This is the statement given by Archbishop John F. Donoghue at the Oct. 2 press conference.

My Dear Friends in Christ,

As Archbishop of Atlanta and president of the board of Catholic Social Services, Inc., I wish to apologize for the conditions under which some of the refugees were being housed in the Crescent Hills Apartments in Atlanta.

These recent arrivals to Atlanta had to deal on a daily basis with infestations of insects and rodents, appliances and plumbing that did not work, and a landlord who made limited attempts to answer any of their concerns, despite numerous verbal requests from CSS agents and the tenants themselves.

When this matter was brought to my attention Friday of last week, Sept. 29, I sent three members of my staff, Kathi Stearns, vice-chancellor, Betti Knott, director of operations, and Rebecca Theisen, executive assistant to the vice-chancellor, to look into this situation.

Based upon their evaluation of the deplorable conditions in certain units at the apartment, I decided to immediately implement a plan to offer relocation assistance to any and all clients that Catholic Social Services, Inc., houses at Crescent Hills Apartments.

As of yesterday the archdiocese had 34 families living in the Crescent Hills Apartments. Of these 34 families, 22 declined to move, but six families consisting of approximately 60 people were moved to a hotel that is located within a mile of the apartment complex by officials of the archdiocese and volunteers. There are still five families that we are waiting to hear back from. We will continue to relocate others during the week if it is their desire to move. The refugees’ personal possessions are temporarily being stored at the Catholic Center, 680 West Peachtree St.

Even though this discovery has been a cause of great embarrassment to Catholic Social Services and the archdiocese, we are glad that this was brought to our attention because it gives us the opportunity to correct a problem that truthfully should never have occurred.

Before we begin anew, it is imperative that we ask for forgiveness from the people who were placed at the Crescent Hills Apartments who entrusted us with their lives and futures. We also must apologize to the members of the Catholic Church in this archdiocese who have placed their trust in Catholic Social Services (CSS), which is an archdiocesan agency.

In a sense, through our actions as well as our omissions and oversights, we have not been “church” to these people. There is no excuse for this so we will make none. However, the evidence compels the archdiocese to look at the infrastructure of CSS and their resettlement program and challenges us to develop new and effective policies and procedures.

We sincerely regret that any refugees who were entrusted to our care have had to endure this experience. Despite the fact that we have relocated those families that have requested this service, we know that problems will remain. To date I have simply put a bandaid on the problem, and I am aware of it. They are in small quarters with small children; that is always difficult. Some may be a greater distance from their work or a child’s school. Soon they will realize that they stored items that they need.

Therefore it is imperative that CSS provide these refugees with caseworkers who can effectively assist them with any and all concerns from the smallest to the largest.

Although last night each of the refugee families were served dinner, told how to use MARTA, walked through the hotel to learn how each appliance in their new residence worked, and given any assistance that was requested, the situation must be resolved expediently.

Nyatora Gany, the Sudanese refuge who was mentioned in The Atlanta Journal/Constitution as needing medical care, was taken to the hospital last night by two volunteers and is receiving appropriate medical care.

Dr. Jim Kantner, Secretary for Catholic Charities, spent the night at the hotel to make the transition for all involved as easy as possible. This morning Dr. Kantner and Lloyd Sutter, senior administrator of the Office of Religious Education, have been working with caseworkers to ensure that all of the children got to their schools and that all of the adults who needed transportation were able to return to their jobs.

Nevertheless, there are countless details that still need to be worked out. However, we feel confident that we have turned a corner and are working to provide quality care for each refugee for whom we are charged to care.

There are a few points that I would like to clarify regarding The Atlanta Journal/Constitution’s coverage of this housing situation.

First and foremost we must explain that of the $740 that is allotted for refugees, approximately $270 per person is spent on the client; $250 is spent on staffing and operations and $220 is sent to the United States Catholic Conference which supports CSS with the flow of refugee resettlement arrangements. While there is no excuse for the conditions, it is financially challenging to take care of a refugee’s needs for $270. I wish that we could put all of our refugees in a better facility; however, monetary considerations limit the amount of service we can provide.

Secondly, even though a representative of the State Department was looking into the housing conditions at Crescent Hills Apartments, I have not received any information from them or any other agency that the refugees have complained about the condition at Crescent Hills. In fact some of our clients, after their funding has run out, have decided to stay at this site so they could save their money to buy a house. In addition to this, 22 of our clients, when asked if they wanted to relocate yesterday, chose to stay. This is not to say that I have found the conditions acceptable. That is to say that different cultures have a different view of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.

As The Atlanta Journal/Constitution pointed out, a review by the State Department of our apartment complex where we house refugees is routine every three years. Since it was viewed as “routine,” officials at CSS did not communicate this information with me. From now on whenever the state reviews one of our agencies, I am asking the department heads of all of our archdiocesan offices to communicate this information directly to me so that I can ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

Thirdly, the caseworkers, who are dedicated to teaching refugees to become self-sufficient, may have been stretched too thin to meet the needs of every refugee. These caseworkers, who often are refugees themselves who have been resettled, may need additional resources to help the people they are trying to serve find jobs and get medical assistance. The caseworkers have achieved remarkable successes in most instances, given their limited resources.

In addition to these items, CSS needs to also develop a process for reviewing the locations in which we place our refugees. I have asked Dr. Kantner and Pam Buckmaster to devise a procedure where agents of the archdiocese routinely check the location where our refugees are being placed. Unfortunately at Crescent Hills this was not happening. If we had been doing this on a regular basis, these conditions may have come to light earlier in the process.

We are asking today for a chance to make things better. We are committed to helping these refugees and I promise you today as Archbishop of Atlanta that we will.

In response to this crisis, I have the pastors of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, St. John Neumann Church, Lilburn, Holy Spirit Church, Atlanta, St. Andrew’s Church, Roswell, and All Saints Church, Dunwoody, to help us embrace these refugees with the assistance of CSS and to offer as much assistance as needed to get these families on their feet. I assure you that that situation has my full attention and will have my full attention until I can be assured that all refugees who CSS is charged with serving are safe. It is only then that we can rest. May the mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ be our guiding force through these next few days.