Mercy House helping a growing number of migrants and refugees

On a hot summer day, Sylvia’s three children ran through the old convent that now houses The Mercy House of Newark seeking out director Cheryl Riley and surrounding her with a group hug.  

When the family first landed in Newark after migrating from Ecuador last year, they were told by friends to immediately seek out The Mercy House, a resource and referral center operated by the Archdiocese of Newark’s Respect Life Office.  

The Mercy House not only provided the family with groceries, clothing, and even housewares to furnish their one-room apartment in Newark, but Riley was also able to get the kids into a charter school and the prerequisite vaccines and uniforms in order to attend. 

“People have come to us after literally just arriving in New Jersey because they have nothing,” Riley said. “We see children with no shoes and migrants who need seasonal clothes because their countries of origin didn’t have weather like ours. Or they have been detained for years.”  

Sylvia and her children were back on July 7 because The Mercy House was celebrating its fifth anniversary with a block party. Sylvia’s niece just joined the family from Ecuador, she says. After checking in with Riley, the children ran back outside, joining hundreds who came for the DJ dance music, ice cream truck, face painting, and fair games while bubbles filled the air. 

A father and his 3-year-old daughter sat under a tent, enjoying some ice cream and bubbles. It was only six months ago that they came to Newark from Haiti through Chile and Mexico. The Mercy House helped him get a government ID and a tax number so he could work. He now works in a candy factory, he said. 

Opened in June 2018, The Mercy House in Newark initially served as a center for helping mothers and pregnant women. But after witnessing the local community’s need, the Archdiocese of Newark realized it had to broaden its mission. So, The Mercy House began providing nonperishable food, clothes, baby supplies, furniture, and help to find work and housing for anyone in need. It has since expanded its services to include support in obtaining government identifications, tax ID numbers, and rental assistance of up to $1,000.  

SUBSCRIBE TO JERSEY CATHOLIC NEWSLETTER

And now, The Mercy House is pivoting to meet the needs of a growing population of refugees and migrants. 

Over the last year, the number of people coming through the doors of The Mercy Houses in Newark has almost doubled. Of the 200 people now seeking help at The Mercy House, about half are migrants, Riley said.  The same applies to the newly opened Mercy House in Jersey City. The Archdiocese expanded to 20 Greenville Ave. last December to meet the needs of the community there. Newark center officials say the Newark migrant clients are from Nigeria, Haiti, Central and South America. In Jersey City, the refugee or migrant clients are Middle Eastern, mainly from Egypt. 

Twice a week, about 100 moms, dads, and children file into The Mercy House in Newark and Jersey City to “shop” for food, clothing, diapers, and other essentials. Rather than The Mercy House packing up bags of groceries or necessities, clients go room to room filling up shopping bags with what they need for the week. Many also come for help getting government ID cards, their children registered into schools, and rental assistance. 

Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, O.S.B., Auxiliary Bishop of Newark, told the crowd on July 7 that the “house of mercy” is a great blessing in the Archdiocese, enabling it to “put into practice the gospels.” He noted that Pope Francis has taught that “a little mercy makes the world less cold and more just,” saying that there is a lot of mercy at The Mercy House. 

“(At The Mercy House) we see the face of Christ in the hungry and the thirsty. We see the face of Christ in the homeless and the unemployed. We see the face of Christ in the stranger and the immigrant. We see the face of Christ in each and every one of you. Look to your right and look to your left. You will see the face of Christ,” Bishop Lorenzo said. 

Last winter, Riley helped get 17 children from Latino countries into charter schools. “Truancy can be a problem,” she said. “They get overwhelmed when they come here trying to find food, clothing, housing, and a job.” But, getting them in school helps the children to acclimate quicker. 

Jersey City and Newark are both sanctuary cities. A sanctuary city limits its cooperation with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration law. Leaders of sanctuary cities say they want to reduce ce fear of deportation and possible family break-up among people who are in the country illegally so that such people will be more willing to report crimes, use health and social services, and enroll their children in school. Refugees who are forced to flee dangerous countries feel safer in sanctuary cities, officials say.  People find out about The Mercy Houses mainly through word of mouth from others who have sought out their services, Riley said. 

Although The Mercy Houses has six employees including a chaplain, volunteers are a large part of the operation, Riley said. And many of those are Riley’s childhood friends or people who have been clients themselves.  

“I came to drop off clothing when it first opened to support Cheryl, and the next thing I knew I was helping out on the floor,” volunteer Diane Loughery said.  

She said The Mercy House holiday giveaways such as turkeys at Thanksgiving, backpacks for students in August, and toys at Christmas give parents even more hope during times when they are missing the support of extended family.  

Joanne DePaul, another childhood friend of Riley’s, started volunteering after retiring from the nursing field. Her medical background has come in handy with clients who were showing signs of medical duress, such as one man who had shortness of breath and a woman who was ready to give birth. 

“It’s much more than clothes and food,” DePaul said. 

Brandon Codi, a 27-year-old engineer, volunteers at the center on Fridays. He said sometimes a client’s biggest need is just to sit down and listen. 

Many of the volunteers speak French, Creole, Igbo, Spanish, or Jamaican Patois to further serve the increasingly diverse clientele. Being able to speak the client’s language not only helps with referring services but also with simple, yet important, distinctions like the difference between baby wipes and disinfectant wipes.  

As a Catholic organization, The Mercy House offers spiritual assistance as well. The Mercy House chapel currently has 12 baptisms scheduled, many of which have been delayed due to the migratory nature of the family or concern with registering with a church upon baptism. The families feel more comfortable receiving the sacrament in The Mercy House chapel, on the second floor.

Riley said her team does its best to meet whatever needs clients may have. Her staff has also provided first Holy Communion attire and even dresses for women who would not dare attend church in pants due to their tradition. 

“We recently had a woman come in who couldn’t afford a haircut, so we made sure she got one,” Riley said. “We don’t turn anyone away.”  

The Mercy House mission fits the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration mission statement: “The Catholic Church in the United States is an immigrant Church with a long history of embracing diverse newcomers and providing assistance and pastoral care to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and people on the move. Our Church has responded to Christ’s call for us to ‘welcome the stranger among us,’ for in this encounter with the immigrant, the migrant, and the refugee in our midst, we encounter Christ.” 

In the 2001 pastoral statement, Welcoming the Stranger Among Us:  Unity in Diversity, the bishops of the United States called upon the Catholic faithful to a conversion of minds and hearts, imploring them to communion and solidarity with diverse newcomers and entreating them to find new and meaningful ways to welcome immigrants into parishes, schools, and communities.   

Bishop Lorenzo called Mercy House employees and volunteers “angels of mercy” who come day after day to serve others in Mercy House.  

Riley was recently awarded a Community Partnership Award by the Newark Department of Public Safety for “her efforts in creating a resource and referral center in Newark for struggling people and families.” 

Fifth Precinct Officer Jorge Miranda, who regularly collaborates with The Mercy House as a community service officer, recommended her for the award. “It is a blessing to have them here to help the documented and the undocumented,” Miranda said on July 7. “They are an umbrella to health and human services, rental assistance, shelter and ID programs. When hope is needed, when they feel down, they come here.”   

Riley said the turnout at the celebration was exciting.  

“It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since we opened The Mercy House,” she said. “We hope to be here for many more years serving this beautiful community and its people.” 

In the future, The Mercy House staff and ministry will go even further serving more clients. Plans are in the works to expand to Union and Bergen counties. Riley said Mercy Houses are expected to open in Elizabeth this October and in Bogota soon after. 

The Mercy House of Newark is open Tuesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mercy House in Jersey City is open Monday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those interested in donating or volunteering should contact Cheryl A. Riley at cheryl.riley@rcan.org. To learn more about The Mercy Houses of Newark and Jersey City, visit www.rcan.org/offices-and-ministries/respect-life.