SAN ANTONIO — Since opening on July 7, the San Antonio Migrant Resource Center has served 42,847 migrant asylum seekers according to the city. And at the same time, Catholic Charities has opened a new refugee center in the Pearl district.
So when Calvary Chapel of San Antonio prepared to hold their "Joy of Jesus" event downtown in Travis Park, Associate Pastor Juan Ortiz said they had to be ready.
"There is an influx of people coming in. Some migrants have left but you still see a large group still here and that's going to put a strain on the city," Ortiz said.
Saturday morning, Calvary Chapel brought 600 volunteers into Travis park to serve the local homeless and migrants in the area. Ortiz said they made sure to have volunteers that could speak Spanish and extra clothing for families with children.
"Usually we don't give out a whole lot of kids cloths but this year we've seen a number of kids show up with their parents," Ortiz said.
Church volunteers also offered a variety of other services including haircuts, makeovers, massages, blankets, reading glasses and even bicycles.
Thanks to Calvary Chapel's Malta Medical clinic, the church was also able to provided limited medical services to those in need. Dr. Peter Paily told Kens 5 the clinic had seen several migrants already, though they didn't collect information on those individuals. Paily said they often treat minor injuries at the event.
"We have some basic first aid stations set up," Paily said. "Most of the time we see wounds that need to be dressed or cleaned. We make sure they have a clean dressing."
Of course, the most important thing the church wanted to deliver was hope.
Sebastien Enriquez told Kens 5 he had been homeless for more than a year, but he now had a new bicycle, plenty of cloths, and hygiene products as well.
"In the streets a lot of people look at you a certain way and they don't really understand your situation," Enriquez said. "But when they come up and pray for us and do stuff like this gives us a lot of overwhelming feelings. That sense of hope that we are actually being cared for. We are considered people again."
Ortiz said he and other volunteers work to give the homeless a hope that lasts by sharing their faith.
"We want to give them a greater hope, an eternal hope, that is only found in Jesus Christ," Ortiz said.