PHOTO BY DEBBIE SADLON

February 2026; Refugee Resource Center, Saint Colman Church Hall: Sister Rita Mary Harwood, SND (Sisters of Notre Dame), talks to guests about the Refugee Resource Center and how it operates.

PHOTO BY DEBBIE SADLON

February 2026; Refugee Resource Center, Saint Colman Church Hall: Sister Rita Mary Harwood, SND, distributes bags of resources.

PHOTO BY DEBBIE SADLON

February 2026; Refugee Resource Center, Saint Colman Church Hall: While giving a tour of the Refugee Resource Center and Saint Colman Church to a youth group from La Sagrada Familia Parish, Father Rob Reidy reads a bible passage from the Letter of James on the importance that faith be joined by works. Fr. Reidy said, “This is what social justice is all about.”

by Chuck Hoven and Debbie Sadlon

   (Plain Press April 2026) The Refugee Resource Center at Saint Colman Parish offers much needed resources to families of refugees residing in neighborhoods near the church. Started by Sister Rita Mary Harwood and Father Rob Reidy in 2022, the Refugee Resource Center now serves eight hundred and eighty-eight families.

Refugee families using the resources at St. Colman come from many countries. Some of those countries mentioned by staff and volunteers included Sudan, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Syria, and Afghanistan. Children and young adults, who have learned the English language in school, often serve as translators for older community members – translating from languages such as Dari, Pashto, or Arabic.

According to Father Rob Reidy, the Refugee Resource Center provides refugee families with free resources they cannot get through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Family members can come in monthly to receive a bag filled with items such as toilet paper, paper towels, hygiene and bathing products.

   In addition to the monthly bag of resources, families can pick up clothing, household items, and baby diapers.

Sister Rita Mary Harwood told the Plain Press that each family registers at the center and receives a membership card, “like they do at Costco,” she added, “so they don’t have to sign in each time they come– they just show their card.”

During a tour for a youth group from Sagrada Familia Parish in Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, Father Reidy talked about the mission of Refugee Resource Center and encouraged the youths to read the letters from Saint James in their bible where Saint James talks about the importance of prayer with works. Father Reidy said, “That is what social justice is all about.”

   Father Reidy, also the former pastor at La Sagrada Familia Church, told the group that volunteers at the center get to know the immigrant families. He introduced some student volunteers from St. Edward High School.

   One St. Edward High School student said he enjoys coming to the Refugee Resource Center each week. He enjoyed the experience so much that he recruited ten to fifteen other Saint Edward students to join him and do their community service at St. Colman. The student says the refugees are the kindest people you will ever meet. He spoke about learning of the trauma experienced by a refugee from Syria, and how the Syrian refugee was “open to any conversation.”

   The St. Edward students help to entertain the children in refugee families while adult family members pick up supplies and secure resources they would like to take home. Under the supervision of the Saint Edward students, the children play in the back of the church hall with a soccer ball or various games and toys that are available.

   Fr. Reidy said the children call the St. Edward students “the big boys.” He says one child told him that he wished he could come to St. Colman every day and that, “the big boys are so kind.”

Sister Rita Mary Hardwood showed the visiting group racks of shoes and coats that refugee family members can try on. Sister Rita said the center provided over a thousand coats to families of members this winter.

   Sister Rita says baby diapers are especially needed. She said the Refugee Resource Center distributes over 8,000 baby diapers per month.

   Donations and volunteers are much appreciated by the Refugee Resource Center. The donation wish list on the Center’s website includes the following requests: toilet paper and any paper products; hygiene and batching products; baby diapers and formula; gently used or new pots and pans; gently used or new linens, blankets, pillows, etc.; and gently used or new coats.

Donations come from many sources throughout the Greater Cleveland area.

   Shawn Witmer, who is the Director of Catholic Commission of Lorain County and coordinates Catholic Relief Services for Lorain and Western Cuyahoga counties, searches near and far in the Greater Cleveland Catholic Diocese for donations for the Refugee Resource Center. This past winter he ventured to Saint Victor Catholic Church in Richfield Village and encouraged Amie D’Arienzo, Pastoral Assistant, to donate warm winter hats knitted by a member of the parish.

   D’Arienzo later organized a group– Mary Cusack of the Healing Prayer Ministry of Holy Family Church in Stow and Mariana Romano, a Kent State Language Professor from St. Mary’s Parish in Hudson, to visit the center with more donations and offer volunteer support for language translation.  

Individuals, churches or community groups that would like volunteer or make donations to the Refugee Resource Center at St. Colman Parish can contact Shawn Witmer who is ready and willing to help coordinate donations and volunteers. Witmer can be reached at his office phone at 440-366-1106. Extension 3321; by cell phone at 216-316-9544; or by email at Shawn.Witmer@ccdocle.org.