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In partnership with Bethany Christian Services, Our Lady of the Lake has welcomed the Hotak Family to Holland, Michigan!

 

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Original Post:

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Our Lady of the Lake has previously sponsored refugees from both Vietnam and Bosnia. In response  to Pope Francis' plea, Our Lady of the Lake is resurrecting this important ministry in co-sponsorship with Bethany Christian Services. At present we don’t know what country our refugee family will be coming from. Our Lady of the Lake is remaining open to any family God brings into our community.  We hope to have  a family here by mid-summer.

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Head coordinators are currently organizing volunteer teams around English tutoring, driving to appointments, and simply assisting a family in acculturating. There is also a team working on gathering household items. More information on how to contribute will be available in the next few weeks. 

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Please note that much of the information contained within the webpage is password protected in order to maintain the privacy of the sponsored family and parish volunteers. 

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Update: July 7th, 2016

 

The Refugee Ministry Team has been collecting household donation commitments over the past few weeks and we have accumulated commitments for almost everything on our list. Thank you to all who have donated!

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Our team is growing and we are beginning to fill in some gaps in the team. We are still in need of more volunteers particularly in finance, transportation, Education, and a coordinator for our youth volunteers.

 

The Housing Team is working to secure housing for the family. We are asking for any leads to either a house to rent or an apartment. Must be close to the Max bus line, and preferably walking distance to a store where the family can pick up small items between trips to the grocery store.

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The ministry is also accepting monetary donations for the refugee fund. Please see our donation page for more details on how to contribute.

 

Our coordinators hope to have everything in place relatively soon so they can let Bethany know that we are eagerly ready and waiting to welcome our family.

Update July 18, 2016:

 

Our Lady of the Lake was matched with a family on July 14th. The ministry team is working quickly to meet the unexpected needs of a one and a three year old boys. We are collecting items ranging from fresh fruit to diaper and toy trucks. We continue to be thankful for all of the generous donations!  Small items can be dropped off after masses the weekend of July 23-24.  Additional information will follow about large item pick up, and perishable food drop off as we finalize the housing and set a 'moving' date.  

 

The ministry is also accepting monetary donations for the refugee fund. Please see our donation page for more details on how to contribute.


We continue to welcome additional volunteers to fill our teams, specifically needed are finance and transportation support.  

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We added a new"Family" page

Update August 8, 2016:

 

As previously announced, the Hotak family arrival was due to arrive on July 28th. Due to a flight cancellation they did not arrive until 6:30 pm on July 29th.  The family is settling in well. We  hope to soon share some photographs of the family per thier permission.

 

The team is still accepting donations for ongoing needs of the family. Please select the SignUpGenius button to your right for more details.

 

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