Karen Gleason
Local volunteers are scrambling to aid Haitian migrants in a temporary processing center at the Del Rio Civic Center.
On Monday morning about 50 men and women and several dozen small children, all from the Caribbean island nation of Haiti, were inside the Pecan Room at the civic center, many of them staying around cots where they had set up their suitcases and small bundles of belongings.
“Right now we’re just trying to set up. We had 50-some (migrants) overnight last night, and right now we’re trying to get them out on the 11:45 a.m. bus. We booked them all yesterday, and we’ve already sold out half the afternoon bus,” said Shon Young, president of the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition (VVBHC).
Young, his wife Janeene Young, and volunteers Ramiro Guzman and Sam Ledezma were assisting the mostly Spanish-speaking migrants with travel arrangements while also handing out bottles of water and fielding a variety of questions from the Haitians.
Young said he expects “over 100” more migrants to be dropped off at the civic center throughout the day.
Young said the VVBHC has
immediate need for Spanish-speakers who can volunteer to assist the migrants with their many questions.
He said assistance is also needed to prepare lunches or travel meal packs for the migrants.
“Right now, we’re just trying to get stabilized over here, because it sounds like later there will be a pretty big rush,” Young said.
