Lincoln Square Church Shelters Migrant Families: ‘We Had the Space, We Saw the Need’

by Paris Schutz / WTTW News, Latino Voices / November 9, 2023

There are still more than 3,000 migrants living in or around Chicago’s police stations and airports.

As the city struggles with how to find temporary shelter for everyone, Mayor Brandon Johnson has called on places of worship to assist.

A small church on the city’s North Side has answered that call, not only providing shelter but also following the age-old saying: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Each morning, a group of volunteers and migrants sheltering at Luther Memorial Church in Lincoln Square prepare meals and hot coffee to go.

The group is led by church pastor Lindsay Mack and recent Venezuelan arrival Edward Piamo, who was a chef and restaurant owner back in his home country.  Every morning they deliver the food to the nearly 200 migrants sheltering in and around the 17th District police station at Pulaski Road and Leland Avenue. Piamo and his wife and three children sheltered at the station before being taken in by the church. He decided to give back to his fellow migrants.

“It’s very important to help them more than anything right now that winter is coming,” Piamo told WTTW News in Spanish. “Hot cups, sandwiches, instant hot food.” Read more HERE