-
December 20, 2022By Carissa Krautscheid
From December 17 until New Years, a Light the World Giving Machine will be located at Park Place Mall in Tucson. Patrons use the machine in the same way as a vending machine, but instead of receiving, they are giving. This international effort can be found in six countries and 22 U.S. cities, five of which are located in Arizona alone.
Bishop Edward Weisenburger attended the kick-off event on December 17. He shared a prayer and contributed the first gift of the Giving Machine. Additional donors were excited to contribute to these local non-profits, launching the Giving Machines with great success!
For its debut visit to Tucson, the Giving Machine will feature Sr. Jose Women's Center and Catholic Community Services (CCS) among the four options to choose from! CCS is highlighting their agency, Casa Alitas to aid in their constant need for support in the form of financial, material, or time dontations.
Casa Alitas
"The Casa Alitas Program serves migrant families who have left their home countries to escape violence and poverty," explains the CCS website. "We provide hospitality and humanitarian aid, medical services, short-term shelter and help to reunite with family members in the U.S."
The machine allows passers-by to make gifts to help with specific needs at local non-profits. Supporting Casa Alitas, patrons can buy shoelaces for migrants, backpacks with stuffed animals for kids, meals for the hundreds of people served every day, and more!
"Most migrants arriving in our community are parents, children, and pregnant women from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, and many other countries. Most have traveled from their homes, through Mexico, to reach Arizona, a journey of several days to weeks."As Christians, we welcome people traveling in a foreign land who are in need of our care and concern," said CCS Development Director, Joseph Leisz. "These gifts will help provide them a warm welcome, health screening, a place to rest, and provisions for the rest of their journey as they join their families here in the US these guests who provide a light to many at this time of year."
"In Arizona, the Border Patrol typically turns them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE provides them with documentation and orders to report to an immigration hearing. ICE or Border Patrol drops the families off at the Casa Alitas Welcome Center."
Normally, Casa Alitas welcomes about 200 migrants on any given day. However, the past few weeks have seen between 700 and 800 migrants passing through Casa Alitas each day."Casa Alitas provides a safe place to rest, rehydrate, eat, and care for their children. We also provide a change of clothes, hygiene items, and a chance to wash up. As needed, volunteer medical providers offer skilled and caring medical support for our guests.
"Families receive travel bags before they leave. Bags may include food, water, toiletries, hygiene items, diapers and baby food, if necessary. We also provide blankets and small toys for the children for the plane or bus ride.
"Travelers who are unable to leave immediately spend the night at one of our shelters, staffed by volunteers and Catholic Community Services."
Sr. Jose Women's Center
At the launch event, Jean Fedigan spoke about the life-changing work of Sr. Jose Women's Center. This Catholic non-profit "is dedicated to the care and nurture of women experiencing homelessness in a welcoming environment. For many Tucson women experiencing homelessness, we are their only safe haven and the first step to recovery from homelessness. We provide our guests access to showers and laundry, meals, clothing, and a supportive community so they can create a self-sufficient life and move out of homelessness.
"Our low-barrier day center provides unaccompanied women who are unhoused with a stable and safe environment to recuperate from the daily struggle of homelessness and extreme poverty. The Winter Night Program provides overnight stays for women who would otherwise be sleeping outside; we provided 7,171 overnights last winter. All of this was accomplished through the dedication and hard work of volunteers and university interns – they are the heartbeat of our organization. We are more than a center; we are a community built upon the values of compassion, dignity and respect in a non-institutionalized setting. For many of our guests we are home."
Last year, Sr. Jose Women's Center provided 7,171 overnight stays through their Winter Nights program; 26,218 nutritious meals; and 14,357 daytime visits through their Sisters Helping Sisters day program when women can access showers, laundry machines, clothing, meals, wifi, and outreach resources. In 2021 alone, thrirty-eight women moved out of homelessness and into homes.
Contributions to Sr. Jose Women's Center through the Giving Machine support this vital ministry of caring for women experiencing homelessness.
This year, Jean Fedigan was awarded the 2022 national Lumen Christi Award. She was also named the Cornerstone Award recipient by the Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of Tucson.
If you are not able to visit Park Place Mall to support these Catholic ministries, please consider giving online: