St. John's Episcopal Church
Plymouth, Michigan
St. John's House For
New Americans
574 S. Sheldon Road
Plymouth, MI 48170-1565
An Open Heart for the World
Heart and hand connections,
Right here in our community
Recently, as we have watched tragedy unfolding in the world, we have often felt helpless to make a difference. However, we have an opportunity to do something right now, right here in Plymouth.
St. John's Episcopal Church Plymouth, partnering with Samaritas, local congregations, community groups and businesses, is renovating our former Youth House as a temporary residence for newly arrived refugees. Samaritas is the oldest and largest federal government appointed agency for refugee resettlement in southeast Michigan with 90 years of experience helping disadvantaged Michigan families thrive. With their guidance, St. John's and the Plymouth community can come together to provide a safe haven for new American families. With this kind of support, experience has shown that most refugees are able to live independently within 6 to 12 months.
STEP ONE
The first step was to raise the funds needed for the renovation. When we added the many in-kind donations, we found we were able to start work for much less than we had estimated. The construction is currently in process and the estimated completion is early in August. We are grateful for the volunteers who have offered to help with the next steps of cleaning, painting, and furnishing. Please contact us if you would like to join in to do some of this work.
STEP TWO
Once a family has arrived, many volunteers will be needed to help them adjust to living in America. Samaritas requires volunteers having personal contact with these families to complete a clearance check from the Michigan DHHS. Along with a designated case worker, Samaritas will provide volunteers in-person training as well as short, online training to help you understand responsibilities when interacting with refugees. Each year, as we welcome a new family, we will need a support team of 12-15 people to help them on their way to self-sufficiency within the first six months. We are hoping we will have a family living in St. John's House this fall.
Even when the house is ready and a family is coming, as a sponsoring community we are required to provide $10,000 to Samaritas as a resource for basic needs until the refugee family has established their own income within the first six months. This will be an ingoing need each year for each new family. One way you can help is to participate in St. John's House For New Americans Brick Fundraiser. We want this project to be a visible reminder to the refugees and the community of how many people cared to help families forced to leave home and start over in America.
Click here to go to a new page with information for the Brick Paver Fundraiser. From there you can see a short video on the project, order, and pay for a brick paver.
DONATIONS
Donations can be made online at:
https://onrealm.org/StJohnsEpiscopa27913/give/stjohnshouse
Or contact us at:
734-453-0190
Refugee: a person forced to leave home because of persecution, war, or violence.
Immigrant: a person who moves for personal reasons to another country to take up permanent residence.