St. John's House For New Americans

As a parent and grandparent myself, I see these pictures, read the stories of refugees and think, “What if that was my family? What would I do? Where would I go? How could I comfort my children when I am overcome with fear and grief myself?”

But any of us in the same situation could have been marked for death, hiding only to narrowly escape with all we own in just one or two bags; our homes, our community, and our livelihood demolished. We might have been raped, tortured, or watched our family gunned down before our eyes. We might have been separated from our children, only to learn a criminal gang waiting to traffic them into sex work or forced marriage has captured them at the border.

By God’s grace it is not you or me, but it is possible to help, and we are asking for your help to give so we can remodel St John’s House for New Americans for a family to live there.

In the world today there are 100 million refugees. In the next 3 years, Samaritas, the government appointed refugee resettlement agency for SE Michigan, anticipates that 4,000 of them will come to Michigan, where I live. Finding affordable starting homes for large families to begin a new life in America is especially difficult. However, since March of 2022 we have raised nearly half of the $120,000 contractor remodel estimate. We urgently need your support to raise the remaining $65,000.

The house we have is the former pastor’s house. When it was no longer used as a home, its interior structure was converted to a youth center. We want to convert it back into a family house as a safe place for newly arrived refugees until they are ready to move to their own home.

When St John’s House for New Americans is ready, it will be available as a resource to Samaritas for as long as it is needed. Samaritas will provide the expertise of caseworkers, legal requirements, and initial funds for newly arriving families. Concurrently, we are enlisting volunteers from throughout our community to help families begin to acquire all the practical aspects of learning to live in a new culture.

Please help us. No amount is too small. The more people who help, the stronger the message for these families that many people have cared enough to help them rebuild their lives.

You can donate through Go Fund Me, or if you would rather, you can use the QR code to make a tax-deductible donation directly to the house.

Thank you for your support!