from judge-to-judge across the country. According to the TRAC system the denial rate at Minnesota’s immigration court averages around 70% over time, but it’s difficult to generalize about this complicated legal process. Each individual’s chance to be granted asylum depends on their case, the judge or asylum officer they go before, and whether their case is affirmative or defensive.
Once asylum is granted, what is the path to citizenship?
Once an asylum seeker’s application for asylum is granted, they can apply for a green card. Usually, they can apply for family reunification with their spouse and children who were under 21 years old at the time they applied for asylum. After a five year wait, they can apply for citizenship, should they choose.
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