Yesterday, I asked for help for a refugee student at Bishop Maginn and her family. They were in trouble, their food stamps and rent subsidy had been cut off and they were completely out of funds for food or anything else.

I received more than $1,500 by morning – I haven’t totaled all of it and haven’t gotten he mailed donations, which are still coming in, so it will be higher. The first $500 reached the family this afternoon.

I think we will have enough donations for now, pending some conversations with the family.

Thank you very much.

This is the complex part of this rescue for me. We need to proceed sensitively and thoughtfully. We are not a huge group or a wealthy one, there is only so much we can take on, and what we do needs to matter.

As you know, I believe we need to stay small and focused, the need out there is just overwhelming.

My goal is to give the family time to stabilize themselves and have their basic needs met. Sue Silverstein is working with me to distribute the money and figure out what to do next.

We have asked the family for a plan, for some sense of what it will take to get them into a safe place,  so they can figure out what happened to their subsidies and how they want to proceed. We have given them some real-time to breathe.

These are not people who have ever asked for help, and they are mortified. For many reasons, they are terrified of publicity.

One of their children is handling the money and translating and helping them figure out the next step, their English is poor. They had no idea what a blog is or how it could help them. They, like so many refugee families, are in an awful position right now.

I’ve learned more than once that simply handing over a lot of cash buys some short term relief, but doesn’t always help in the long run. Their long-term needs are simply beyond our ability to fill.

So we are talking to them to get a better feel for how they can be helped, now that the immediate emergency – food and personal needs and expenses – have been met.

They are secure and comfortable right now.

Thanks again for your rapid response to the SOS. Sue Silverstein and I will be talking about how best to proceed. I can’t promise many updates, but if more information can be shared, I’ll share it.

Thanks for your trust and support. We really helped these people.