For the last half year, we’ve had two guests in our church refuge apartment space – an Algerian woman named Tafsout, and Nafi, a Liberian woman. Both came to the US through legal channels but struggled to get established financially. Ever since Edith Espinal lived in sanctuary in that apartment we have offered it as temporary housing for folks we get connected with through CRIS (Community Refugee Immigration Services) or RIC (Riverview International Center).
On the national or even local scale this is a small thing. It has enabled us to be close to the challenges and joys of a number of folks who have come to this country as a refuge. It is a small offering of hospitality through welcoming the sojourner, as scripture repeatedly instructs.
Tafsout moved out this Monday and plans to settle in Chicago with money she has saved through working. Nafi will be moving out within the next month with the hopes of having a place for her and her teenage son.
The end of their stays corresponds with us actively planning to remake the spaces in that part of the church. We are finalizing a design for a restroom remodel that will offer handicap accessibility and gender-neutral options, along with creating a new workspace within the office. Another idea Leadership Team is considering is whether to create a separate entrance for the apartments. This would give us more flexibility to offer the space to a wider group of people, such as local families needing temporary housing – keeping it within the church structure without giving full access to the church building to guests as is currently the case. There are some other advantages, and potential disadvantages to this design and it calls for congregational discernment about how to best steward this space we have. Leadership Team will keep discussing how to open up this conversation so we can incorporate a plan into the remodel.
Brick and mortar, studs and drywall are pretty stable things, but we’re entering a time when some walls are going to be moving around. We are hoping to design for hospitality in a way that serves us and the community well.
Joel