St. Mary's Parish - Parish Nurse Program

Refugee Welcome Ministry

Through partnership with Worcester Catholic Charities, we assist refugee families moving into the Worcester area to seek a new and stable future.

These families come to Worcester from all over the world. They arrive with a handful of possessions, usually very little or no knowledge of English, and often no familiarity with our culture. Catholic Charities finds them an apartment, but the families still have many needs. We start out by supplying household goods. Other things, like providing transportation and making home visits to establish relationships, are equally important and our members provide this assistance on a regular basis, often several times a week.

Since April of 2011, we have set up several apartments for families from Bhutan, Nepal, Syria, and Iraq. Members of the Refugee Welcome Ministry are now sharing time with these families. New families may arrive at any time, with possibly only a few days notice.

The families, when settling in, have many needs. They need things that we take for granted, such as rides to doctor appointments. Rides to food markets are needed weekly. Dropping in for informal conversations helps them with English and are greatly appreciated. They need help in learning how to get a driver’s license, to be introduced to public libraries, to be instructed on so many things that we grew up with, but they have never seen before. Perhaps most significant, they enjoy having company – they have left behind a life they knew, and now may feel a bit isolated and lonely, missing family and friends left behind.

There are ways for everyone to help:

To help the family with shopping, to learn English, and adjust to American culture (through providing transportation, home visits, and social gatherings), please contact Cecile Cote cecilecote@charter.net 508.829.5422 or Martha Serafin sfinfam@townisp.com 508.842.6704.
To donate household goods, see what we currently need on the list that follows and our online inventory. To donate items, either edit the online inventory or send us e-mail at refugeeministryshrewsbury@googlegroups.com to let us know what item(s) you can donate.
(Please note that we no longer seek or accept furniture donations.)

Items needed for the refugee families:

Kitchen:	Linens:	Household:	Toiletries:
Place setting of tableware	Blankets	Alarm clock	Toilet paper
Place setting of dishes	Sheets, twin size	Paper/pens/pencils	Shampoo
Sauce pan	Sheets, queen or full	Light bulbs	Soap
Frying pan	Pillows	Sponges/cleaning rags/paper towels	Toothbrushes
Baking dish	Pillow cases	Bathroom/Kitchen cleanser	Toothpaste
Mixing/serving bowls	Bath towels	Laundry detergent	Personal hygiene items as appropriate
Kitchen utensils		Waste basket
Can opener		Mop/broom
Dish detergent		Trash bags
Rice cooker