GEORGETOWN, Del. -- While a group of migrants did not land in a plane at Delaware Coastal Airport in Georgetown on Tuesday, there was no shortage of volunteers and support waiting to welcome them with open arms.
Pastor Rene Knight is originally from the Dominican Republic and is currently the pastor at Iglesia Metodista Unida Betel in Georgetown. He received a call on Monday about the possibility of migrants arriving in Georgetown the next day that would need spiritual support upon their arrival. For Knight, being at the airport if and when migrants arrived was a no brainer.
"We are here to focus on the human beings and that is my focus," Knight says. "We are here to show that we care, and we will do everything that we can in our power to give them support."
Pastor Mark Harris, an associate at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Lewes, Del., stood alongside Knight in front of the terminal at the airport Thursday. He also received a call from a friend on Monday night with word that migrants would arrive by plane in Georgetown.
"The reason I was contacted yesterday was because a number of us in this are have been involved for a long time in the problem of immigrants essentially being misused in a whole variety of ways and treated as objects and not as people," Harris says. "So there have been a number of programs here in the churches to try to support people as seasonal workers or here as legal or illegal immigrants."
When asked about the type of support these migrants would need, volunteers mentioned a few key means of assistance: housing, food, clothing, monetary support, and jobs, among other physical, emotional, and spiritual resources. Many local organizations in Georgetown, like the Crisis House, are prepared to offer their resources to potential refugees. A spokesperson from the City Of Rehoboth beach told WBOC they were working with partners to "compassionately assist migrants if they arrive".
Back at the airport, people like Rossana Arteaga-Lopenza, waited to do their part. Arteaga-Lopenza, who is an immigrant herself and volunteer with Casa de Venezuela Delaware - a non-profit organization with a mission to promote the culture and tradition of Venezuela - felt a personal connection to the migrants expected to arrive on Thursday.
"I hope they know that this is the last part of their journey," Arteaga-Lopenza says. "I want them to be citizens of tomorrow that are aware and they feel powerful and empowered to make a change."
The possibility of migrants arriving in Georgetown on Thursday was uncertain, but the patience, support, and love of the community was far from it.
