What We Do

Helping Immigrants Begin Again

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
~ Emma Lazarus

La Posada Providencia provides safe shelter to poor immigrants, asylees and asylum seekers in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. In addition, we work with our clients to help them integrate more quickly into United States culture. We make every effort to meet all the needs of our clients – a very vulnerable group of people. They often arrive at La Posada with very few possessions, limited or no English and no friends or family to help them.

Our comprehensive services include:

• Shelter
• Food. Meals are prepared and enjoyed in a family atmosphere.
• English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.
• Transportation. Language barriers and social inexperience make public transportation too difficult for newcomers to the United States, so we provide door-to-door transportation to doctors’, dentists’ and lawyers’ offices, the Social Security office, Immigrations, etc.
• Life skills classes.
• Access to communications, computers, the Internet, email, etc.
• Individualized case management. We work with each client to ensure they get the necessary legal aid, health care, social services and other relocation assistance.
• Cultural integration. We help clients become familiar with the values, customs and social practices typical in the United States, including U.S. currency and coins, personal finance, employment practices, etc.
• Emotional support. Many of our clients have experienced severe hardships. Our staff offer compassionate listening, guidance and mentoring.

Meeting all of our clients’ needs requires the help of other agencies and partners. Please click here for a list of our collaborators.

A HAZARDOUS JOURNEY TO FREEDOM

Yoanki left Cuba – a “country where the people are free only in their feelings and dreams” – to find a way to support his mother and young sisters. Yoanki and his six compatriots spent 18 harrowing days crossing the Caribbean Sea to Honduras. Along the way, they dealt with the lack of food, water and fuel, exposure to sun and wind, storms with six foot high waves, a broken rudder and broken propeller and sharks! He credits God’s mercy for allowing them to reach the shore safely.

During his overland journey to the United States, Yoanki was imprisoned by the Mexican immigration officials for two months. When he reached the United States, he struggled on the streets until he was referred to La Posada Providencia. There he worked on his written and spoken English and began the long legal battle for asylum.

Now, two years later, Yoanki is a college student, earning excellent grades, and working whatever jobs he can find to pay his living expenses and to send money back to Cuba. He is also giving back by volunteering at La Posada during his school breaks. He has goals and is determined to succeed. He is willing to work hard in the classroom and elsewhere. We know Yoanki will succeed, and we’re pleased to have played a part in his journey.