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By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer
DORAVILLE—The vitality of the ministry at Our Lady of the
Americas Mission has continued of necessity since a fire destroyed two
buildings next to the church, but it is a hard situation for the church
community, said Father Richard Young, the chaplain.
Unique since its inception, the mission, titled in Spanish
“Nuestra Señora de las Americas,” is supported by a number of
parishes and has as its goal to provide free services to those newly arrived,
Father Young said.
Services to help people get started, such as English classes, are
offered three times a week to 300 to 400 people at a time, Father Young said.
Job training in welding, heating and air conditioning repair, maintenance and
other trades is given by professional volunteers and court-ordered family
services are available at the mission. The mission also offers everything that
a traditional parish would offer, such as religious education classes,
sacramental preparation, daily and Sunday Masses, confession, adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament and the rosary.
“It was put in Doraville because that is where the need
is,” Father Young said. “We are there to provide any help we can to
newly arrived Hispanics . . . At the same time we offer the panoply of services
a parish offers . . . We’re like in some ways a social center for people.
There are almost constant walk-ins and people waiting in the morning (for the
mission offices to open). You have to be spiritually fit and realize the person
is more important than the paperwork on the desk.”
A fire, ruled as arson, broke out May 15 during the night.
Although the church at 5918 New Peachtree Road was not burned, two adjacent
buildings were destroyed. The structure was an older wood-frame farmhouse that
had been remodeled and expanded by the mission into two connecting buildings
for classrooms, offices, counseling areas and a shower ministry to day
laborers. Both buildings were destroyed. A $10,000 reward has been posted by
the state Insurance Commissioner’s Office for information leading to an
arrest and conviction.
As a result of the fire, the mission lost its classrooms for
religious education and for teaching English, its food pantry and clothes
closet to help those in need, and much-needed private meeting spaces. Catholic
Social Services rented three offices from the mission and provided services to
the community there, including counseling. Those offices were destroyed. The
shower ministry, providing soap, shampoo, towels and a bathroom for day
laborers coming off of work, had just been moved into a renovated area of the
house a month before the fire. Social service groups for men, women and
children were held in the buildings. AIDS testing and counseling were also
provided there.
Gratefully, Father Young said, “we didn’t lose the
church for the Masses, the (church) offices, the baptismal records” and
classes that had always been held in the church did not lose their equipment
and supplies.
Improvising, the church, which seats 700 to 800 people, is being
utilized using room dividers for meetings, the clothes and food pantries are
now squeezed in one room and showers are only being offered to newly arrived
people, he said. It lacks needed privacy and is a Band-Aid solution.
“They are all still meeting, but it is hard,” he said.
“The church is still intact. The Eucharist is there. We can still have
Masses. We’ll squeeze people in.”
He thanked the parishes of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Holy Cross
and Our Lady of the Assumption, all in Atlanta, All Saints in Dunwoody and Mary
Our Queen Mission in Norcross, which help support the mission regularly.
“Our church is unique in Atlanta,” Father Young said.
“There are people from every single country in Latin America. It is like a
stepping stone. They can come in, sit down and talk, talk to a priest, take a
class, join one of the prayer groups.”
They can receive help from the many volunteers who teach classes
and help people assimilate into the local culture, some of whom once received
help themselves and now “have passed through the mission and are more
integrated into parish life.”
Sister Ricarda, MAG, works in religious education in the parish,
where 4,000 people come to weekend Masses, two prayer groups are active on
Friday and Saturday nights, and many children are preparing for the sacraments.
In addition to the sister and priest, there are three other full-time staff
members. The mission is open Tuesday through Saturday until about 10:30 p.m.
and on Sunday until the last Mass of the day at 1 p.m. It is closed Sunday
afternoon and Monday so the staff and volunteers can rest.
Steve Brown, claims/risk manager for the Catholic Mutual Group,
said the buildings and contents were a total loss. Insurance coverage has
provided $362,000, he said, and in addition will cover demolition of the burned
buildings and debris removal, which is now under contract. Catholic
Construction Services project manager Dennis Kelly is working with the mission
to plan the building of a new structure. CSS has been given temporary office
space at 2050 Chamblee Tucker Road by the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
“The investigation is open and ongoing,” Brown said.
“With this reward posted, hopefully they’ll get some leads” in
solving the arson. |
