Florida Catholic | Mission Reaches Out To Struggling Newcomers

Mission reaches out to struggling newcomers

BENNET BOLTON | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 04.18.08

PALM BEACH GARDENS | Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico, is the inspiration for Tepeyac Mission, a dedicated group of volunteers who help Hispanic newcomers settle in and get adjusted to life in Florida.

The group is named after a hilltop in the northernmost borough of the Mexico City federal district where Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531.

“Tepeyac Mission began here in 1996 with a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe,” said Deacon Jaime Zapata of the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola in Palm Beach Gardens. “There were 15 of us, led by Father Nestor Rodriguez, who is now pastor at Holy Cross Parish in Indiantown. We promised Our Lady that we would henceforth take care of the ‘Juan Diegos,’ the name we gave to migrant farmworkers toiling in Florida. Later, we took on entire families coming into this area.

“Now we have fewer farmworkers,” he continued, “but we have Hispanics coming in from other states and from foreign countries — not just from Mexico, but also from Cuba, Honduras and Guatemala. We also have some Haitian families.”

The nonprofit mission assigns local foster families to advise new arrivals, telling them where they can go for a variety of needs. Most important of all is instructing them in the English language and on how to get started in becoming naturalized Americans. Tepeyac served 32 families in 2007.

“A wonderful sign of success in that regard: Some of those we helped when they first arrived are now assisting newly arrived families,” said Deacon Zapata. “The most important thing is that we have a network of professionals — doctors, dentists, pediatricians, lawyers, financial advisers, educators, counselors — who help these families pro bono, without charge.”

Many of the immigrant families have no health insurance, Deacon Zapata added, so the Tepeyac Mission calls on benefactors who can give $10 or $15 a month to pay for families’ medicines, lab tests and other health needs.

According to Connie Robayo, a volunteer of the Tepeyac Mission, the nonprofit is small, help is confidential and ministers are humble.

“Most of the people helped don’t want anybody to know their hardship,” she said.

The group held its fifth annual classical music fundraising benefit April 12 at the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola. “Last year we raised almost $5,000 at the concert,” said Deacon Zapata. “This year our goal is $6,500.”

Featured at the April 12 concert was concert pianist Yoko Sata Kothari, who at age 8 won a national award in her native Japan, the first of many she has been given worldwide. Last year, her performances were honored in New York City and Italy. She now lives in Lake Park.

At the fundraiser, she performed pieces by Beethoven, Liszt and Robert Shumann. During the intermission, the cathedral’s Hispanic choir sang inspirational songs by Vianny Ruiz.

Fred Topor, a Tepeyac volunteer for the past five years, helped promote the concert at the cathedral by speaking at Masses on the preceding Saturdays and Sundays.

“My attraction to this work stems from the immigrant heritage of my own grandparents. They came here from Poland in the 1880s,” Topor said. “They arrived confused, frightened and not sure what to do. So they turned to the church for spiritual and material support. They attended Mass celebrated in Latin, which was then universal in the church. But the sermons were in English, which took them a while to understand. It helps to be of the culture — here it is America’s own culture — to which you are going.”

For information on Tepeyac Mission, call 561-627-4845.

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