A Massachusetts couple who volunteered their home for the state to house some migrants received their guests only an hour after signing up as the migrant crisis worsens in the Northeast.
Chris and Jessica Stokes opened their Brookline, Mass., family home to a family of four migrants from Chile after seeing photos of hundreds of illegal immigrants sleeping overnight inside a terminal at Boston Logan International Airport.
After the state’s newest migrant-specific shelter in Roxbury reached its 400-person capacity in less than a week, many looked for shelter at the airport.
The Stokeses’ new guests, a couple and their two young children, had been staying overnight at Logan Airport before being sent to stay at their new accommodation, according to WBZ News.
“The family is lovely. They are so appreciative. It has been wonderful,” Jessica Stokes told the outlet.
The program was set up for community members to support newly arrived migrant families by donating money for food, clothes, language tutoring and even sheltering them, according to WGBH.
The Stokeses were thrown off guard amid the quick turnaround time from signing up to having the family of four arrive at their front door.
“I was like, ‘I have to get sheets on the beds. How many people are coming? Where are they from? What ages?’ We really knew nothing,” Jessica Stokes added.
“The need is so clearly overwhelming,” Colin Stokes added. “It boggles the mind that there are so many hundreds of those stories and those people who are in such a stressful, traumatic transition.”
The family also shared insight into the crisis that has caused problems in many major cities across the country.
“It is incredible to observe on the front lines how challenging it is,” Jessica Stokes said.
“Just the dysfunction is really disheartening and I know that really well-intentioned people are working as hard as they can, it’s a state of emergency. But it is distressing to see the volume,” she added.
The two young children are waiting to be enrolled in a school while their parents are hoping for work, but have to wait for work authorization papers, which could take months to process, according to CBS Boston.
The migrant crisis has been complex for Massachusetts while officials struggle with resources for the new arrivals.
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In August, Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency after the commonwealth reached around 5,600 families — more than 20,000 individuals — in state shelters.
The next month, she mobilized 250 members of the Massachusetts National Guard to help transport the latest arrivals to shelters across the state.
In late January, Healey’s office used the Melnea Cass Recreation Center in Roxbury as a shelter for the migrants because it was “just born out of necessity” as other shelters had become overwhelmed.
Officials this week debated on locations for where a new shelter could be set up.
State Sen. Nick Collins (D-Suffolk) offered up UMass’ Mt. Ida campus, citing dorm space not being used, but Healey shot down the suggestion as not a viable option, according to NBC10 Boston.
Another option was an office building in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood, but the governor again rejected the proposal because the building doesn’t have any showers.
“What we don’t want to see is a public health crisis. I think that’s a big challenge we’re looking at,” Collins added.
With Post wires
