Twenty years ago, Amelia Lopez Patrykus stood outside Sacred Heart Catholic Church, waiting for a free meal and groceries. The line was just blocks from the Rio Grande, separating Mexico from her new home in the United States.
She had just arrived from Jalisco, Mexico, with her children and, in those first few years in Texas, the church provided a lifeline, offering staples like rice and cans of tomatoes, and spiritual and educational support. It is where her daughter sang in the choir and had her first communion, and where Ms. Lopez Patrykus took free adult education classes and found a job — at La Tilma, the restaurant that offered her that early meal.
In the center of El Segundo Barrio, where many Mexican immigrants live in poverty, Sacred Heart is known to the mostly Spanish-speaking residents as a place to get rental assistance, take English classes and find a hot meal.
Source: In the Shadow of the Border Wall, a Catholic Kitchen Provides Hope and a Hot Meal