In August, St. Francis Community Services, along with the Migrant and Immigrant Community Action (MICA) Project, the St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America (IFCLA), and the Center for Growing Justice hosted our first Pro-Se Asylum Clinic. “Pro-se” refers to “in one’s own behalf,” describing that the person will...
Summer Program Turns 5: Building Community, Building Trust
When summer comes around, the Bilingual Youth Program’s regular after-school program ends, but the fun doesn’t: a four-week Summer Camp fills the middle of summer break, continuing to enrich kids’ summers with fun and adventure. Each day is filled with new games, lessons, and field trips for the 65...
Understanding Asylum Outside the Law Classroom
Teresa Flores is a third-year law student at the Saint Louis University School of Law, and is the upcoming Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion for the Student Bar Association. She was a part of the class, Removal Defense Project: Sheltering Vulnerable Immigrant Children and Families, taught by St....
Leaving a Legacy: New Endowment Fund Provides Giving Options
In December 2018, St. Francis Community Services reached an exciting milestone when the organization created an Endowment Fund through the Roman Catholic Foundation of Eastern Missouri. This endowment provides individuals with a great option to support the work at St. Francis with a gift that truly last a lifetime...
SFCS and SLU Law Partner to Train a New Generation of Attorneys
When Lena Salameh thinks about individuals seeking asylum and relief from deportation, she says, “I often think of the poem by Warsan Shire, ‘Nobody leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.” She describes her own family’s journey of immigration – her dad immigrated when he was...
Veterans Advocacy Project: Removing Barriers to a Better Future
(Image above: St. Francis Community Services marching in the Stand Up for Women Veterans parade in November, 2018) Veterans Advocacy Project attorney Stephanie Lummus often spends her Thursdays away from the St. Francis Community Services Catholic Legal Assistance Ministry office. Preparing for City Diversion Court, she assesses the courtroom...
Restoring Lives: Disaster Case Management
The weekend of April 29, 2017 held a difficult time for many residents of the greater St. Louis area: rainstorms swelled the tributaries of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, causing disastrous flooding. Many of these same areas had experienced similar damage just over a year prior in the winter...
Holidays at St. Francis Community Services
At St. Francis Community Services’ Southside Center location, Site Director and Therapist Meredith Rataj guides a mom through a small sea of Christmas packages to her family’s gifts. While staff try to determine if the many packages will fit in her car, the mother has other reflections. Looking at...
Bilingual Youth Program Visits Cardinal Ritter Senior Services
This 2018 Christmas season, St. Francis Community Services’ Bilingual Youth Program is sharing their musical talents through a holiday concert at Cardinal Ritter Senior Services. As a special treat, children got a visit from Santa at SFCS’ Southside location before the concert, receiving candy canes and sharing what they...
Christmas Adopt-a-Family 2018
The Southside Center location of St. Francis Community Services is holding its annual Christmas Adopt-a-Family program. Each year individuals, schools, churches, and businesses “adopt” immigrant families we serve to help make their holiday season brighter, providing gifts and household essentials. This year we have more than 170 families in...
