Help Start Non-Profit for the Respite Center

The mission of our Respite Center is to provide the highest quality of care to asylum seekers and refugees while maintaining dignity, respect and compassion as a top priority. Since April 4, 2019, Iglesia Bautista Migrant Respite Center has serviced more than 2,000 asylum seekers and refugees recently released by Customs and Border Protection with hot meals, medical assessments, clothing, showers, toiletries, infant supplies, travel equipment, information and education on immigration documents and proceedings, and opportunities for child care and rest. A local baptist church in Brownsville, along with community organizer and immigrant advocate Gabriela Zavala, B.S., joined forces to organize a center that focuses on trauma-informed care in the delivery of respite care services to asylum seekers entering the United States. All of our volunteers are trained using this framework and the results are tremendous. We believe that as one of the last points of contact with a social service agency before being released into the US society, we have a tremendous responsibility to provide a positive impact in their lives. We do this by restoring dignity after their painful and treacherous journeys, providing them with love, compassion and basic needs, and equipping them with the knowledge and guidance necessary for better assimilation into United States. Our organization works in partnership with the City of Brownsville Public Health Department, Emergency Management Departments, RGV Rapid Response Group, as well as health care providers, and other community agencies to address the immediate needs of asylum seekers, as well address public health concerns. We also encourage seeking mental health and encourage proactive efforts to seeking legal assistance for their immigration proceedings. As we transition into a more long-term operation, we are currently seeking to obtain a non-profit status steadily working towards self-sustainment. Our vision is that our trauma-informed framework serves as a model for all organizations providing care to asylum seekers. Your generosity and donations will help us to further develop our mission and vision of dignified and compassionate treatment for all asylum seekers and refugees coming the through the City of Brownsville.