McALLEN — Sacred Heart Catholic Church filed for a permit Thursday to build a $2 million facility that will permanently house their Humanitarian Respite Center.
McALLEN — Sacred Heart Catholic Church filed for a permit Thursday to build a $2 million facility that will permanently house their Humanitarian Respite Center.
Sister Norma Pimentel, the center’s executive director, said the potential new building will be located at 306 S. 16th St. and will be a multipurpose facility. Pimentel hopes it can be completed by next year.
“I want to give the parish their parish hall back,” Pimentel said. “It’s long overdue so what we are working on is raising funds so we can be able to build this building right across the street.”
Since June of 2014 the center has helped feed, bathe and clothe nearly 53,000 migrants after they are processed and dropped off in downtown McAllen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The McAllen bus station is located a few blocks from the center and many migrants were sleeping in the streets before the center opened.
Around the holiday’s many migrants, mostly young mothers from Central America with their infant children are forced to stay in tents pitched outside the church’s parish hall, until they are able to board a bus and continue their journey north.
“We are hoping to be able to accommodate without the need of tents, that’s my goal, I hope we can successfully accomplish that,” Pimentel said. “Its just gonna be a big warehouse with open space so we can continue to do what we are already doing at Sacred Heart.”
The new building will have capacity for 200 to 400 people, with a second floor dormitory, and a kitchen that will help feed the homeless population of McAllen in the future, Pimentel said.
The land for the new building is owned by the Brownsville Diocese. The city of McAllen the city will help with the permit and planning of the application process for the building, said McAllen Director of Health & Code Enforcement Josh Ramirez.
“Our location will have several purposes,” Pimentel said. “There is a lot of interest in the community to feed the homeless and the city is interested in how to best address the issue.”
Director of Health & Code Enforcement
