Safe Harbors Network

08/16/2023

Jimmy Marcelin of our Safe Harbors Network is recognized by the United Nations as one of 6 humanitarians helping asylum seekers. Congratulations Jimmy. Your work is an inspiration!

Español Every day, people fleeing violence and persecution arrive at the United States southern border in search of safety. They are women, men, girls and boys, young and old, in families or on their own. They often need food, water, rest and medical attention. While the U.S. government is responsi...

06/15/2023

Yesterday 42 immigrants arrived in Los Angeles unannounced. They had been bussed here by Texas Gov. Abbott. They had no food or water for 24 hours. They were left to fend for themselves with no food, money, shelter, or communication assistance.

By God’s providence, the California Pacific Conference of The United Methodist Church was in Annual Conference nearby in Los Angeles.

Our new Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank, District Superintendent Sandy Olewine, Justice Director Denyse Barnes and CMC Director Rev. Dr. Donald Owens quickly huddled to address this inhumane situation.

I am pleased to report that 9 of the 42 are on their way to San Diego to join the 150 immigrants already under the care of Safe Harbors and CMC. Other congregations and charities are stepping up to meet this immediate need.

Governors Abbott and DeSantis, California is a border state too. Our little nonprofit has helped over 10,000 immigrants and asylum seekers, and we welcome these 9 into our care. We see through your cheap political stunt which is causing more suffering to “the least of these”.

It has not been easy but God not only provides, God blesses. I am witness to this as God allowed Harry to become an Angel in disguise, living in my heart, home and most of all, being part of my family!

Thank God for the congregations and nonprofits throughout the border region who are “welcoming strangers” as our Lord taught us to do. It is a test of our immigration prospects for getting into heaven. “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” However for those who not only reject but harm these vulnerable humans, Jesus will say, “Depart from me you accursed, for I never knew you!”

06/09/2023

06/09/2023

Scenes from June 2016. The first of 5,000 mostly Haitian refugees who came to us, spent at least one night (or for many much longer) with us. We literally became a refugee camp with as many as 307 a night sleep on the pews and floors at Christ United Methodist. We fed, clothed and cared for them. That is when the immigration ministry became Safe Harbors Network.

05/06/2023

How you can help! Sponsor a migrant. I am very proud that our Safe Harbors Network of Volunteers and staff are preparing to do what we can to help in this humanitarian crisis.

In the last days of Title 42, with more and more migrants gathering along the border, a looming question is where will migrants go after they’re allowed into the U.S. to move forward with asylum cl…

05/03/2023

Our Alberto Melchor updated the situation border shelters like ours face with impending migration as Title 42 ends.

Cientos de migrantes se encuentran en estos momentos entre los muros de San Diego y Tijuana buscando llegar a territorio estadounidense, apenas un preámbulo de lo que se espera la siguiente semana, cuando el título 42 se proyecta llegue a su final.

03/28/2023

At least three dozen people died in a fire late Monday at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, an official said.

11/14/2022

Safe Harbors Network, a San Diego based non-profit coalition of individuals, families, congregations, and organizations helping asylum seekers and persons experiencing homelessness, is pleased to announce that Alberto Melchor is our new Operations Manager.

Dr. Bill Jenkins, Founder and Director of Safe Harbors Network said, “Alberto brings a wealth of experience that will enhance Safe Harbors’ effectiveness, including case management and protective service experience.”

Born the youngest of seven children in the Mexican state of Jalisco, Alberto spent the first eleven years of his life in Los Angeles. In 1989, Alberto attended and graduated from Venice High School. In 1991, Alberto enrolled at San Diego State University, where he graduated with a degree in Mexican American Studies.

His professional experience began as a Case Manager with San Diego Youth Services, where he worked for a Teen Recovery Center. Alberto was soon promoted to Program Manager for the substance abuse prevention program. The focus of that assignment was to advocate for policy changes that would prevent substance abuse, such as limiting new liquor licenses near schools.

Next Alberto worked at the San Diego Regional Center, which serves individuals with developmental disabilities, where he managed a caseload of clients, developing annual plans and helping the clients access resources available in the community or through the regional center.

Alberto moved back to Los Angeles and worked at St. Joseph’s Center and the Westside Regional Center in Culver City.

In 2009 Alberto became a San Diego County child protection worker where he served until June 2022, primarily as an investigator for five years in the South Bay region. He conducted investigations and referred families to resources.

Alberto stated, “My passion has always been about equal access to resources available. Over the years, I observed disparities in service access and quality between different populations. My goal was to educate families about resources available and how to access those resources. This included advocacy both within the agencies I was working for and advocacy outside those agencies as well. For example, immigrant families with children in special education were often underserved by their schools due to language barriers or lack of education. In those cases, there would be advocacy with the schools or support at Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings.”

Welcome Alberto Melchor!

09/22/2022

The long occupation of Haiti began with a drumbeat from the bank that became Citigroup, decades of diplomatic correspondence and other records show.

09/10/2022

Our Welcome Home ministry greeted three babies born in one week! And two more are to arrive this month. Congratulations and best wishes to these precious children and families.

09/01/2022

I am happy to share this report with you about our work in East Los Angeles County.

Since May 5, 2022, Christ United Methodist Ministry Center and Safe Harbors Network of San Diego have assisted 121 asylum seekers at a site in East LA (unspecified for security reasons). Some stayed a few days, others have been with us for a few months. These include immigrants from Haiti, Venezuela, Columbia, China, French Guiana, Brazil, Russia, Chile and Afghanistan.

We could not have done this without help from volunteers and donors from the area churches. A special word of thanks goes to Doug and Judy Lewis of Ontario UMC.

You may not know that CMC and Safe Harbors do not receive any funding for the immigrants we serve outside San Diego County. Another way of saying this is the work in East LA has all been done with no funding for it. But as we learned long ago, God provides manna in the desert.

Since June 2016, we have provided housing and care for over 10,000 refugees from three dozen countries. It is our policy to give our guests an end date when we hope they will be able to take the next step on their journey to self sufficiency. We are grateful for the case management offered by our strategic partners, Catholic Charities, International Rescue Committee (IRC), United Nations High Commission on Refugees and Church World Service (among others).

At that termination date, we review the status of the asylum seekers and often extend the end date. We work to provide them a soft landing and have never abandoned a refugee God has brought to us by our partners or Homeland Security.

Thank you for your prayers and support. To donate to the East LA-Safe Harbors ministry, visit:

Www.safeharbors.net
Www.cummc.org

Rev. Dr. Bill Jenkins, Director
Safe Harbors Network
San Diego CA