On the evening of Oct. 13, Delilah Martinez was with colleagues delivering goods to migrant families at a shelter in Humboldt Park. They had gathered outside the Salvation Army location on Christiana Avenue every day since learning that busloads of migrant families were being dropped off in Chicago and taken to this very place.
That night was different.
A confrontation outside the shelter rattled the Pilsen entrepreneur, keeping her up all night.
“I haven’t slept,” Martinez posted on Facebook at 8:45 a.m. the next morning. “I’m sad, disgusted, and feeling powerless at the moment.”
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She’s referring to a situation caught on video outside of the Shield of Hope shelter, 924 N. Christiana Avenue.
In the video, a man who claimed he worked with the Salvation Army came charging outside of the facility shouting expletives at the group.
“There are places that you can take this stuff,” the employee said, to which Martinez responded, “They are here! Why would we not bring it directly to them?”
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“People are coming here for a reason. They are seeking refuge,” said William Guerrero, who is also known as “The Kid from Pilsen." “They’re not here for danger. They’re just seeking refuge.”
As a community activist, Guerrero said the groups’ “initial reaction was to help no matter what.”
Since the end of August, more than 3,500 migrants have been transferred by bus from the U.S. border in Texas to Chicago. The state of Illinois welcomes immigrants each year, but at this pace, it is putting a strain on resources.
The city of Chicago, together with the state of Illinois, Cook County government, and nonprofits have been providing health care, food, and shelter to the men, women, and children who arrived from Texas.
In an exclusive interview on Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker told NBC 5, “This is a humanitarian endeavor by the state of Illinois. It’s the right thing to do.”
However, as much as the state and local community groups want to help, the need continues to grow.
Delilah Martinez owns the Vault Gallerie in Pilsen and is the founder of The Mural Movement, the group responsible for poignant social justice murals painted across Chicago. She says her own efforts began when she received a call from a colleague on Aug. 28.
“One of my partners, Ricky Medina, gave me a call and said, 'Well, we have a lot of migrants coming from Venezuela. They're being denied at the Texas border. They're going to be arriving soon. What can we do’,” she recalls. “So, I immediately was like, well, we'll use the gallery.”
Martinez said at first, the goal was to collect toiletries and food for the people being bused into Chicago.
“We had no idea what we were dealing with at first,” she remembered.
She said Medina went in the middle of the night to help transfer the arriving refugees, but that there was no available transportation to get them to shelter. At that point, they noticed the migrants weren’t wearing much of anything.
“They didn't have like shoes, socks, coats or clothes,” Martinez said. “We got really worried.”
That’s when the plan changed.
Martinez, Medina, and Guerrero started meeting with the families, and learning about their specific needs. The group posted on social media, asking for donated items such as clothing, blankets,f and funds to provide international cell phones.
“The first few days, they're very confused,” she explained. “They don't know the language. They don't know the people. They need to be able to trust the people.”
“One of the biggest complaints about being in that shelter is that it is very cold,” Martinez told NBC 5, adding that the refugees begged for blankets.
The partners were baffled when their good intentions were not met with the reception they expected when they visited the Humboldt Park Salvation Army shelter. Martinez said the first time they showed up with food for the employees, the group did not feel welcome.
“We understand they weren't really familiar with us at first,” she said. “Which is why we tried to explain to them who we are and what we do. However, they continue to give us a hard time daily. That didn't stop us. We still continue to go because we show up, and we still notice that the people still don't have shoes, still don't have socks, still don't have coats.”
Martinez said they have never been presented with policies or procedures for donations but explained they had been told by an employee that if a resident at Shield of Hope accepted an item from the humanitarian group outside, they would not be allowed to seek shelter.
NBC 5 reached out to the Salvation Army and received a joint statement from the city of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services and The Salvation Army North and Central Illinois Division. It expressed that “donations will not be accepted directly at any of the facilities housing the new arrivals.”
Also in that statement, the Salvation Army said they are “leveraging our existing relationships with organizations and policy experts to develop a foundation of services that meet the specific needs of these individuals.”
However, the organization is aware that outside groups want to help.
“As a welcoming city, we know Chicagoans are ready to show their generosity and support these individuals – and we welcome that,” the statement continues. “In order to make the most positive impact and protect the well-being of these vulnerable individuals, we appreciate your cooperation in ensuring a coordinated effort.”
As for the employee in the video, the Salvation Army said that the worker has been reassigned and that the organization does “not condone such behavior from any member of the Salvation Army and that behavior is not reflective of the Salvation Army’s values.”
Martinez, however, still has concerns, saying that nobody has reached out to her regarding working together or addressing the incident captured on video.
Meanwhile, Pritzker is calling on the federal government to send aid as Illinois continues to assist migrants with their needs.
“They really do have the resources,” Pritzker said, referring to the federal government. “...And this is a responsibility of theirs so that's why we're asking.”
“We can’t wait for that response,” William Guerrero said. “We need to do things now.”
The group is still collecting clothing items for adults and children.
Each day, Illinois is seeing an increasing number of migrant families arrive, but Martinez says she doesn’t feel overwhelmed.
“I’m doing what I am supposed to do,” she said. “I always, I always knew that I wanted to help people and be there for them and help uplift the voices that feel unnoticed or underserved. But I didn't imagine so many people supporting it.”
