Sanctuary: Poverty in the Suburbs. Full Program.

With a per capita income over $37,000 a year, DuPage County is Illinois second wealthiest. Yet those figures mask a growing population living at or below the poverty line.

In this edition of Sanctuary we look the People’s Resource Center, one of the largest food pantry programs in the suburbs, providing low-income residents with basic human services and relationship-based educational programs to create paths to self-sufficiency.

Join us for a story of faith, courage, and service that will challenge what you think about your politics, and your faith, today on Sanctuary. Sanctuary is produced by the Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries and Tim Frakes Productions.

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Here is a story by reporter Marlen Garcia in the Chicago Sun Times about a new documentary I shot and edited for the Chicago Sunday Evening Club. The 1 hour program aired last night on WTTW Channel 11, PBS Chicago at 9:00 p.m.

By MARLEN GARCIA October 16, 2014 5:58PM
Shortly after Amy Godoy-Guerra married husband Carlos in 2007, the couple sought to remedy Carlos’ status as an undocumented immigrant.

Carlos’ best chance to obtain legal U.S. residency required the end of his unlawful stay here, and the couple decided to ride out the wait for his green card together by living and working in other countries. Stops included Spain, Mexico and South Korea.

Seven years later, they live in separate countries. She’s back in West Chicago, and he’s in Mexico. They are still in love and resolute on being together, yet drained financially and emotionally as they continue maneuvering through a complex, outdated immigration system.

Their story is part of the documentary “Divided Families: Responding with Faith” scheduled to air Thursday night on WTTW-Ch. 11 and produced by the Chicago Sunday Evening Club. The documentary also focuses on support for immigration reform from faith-based organizations and churches, which colleague Sue Ontiveros highlighted earlier this week in a Sun-Times column.

I met Amy, 32, this week at her parents’ home, where she stays when she is not globe-trotting the world to be with Carlos. He is currently teaching English in Monterrey, Mexico.

Living together in other countries didn’t work out. Carlos wasn’t authorized to work anywhere but Mexico; Amy found temporary or low-paying jobs that didn’t sufficiently cover rent, food, college loans and the arrival of son Lucas, now 5, and daughter Carolina, 22 months.

“You feel trapped,” Amy, a dual-language elementary-school teacher in West Chicago, said of their circumstances.

Immigration-reform advocates have been vocal about the damaging effect separations have on families, including U.S.-born children and spouses. The scars are usually long-lasting. “It’s like your country is saying, ‘You can’t be a family,’” Amy said.

Even Amy’s mother seems emotionally spent. Once, in a moment of frustration, she asked Amy why she stayed involved with Carlos after finding out he was undocumented.

“Amy said, ‘Was I supposed to not love someone because of his status?’ ” her mother recalled. “It’s not been fair. To see her hopes dashed . . . ”

Carlos’ immigration case is complicated by an attempt his mother made in the 1990s to send Carlos, then a minor, into the U.S. from Mexico with a birth certificate that belonged to an American cousin.

He was caught and slapped with a lifetime ban from the U.S. for a false claim of citizenship. His mother later paid a ‘‘coyote’’ — a smuggler — to bring Carlos to the U.S., his lawyer says in the documentary, and he made a life in the Chicago area.

Advocates of immigration reform say the lifetime ban is too severe for actions by a minor. U.S. officials came around on this last year, cracking open a door for exceptions for some who broke the law as minors and giving Carlos and Amy hope.

Houston-based immigration lawyer Laurel Scott, who has appealed Carlos’ case to immigration authorities based on the revision, said by phone they must prove Carlos lacked the mental capacity to understand the consequences of his attempt. He also has a strike against him for his unlawful presence in the U.S., though he ended it voluntarily in 2007.

“At least now we have a shot,” Scott said.

The hopes of an American family are riding on it.

Email: MarlenGarcia777@gmail.com

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This hour-long documentary I shot and edited for the Chicago Sunday Evening Club explores the impact of current US immigration policies on Amy and Carlos, a young family from West Chicago. Because Carlos was brought to the US illegally from Mexico as a child, they encounter severe penalties and barriers as they attempt to gain his resident status. Like thousands of families in this situation, they want to do the right thing, but there seems to be no path to follow. We tell the story of their decade-long struggle, and highlight the work of faith organizations across Chicago that are working to help families like theirs stay together.

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The event took place at the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife Refuge Savanna District (near Savanna IL and Sabula, IA) including the Green Island Wildlife Management Area (Iowa) and the fascinating Lost Mound Unit (Illinois.)

This special weekend was jointly sponsored by Illinois Young Birders and Iowa Young Birders.

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Suicide Takes Another Life is a video I produced for Rev/CH (Major Retired) Kent Svendsen through a grant from the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Suicide is a subject that people often do not want to talk about. It can make for an uncomfortable conversation. Then again, sometimes it’s out of fear that one will say something wrong, or worse yet, think they will cause someone to harm themselves because they brought up the subject. In reality, talking about the subject or sharing this video can open up opportunities to help those who may be considering suicide. The key to suicide prevention, is understanding why it happens, and what can be done to prevent it.

In this video written by Rev / CH (Major Retired) Kent Svendsen we act out scenes that illustrate important information about the subject and how that information can save lives.

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This special half hour documentary explores the critical ethical questions behind hydraulic fracking. Produced by Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries and Tim Frakes Productions.

Every person on earth depends on oil, natural gas, and water for transportation, heating, cooking and countless daily tasks, but is our expanding consumption of energy resources a violation of environmental ethics, a human folly, sin?

Recent advances in oil and natural gas extraction, that uses millions of gallons of ground water, known as hydraulic fracking, have turned southern Illinois and its vast resources into a battleground.

The fight is between corporate interests, who want to extract enormous amounts of formerly inaccessible oil and natural gas and point to economic benefits from the process, and their opponents, who warn of environmental dangers: contamination of ground water, depletion of fresh water, risks to air quality, and migration of hazardous chemicals to the surface.

Join us on Sanctuary for some startling facts, from experts close to the pulse, who will challenge what you t think about your politics and your faith.

For those outside the Chicago market or for those who miss the broadcast, you may view the full program at www.gcbm.org or www.frakesproductions.com following the broadcast.

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I must say, that I’ve never encountered such a polite police force. The Broadview cops where cheerful, friendly, helpful and pleasant to work with, despite the freezing cold, blowing snow and wind.

The story is for an upcoming Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministry documentary which will air on ABC 7 Chicago, Easter Sunday at noon. — at Broadview Immigrant Detention Center 1930 S. Beach St., Broadview, IL.

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