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Local group collecting items for migrant children housed at Pittsburgh nonprofit

3 min read
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Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter

Maggie Thompson of Washington packs boxes with books written in Spanish for refugees’ children at The Academy for Adolescent Health Teen Outreach in Washington Wednesday.

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Menbers of The Academy for Adolescent Health Teen Outreach pack boxes with close boxes with clothes and book for refugees children at the in Washington on Wednesday, June 20, 2018.

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Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter

Tyra Sparks-Gatling, left,14, Jackson Legler, 20, and Maggie Thompson, 20, all of Washington, pack boxes with clothes and book for refugees’ children at The Academy for Adolescent Health Teen Outreach in Washington Wednesday.

Dismayed by the U.S. government’s former policy of splitting families at the Mexican-American border, Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski, a youth advocate and founder and director of Washington Health System Teen Outreach has begun collecting donations for a Pittsburgh nonprofit that is housing 50 migrant children who have been separated from their parents.

On Monday, Podgurski posted a request on Facebook seeking donations for the children, and the community responded.

“I couldn’t stand it. I had to do something,” said Podgurski. “I work with young people; I have done my best for over 40 years to empower and nurture young people. I know how trauma changes young brains. When a child experiences traumatic events, when they’re getting taken away from a parent, when they can’t be touched or hugged, it will have lifelong consequences. It just breaks my heart.”

Podgurski said the response from the Facebook community and local residents has been excellent.

In two days, Podgurski and Teen Outreach collected 10 boxes of donations, including toys, art supplies, flip flops and other items.

She enlisted staff, interns and teens who participate in Washington Health System Teen Outreach to collect and sort supplies for Holy Family Institute, a Catholic nonprofit in Emsworth that has a contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to house the children.

Others have donated directly to Holy Family and purchased items on Amazon and them directly to the nonprofit.

Children are being separated from their parents by Customs and Border Control as part of President Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.

As part of the policy, federal prosecutors have been ordered to file criminal charges against any adult caught crossing the border illegally, including those traveling with children. The adults are apprehended by law enforcement, while the children are placed in the custody of Health and Human Services.

Holy Family is housing about 50 children between the ages of 4 and 14.

On Wednesday afternoon, Trump signed an executive order to keep families together amid growing national outrage at the separations.

No plan has yet been announced to reunite families who have been separated.

“To me, it’s not about politics,” said Podgurski. “It’s about protecting and nurturing children. I want young people to thrive. It doesn’t matter to me if they’re brown, or how they got to the border. They are human. We are all human beings, we are all worthy of respect.”

Teen Outreach peer educators are collecting donations at the Teen Outreach Center, 410 North Main St., Washington.

Contact the Teen Outreach office at 724-222-2311 before arriving with donations.

A call to Holy Family Institute was not returned, but the nonprofit’s website includes a letter that reads, in part, “There has been an inspiring outpouring of support from our local community following the recent news about immigrant children on the Holy Family Institute campus. We care for these children on a temporary basis, providing shelter, medical and education needs until they can be reunited with their families. It warms our hearts to know that the Pittsburgh region shares in our mission of caring for children and families, regardless of where they were born.”

Items suggested for donation include suitcases and duffle bags, sunglasses, board games, school supplies, musical instruments, Wii games rated E for everyone, and gift cards to places like Target, Dicks and Giant Eagle.

Donations also can be taken during business hours to Holy Family, 8235 Ohio River Blvd., Pittsburgh, Pa., 15202.

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