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September 10, 2020Pope Francis is right when he states, “the best of charity is a mutual exchange.” Personally, I have found when we accompany someone in need, we address a need of our own in return. As the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, I invite you to share with your neighbors in need – not just for their benefit, but for yours as well as we begin our 2020-2021 Catholic Charities Annual Appeal.
I hope by giving that you feel the joy we as staff experience every day when we share your gifts to open doors to hope, new circumstances and breathtaking transformation. Sometimes these are big stories, sometimes they are small, but all are impactful.
Catholic Charities always is busy as we field more than 39,000 phone calls in a single year, but it seemed like the end of the last quarter was more active than usual.
One of the reasons for the increased activity was a new requirement to obtain state and local government concurrence to continue resettlement activity for refugee arrivals in Oklahoma. We received this direction in October 2019 and had to get written approval from county officials in Tulsa, Texas and Oklahoma counties by the end of the year. This required a lot of phone calls, e-mails, letters and county commissioner meetings along with equivalent efforts with Governor Stitt’s office.
Finally, on Dec. 23, we secured the final approval from the commissioners of Oklahoma County. Along with all the other day-to-day work of running Catholic Charities, I was exhausted.
To be clear, Catholic Charities does not “bring” refugees into Oklahoma – our U.S. government handles those details after a long screening process, but our work begins when these refugees arrive. Sometimes we get two days to two weeks notice of their arrival, and we prepare to meet them at the airport and help them begin their new lives in our community. It is a wonderful mission-filled program with amazing stories, but one that often is misunderstood because most people do not work with refugees or know much about the process.
I am a little ashamed to admit it, but toward the end of December, I received a letter that looked like it came from a state prison and I chose to set it aside. After leaving the county commissioner meeting on Dec. 23, I went back to my office. No one was working that day as we had closed by then for the Christmas holiday. I saw the letter and decided it was time to open it.
The letter was from a woman named Yasmin who had been arrested in Oklahoma City and was writing from a detention center near the border awaiting probable deportation. She was not requesting help for herself, but simply asked if we could do something to show her children love at Christmas. She had four children who were all American citizens. The eldest was 19 and was working two jobs to provide for his 10-year-old brother and two sisters who were 14 and 7.
Even though I was tired, I knew Catholic Charities could help. I contacted her son at work and confirmed the information and their situation.
Because of your donations, we were able to provide a gift card in his mother’s and your (Catholic Charities’) name so the family could enjoy the holidays despite their tragic situation. I delivered the card to his workplace and later received a text message from him stating, “I’m finally off from work and I first wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping us out during our darkest times. I spoke with my mom and she asked if I can thank you for her as well. Have a Merry Christmas and all is well.”
Even though he texted, “all is well,” it would not have seemed well for most of us. We later learned the children were sleeping on the floor in their apartment with few clothes, no furniture and not much of anything. I connected them with our excellent case managers at Catholic Charities and we got them help, including bedding, household items and more. The text message from him on that day was the best gift I could have received at Christmas.
The children still had a difficult path ahead of them, but they no longer were walking it alone. As much as I hadn’t wanted to open that letter, the opportunity given to me to help them because of you was more beautiful than I can express.
As we begin our newest campaign, we have chosen the theme “Communion connects us. We are one in Christ.” Every day we have stories like this coming from Catholic Charities and I invite you to be a part of this story and so many others. By sharing your gifts, you share in the blessing returned and the knowledge that we all are connected. Thank you for being a part of this great mutual blessing.
Thank you and may God bless you,
Patrick Raglow
Executive Director
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
Photo: Executive Director Patrick Raglow and Archbishop Coakley at Catholic Charities in Oklahoma City. Photo Avery Holt/Sooner Catholic.
