/ Modified jul 15, 2019 8:50 a.m.

Migrant shelter in Benedictine Monastery preparing for move

Catholic Community Services talks about its future plans for aiding asylum seekers.

A shelter for asylum seekers at Tucson’s Benedictine Monastery will see operations move locations in the coming weeks to a former detention center for juveniles. With development slated to begin at the monastery soon, Pima County announced plans to lease space to Catholic Community Services, which has operated the monastery shelter since January for asylum seekers in transit through Tucson.

This week, Catholic Community Services’ Teresa Cavendish and Diego Piña Lopez joined Lorraine Rivera to discuss the shelter’s evolution and the transition to the former juvenile jail.

“I think I’m less concerned about the optics because we already have the vision in place. We know what this will look like inside,” Cavendish said. “We were very fortunate to have the monastery, which kind of had magic in its walls. But really, it’s about this effort, the volunteers and the work itself. We can transform and uplift any space we go into.”

Arizona 360
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