Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park

In October 2023, Barbara and Luis, a young couple from Venezuela and Ecuador, their daughter Barbarita, and Barbara’s mother, Petra, came to stay at Augustana. At that time, hundreds of migrants were camped outside of police stations throughout Chicago and the temperatures were beginning to drop. A volunteer from Hyde Park who was working with campers outside one of the district stations called to ask if Augustana could take a family with a small child for at least a couple of nights. That led to fifteen months of living with Barbara and Luis, and eventually Luis’ sister Melissa, his son Jeremie and Petra’s nephew Jairo. 

During that time, we watched Barbarita take her first steps, say her first words and celebrate her second birthday. Luis took on big repair jobs around the church, like refitting our parking lot door and welding new hinges on our garbage enclosure. Barbara, who sold empanadas on the quads, also made food for our church events and sold party platters to members. Hundreds of people who came for events and meetings in the building met the family, frequently offering them help. 

In January, Jairo left for Venezuela and Luis and Jeremie left for Ecuador. At the beginning of this month, we said a final goodbye to Barbara, Petra and Barbarita as they flew to join Luis in Ecuador. This was not the plan that Barbara and Luis had in mind when they set out for what they hoped would be a new, permanent home in the United States. But it is a good outcome for a family that came from extreme poverty. The money that the family made in Chicago was enough to buy a plot of land in Ecuador, and enough to build a house big enough for the whole family. 

When the family first came, the Council and the congregation made the decision to offer them a place to live. When it came time for the last three to leave, only Augustana’s staff and a few people were involved, for safety’s sake.

Jim Vondracek took the lead, making arrangements to drive the three to Miami. Getting them into the air and safely out of the country was a major undertaking. Several Augustana members and friends of the congregation gave major support for things like airline tickets and car rental. People in our sister synod in the ELCA, Florida-Bahamas, offered places to stay, food and practical advice (plus a pool in which Barbarita could swim with water wings). 

The happy outcome is that now the whole extended family is safely on their way to a more secure, prosperous future. We know there are so many more migrants in Chicago who are living in fear and facing an uncertain future. Right now, Augustana offers free space to a twice-monthly legal clinic that serves migrants.