{"id":2974,"date":"2025-09-02T10:30:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T10:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/?p=2974"},"modified":"2025-10-09T13:18:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T13:18:54","slug":"welcoming-migrant-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/welcoming-migrant-heroes\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcoming Migrant \u2018Heroes\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yahelis and Jos\u00e9 Flores\u2019 hearts filled with joy when their children were selected as students of the month. Alfonso, 7, and Sarita, 5, were honored in April at their public school in Chicago.
The family had arrived two years ago after a harrowing journey from their native Venezuela that took them through the jungle of the Dari\u00e9n Gap<\/a> and across mountains, deserts and rivers on their way to the Mexico-U.S. border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


During the journey, smugglers told the parents they had to pay for each child to cross the Guatemala-Mexico border. Yahelis, 24, and her husband had no money left and feared that the smugglers would take their children. \u201cAt that moment, I just entrusted us to God,\u201d she says. A Good Samaritan \u2014 a fellow migrant \u2014 paid the smugglers to let the children go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Now, seeing her children succeed, Yahelis feels those efforts were worthwhile. She also says she is grateful for support from the Migrant Ministry of the Catholic Parishes of Oak Park, Illinois<\/a>. The ministry is run by a team of interfaith volunteers, including returned Maryknoll <\/a>Lay Missioners Celine and Don Woznica, who are now members of the Maryknoll Affiliates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The project started in May 2023 as a response to the humanitarian crisis created the previous year, when Texas Governor Greg Abbott began sending busloads of migrants from the border to Chicago. As the city\u2019s shelters filled to capacity, buses dropped off migrants at the 15th District Police Station, near Oak Park, a suburb adjacent to Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Maryknoll Affiliate Celine Woznica, a returned Maryknoll lay missioner, welcomes guests to St. Edmund Center. Since it began the project has received approximately 19,000 migrant visits. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/U.S.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of volunteers called Police Station Response Teams, created on the phone application WhatsApp, began collecting tents, bedding, clothing, sleeping bags and food for the new arrivals. \u201cWe were getting up to 40 people a week,\u201d Don recalls. \u201cWe gave them a suitcase with basic toiletries and a blanket. It was called the welcome kit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Celine says that among the migrants\u2019 first concerns was where they could take showers. The vacant rectory of St. Catherine of Siena-St. Lucy was opened for that purpose.
In January of 2024, the Migrant Ministry moved to a former grade school, which became the St. Edmund Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


At the center, decorated with flags from the various countries from which the migrants originate, volunteers welcome migrants with a hot breakfast and fresh donated clothing, while the children are shown a room where they can play. The center relies on dozens of volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cThe Holy Spirit connects all these people,\u201d says Celine, who is director of program development.
Margaret Burk was invited by a neighbor to volunteer. \u201cI felt like this was an opportunity to serve people in need,\u201d she says. A former teacher, Burk helps in the clothing area, where twice a week migrants can select clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Volunteers serve a warm breakfast at St. Edmund Center in Oak Park, Illinois. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/U.S.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

St. Edmund volunteers also connect migrants with medical providers, immigration support services, ESL classes, spiritual support and housing or temporary shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cMentors help migrants with what they need,\u201d says Margaret Rudnik, who, as director of housing and legal services, finds apartments for the newcomers. The center has paid up to a year\u2019s rent and utilities for 23 families and individuals, allocating up to $20,000 for each case. Housing is funded by direct donations and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Manuel Per\u00e9z, 36, is a migrant bused from Texas to Chicago. \u201cI believe in miracles, because the center provided me an apartment to live in,\u201d he says. After getting on his feet, Per\u00e9z volunteered at the center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cSeeing families being torn apart breaks my heart,\u201d Rudnik says. \u201cWe help to keep families together and give a hand so they can be on their own in a year\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The Flores family was having difficulty paying rent for their apartment. Jos\u00e9, 27, used to wait at The Home Depot for work as a day laborer. But starting in January, he became afraid to do so, fearful that he would be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). His wife, Yahelis, contacted Celine and asked for help. The ministry provided $1,300 to cover rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

With migrants facing the threat of mass deportations, the center has increased the reach of its immigration support, education and accompaniment programs. Celine created a 24-page Family Action Plan to help migrants prepare in case they are detained or deported.

The plan includes a letter from the pastor of Oak Park\u2019s Catholic parishes, Father Carl Morello. \u201cWe find ourselves in difficult times, but be assured that you continue to be welcome in our community,\u201d the letter states. \u201cDo not give up hope, for our Loving God, who has been at your side in your long journeys from your native lands, is the same Loving God who will be at your side now.\u201d

\u201cThey are too afraid to go out,\u201d Celine says of the people she serves. Volunteers give out red, wallet-sized cards informing people of their rights during encounters with ICE.

\u201cWe had one case of a migrant who was<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Don Woznica, shown with volunteer Maria Cardona, was a Maryknoll lay missioner before joining the Affiliates with his wife, Celine. He is now co-director of short-term services at St. Edmund Center. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/U.S.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

stopped by ICE, and he showed them the red card we provided,\u201d Don says. \u201cICE let him go.\u201d
Don, who is co-director of short-term services, says it is important to make people feel safe at St. Edmund. No one is let through the door until their ID is checked outside. \u201cWe never thought about doing this before,\u201d Don says, \u201cbut if the doors are open, anybody can walk in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"
The center offers a wide range of support services, thanks to generous donors and many dedicated volunteers such as Gary Jacobs, seen here helping a migrant mother and child. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/U.S.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

The immigration support team continues to help with asylum applications and other documents. While the number of migrants has decreased since January, the center has assisted over 140 asylum seekers with their applications. Since the Migrant Ministry started, the center has received around 19,000 visits from migrants who have benefited from its many services.

Don, who is a family physician, and Celine, who has a doctorate in public health, joined Maryknoll Lay Missioners with their 3-month-old baby in 1981. After studying Spanish in Bolivia, they served in Nicaragua for three years. Don worked at a health center, and Celine worked as a health promoter.

They then served in Oaxaca, Mexico, for six years, working with base ecclesial communities, also known as small Christian communities, and in a project for orphaned girls. In addition, Don volunteered at a parish clinic. After nine years of overseas mission, the couple returned with four children to the States, where they had their fifth child.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now the Woznicas find themselves again in mission \u2014 in Illinois.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, Celine received a call from Yahelis, who wanted to pay back the $1,300 they were given for rent. \u201cIsn\u2019t that amazing?\u201d Celine says. \u201cYahelis also brings Venezuelan arepas (stuffed cornmeal pancakes) to the center.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahelis says, \u201cCeline has supported us through difficult times. I thank God for putting her in my path.\u201d In case she and Jos\u00e9 are detained, they have designated Don and Celine to take temporary custody of Alfonso and Sarita. Considered part of the Flores family, the missioners attended the students of the month ceremony.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Don and Celine, the migrants are an inspiration. \u201cThey are my heroes, for what they went through,\u201d Celine says. \u201cAll they want is to work and create a new life.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The names of the migrants mentioned in this article have been changed to protect their identities.<\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured Image: Newly arrived migrants are served at St. Edmund Center in Oak Park, Illinois. The project is run by Maryknoll Affiliates Celine and Don Woznica. (Octavio Dur\u00e1n\/U.S.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Migrant Ministry of the Catholic Parishes of Oak Park in Illinois, run by volunteers and Maryknoll affiliates, assists newcomers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":2975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,25],"tags":[732,461,731,733,734,717,730,737,203,735,736,738],"class_list":["post-2974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2025","category-featured-stories","tag-catholic-charities-of-the-archdiocese-of-chicago","tag-chicago","tag-fall-2025","tag-illinois","tag-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","tag-maryknoll-affiliates","tag-mass-deportations","tag-migrant-ministry-of-the-catholic-parishes-of-oak-park","tag-migrants","tag-returned-maryknoll-lay-missioners-celine-and-don-woznica","tag-st-edmund-center","tag-texas-governor-greg-abbott"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWelcoming Migrant \u2018Heroes\u2019 - 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