Work with the women at detention center is evolving and growing

Our work with the women in the Brooks County Detention Center is evolving and growing. I just keep putting the next foot forward, and God keeps sending the next person and the next idea. It is clear who is in charge here.

Last week I took 10 books written in Spanish that I had purchased with your donated funds. My hope was to successfully get the books into the center's library. Well, though I had to cut off the hard cover of one of the books, the deputy warden allowed me to bring the books with me to my visit with the women that evening. That means that the books will remain with the women, which is better than I had hoped. I have an additional 30 books ready to take, if allowed. The women were very excited to receive these books.

Last Saturday, I met with a woman who writes for the South Texas Catholic. The interview was in regard to my visits to the the detention center. My hope is that a future article will inspire more persons from the Corpus Christi Diocese to minister to the male and female detainees.

Two days ago, two women who had heard about our work came to visit. Both are social workers. They are already going through the paperwork and instruction process to be accepted as visitors to the detention center.

Today the South Texas Human Rights Center welcomed two supporters, Caly Fernandez and Elaine J. Cohen. Caly is an elder in The New Covenant Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Austin. She is trying to establish a program of transitional housing and support for refugees in Falfurrias. Elaine is a consultant for Grassroots Leadership with a focus on the Hutto Visitation Program in the detention center located in Taylor, Texas. Needless to say, we have lots to share and talk about.

Caly and Elaine both minister in detention centers and are connecting with other groups doing this work such as Grassroots Leadership and CIVIC.

One next step includes connecting the detainees with a law school and faculty whose focus is immigration law. Caly and Elaine and their connections will assist with the establishment of the Interfaith Visitation Coalition, the visitation program we hope to establish at the Falfurrias center.

Thank you for your support and prayers.