If you’ve paid attention to the news over the past several weeks, you’ve witnessed the plight of Syrian refugees flooding into Europe. In a state of limbo, families are fleeing persecution and strife, leaving behind everything that they know to embark on a dangerous...
By Eric L. Steckel Imagine leaving your home, your career, everything you know, to take a job in an East Oakland fast food joint. With all due respect to the fast food industry, why would anyone choose to do that? The question should be, “What would force anyone to...
By Jason Sullivan-Halpern As the volunteer coordinator at Catholic Charities of the East Bay, I have seen our volunteers do some pretty extraordinary things to help the community. You don’t have to look any farther than our Refugee Resettlement and Employment Program...
By Daniel Werner Last summer our country saw a large influx of women and children migrants coming from Central America to our Southern border. Many of these migrants cite violence and insecurity in their countries of origin as their reason for fleeing. According to...
By Christopher Martinez At Catholic Charities of the East Bay, one of the three pillars of our work is “Welcoming the Stranger”. In Matthew 25, Christ compares the way we treat the stranger in our midst to the way we welcome Christ Himself. With President Obama’s...