By Sharon Abercrombie
Staff writer

Refugees and immigrants settling in the United States face a daunting set of challenges, according to Carolyn Krantz, director of the Family to Family program at Catholic Charities of the East Bay. Besides learning English, finding a place to live, getting a job with health care, having transportation, there can be unexpected financial emergencies and confusing cultural adjustments.

What happens when an immigrant’s car suddenly needs a new water pump for $500 and his family is already living on a bare bones budget? Or a refugee is pulled over for driving 10 miles over the speed limit, and he is drawn back in fear and dread to memories of an abusive police force in his native country?

That’s where the Family to Family program comes to the rescue. Ten years ago, St. Isidore Parish in Danville initiated the program as a social justice outreach project for parishioners. It pairs immigrants, refugees and other struggling families with a church team that functions as their guardian angels.

Team members dip into their own pockets to take care of an emergency bill. They proffer advice on how to respond calmly to police and others in authority. They teach families how to live on budgets and apply for drivers’ licenses. They provide parenting advice, transport kids to and from school, and round up furniture and household goods for their new apartments. They coach job seekers on resume writing and preparing for employment interviews.

Family to Family became a part of Catholic Charities in 2005 after CEO Solomon Belette learned about its expansive outreach approach. Initially, he assigned two social workers to recruit additional parishes and pair parish volunteers with families.

Last fall, Belette hired a part-time director to further develop the program. When Krantz joined the staff eight months ago, five parishes — St. Isidore, St. Bonaventure in Concord, Christ the King in Pleasant Hill, St. Joan of Arc in San Ramon and St. Perpetua in Lafayette —were involved. Krantz, the former pastoral associate at St. Peter Martyr Parish in Pittsburg, is working with St. Joseph Parish in Pinole, Immaculate Heart in Brentwood, St. John Vianney in Walnut Creek and Holy Spirit in Fremont, to bring them into the program. Three additional parishes have expressed interest.

This is good news for CCEB, since the agency has been increasingly busy resettling a growing influx of newcomers during the past year. Dominican Sister Elisabeth Lang, refugee program director, said that in 2008 her office helped resettle 114 members of 53 families. Already in 2009, 70 people in 32 families have arrived. “They come from all over. It’s very mixed. We have Vietnamese, Filipinos, Ethiopians, Afghanis, Iranians, Iraqis and Bhutanese. The two largest groups are from Iraq and Bhutan,” she said.

The Quiba family from Pasig City in the Philippines is currently benefitting form Family to Family. Pablo Quiba, 48, arrived in the East Bay in late 2007 with his wife and three children, after waiting 22 years. He breaks into a wide smile when asked about the Family to Family program at St. Perpetua Parish in Lafayette. “They’ve done everything for us. I am very happy. They’ve helped us with budgeting, furniture, the rental deposit on our apartment, new clothes for the children,” said Quiba.

He works as a security guard in San Francisco and is studying accounting on the weekends in hopes of finding a better job. His wife, Prelate, works at a Chinese market. She recently was approved for financial aid and will start school in September to become a medical assistant.

St. Perpetua’s joined the Family to Family program last year and adopted the Quibas. Rosie Marciano, parish co-chair, remembers the team’s first meeting with them. “They invited us to their house and made a delicious meal for us.” Their generosity was amazing, she added, given that the Quibas didn’t have a lot of money. “They say we are an answer to their prayers.”

The Quibas are a good example of the kinds of families Krantz pairs up with a Family to Family group. Krantz, whose referrals come from CAL works and Shelter Inc. as well as Catholic Charities, uses a specific yardstick of qualifications when she makes her recommendations.

“If the family has no job, no house, no papers, has health detriments, no English, and no transportation, they don’t qualify for the Family to Family program for another six months or so until they’ve become more stabilized. But if they have three out of the six qualifications — a place to live, a car, and a job, I match them up with a Family to Family team. These families, like the Quibas, are the ones who are the verge of becoming self-sufficient and just need a leg up to make it.”

Both Carolyn Krantz and Sister Lang said they are in need of furniture and household goods for their new families. For more information call Krantz at (925) 308-7775, ext. 3403; or Sister Lang at (510) 768-3106.

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