La Posada Providencia History

La Posada Providencia was founded in south Texas in 1989, by the Sisters of Divine Providence, a community of Roman Catholic Sisters. Then as now, there was a real need for a shelter for poor immigrants, asylees and asylum seekers in the Rio Grand Valley. The Sisters recognized this need when a member of the community worked for Proyecto Libertad, a non-profit legal agency that assists immigrants and asylum seekers. The agency’s clients were receiving legal assistance, but had no place to stay. Many slept on the office floors or in the employees’ homes.

Sister Carolyn (now Hilary) Hooks, CDP began the ministry, and the first client, Teresa from El Salvador, arrived on December 1, 1989. A paralegal from Proyecto Libertad brought Teresa to the house after dark. Teresa had just been released from U.S. immigration processing, and she was nervous and afraid. It was a cold night, and Sister Carolyn had a pot of soup on the stove, which she shared at the small table in the kitchen. As Sister tried to make Teresa feel at home, Teresa shared with her that in her country, December 1st was the feast of Divine Providence. It was a sweet and providential beginning of a beautiful ministry.

Soon after its founding, La Posada Providencia helped two of its first clients, 15 and 18-year-old brothers from Guatemala, gain asylum. When they were still very young children in Guatemala, their father had “disappeared,” and the military came to their home. One brother was shot with a machine gun, but survived. The other was thrown out of the home. After a long, difficult, dangerous journey, they made their way to La Posada Providencia. On the day they received asylum, Sister Carolyn celebrated their safety with them.

When Sister Carolyn was ready to move on to a new ministry in 1996, she was replaced as program director by Sister Margaret Mertens, CDP, who remained until 2008. Sister Zita Telkamp, CDP became program director in 2009.

La Posada Providencia moved several times over the years. In 1995 we purchased our current property. We have three buildings used for the shelter: a men’s dormitory (Casa Guillermo), a women’s dormitory (Casa Carolina) and the commons building (Casa Belen). Our program director lives onsite, which allows her to receive new clients at any time of the day or night.

Since our founding, La Posada Providencia has provided shelter and assistance to more than 5,100 “strangers” – now friends – from more than 70 nations. You can find a list of the countries under the “Who We Help” tab.