Sister Jacinta Powers has a quote from Matthew 5:14 on her desk at Catholic Charities in Owensboro, Ky. – “Be the light.” 

Sister Jacinta volunteered at Catholic Charities for more than a year before beginning a staff role in October 2024 as the healthcare coordinator for Refugee Resettlement Services. It seems a fitting position given that the Catholic Charities office is housed in the former home of the late Bishop John McRaith.

“Bishop McRaith would open his doors no matter what, so we will do the same,” Sister Jacinta said.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is the largest refugee resettlement agency in the world. The group contacted the Diocese of Owensboro’s Catholic Charities office about a year ago, asking it to become a refugee resettlement office.

“The USCCB reached out to us to rebuild their infrastructure in refugee resettlement,” said Susan Montalvo-Gesser, director of the Owensboro Catholic Charities office. “More than half of their offices closed during the last (Donald Trump) administration.”

Following a sabbatical in 2023, Sister Jacinta was volunteering in the office doing whatever was needed, which included opening mail and scanning case files into the computer system.

“I wanted to be someplace that needed me,” she said.

“She’s really smart,” Montalvo-Gesser said. “Having intelligent people helps you through things. She will accompany refugees to find the right medical care.”

The Diocese of Owensboro will resettle 100 refugees who have been living in resettlement camps for years. Where the refugees come from depends on whether there are local people who can speak their language, Sister Jacinta said.

“We have people who can speak Spanish and the languages of Afghanistan – Pashto and Dari,” she said. “We expect people from Afghanistan, Venezuela, El Salvador and Guatemala. The people coming from Afghanistan are threatened with their lives by the Taliban because they helped the United States,” Sister Jacinta said. “They are not illegal immigrants. They have been vetted by our government.”

The contract year is from October 2024 to September 2025, but with the uncertainty of the upcoming Trump administration, it’s likely that the refugees will arrive in January. Initially plans called for housing the refugees in four of the larger cities in western Kentucky, but with less time, they are likely to stay mostly in Owensboro or Henderson, Sister Jacinta said.

Preparing to be a resettlement office takes time, and there is an abundance of training from the USCCB concerning policies and finances, Sister Jacinta said.

“We’re going to do the best we can to get them settled,” Sister Jacinta said. “We need housing and to get the home ready. It needs to be stocked with furniture and culturally appropriate food. We’ll need winter clothing. The school system requires a health assessment from a federally qualified health center. We’re fortunate that the Audubon Area Community Care Clinic is now open at the Pitino Shelter.”

“The refugees come with a packet that provides cultural orientation, a criminal background check and a health assessment done overseas,” Sister Jacinta said. “If they have a contagious disease or a criminal background, they are not approved to come.”

Sister Jacinta – who is a trained nurse – will help the refugees apply for Medicaid, and make appointments for a health screening. “I’m not doing hands-on medical care, I’m coordinating their care,” she said.

“I like this because it’s helping people on the fringes,” she said. “There are always people in need of the gifts we can offer them. It’s a team effort that can be transformative. Pope Francis always talks about compassion and mercy.”

Sister Jacinta has long had a desire to serve people on the margins. In 2020, she served 11 months in a medical clinic at the border in Matamoros, Mexico. In the spring of 2024, she spent a month with the Kino Border Initiative, a ministry to offer humanitarian assistance to migrants on the border of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

“This time, the margins have gotten closer to me,” she said.

Khaibar Shafaq is the director of Migration and Refugee Services for Catholic Charities in Owensboro. It’s Shafaq’s decision whether to accept a refugee family that the USCCB recommends. If the answer is yes, the people will be flown to New York and then to either Evansville, Ind., or Chicago. Catholic Charities staff picks up the family from the airport.

Shafaq praised both Sister Jacinta’s work in the office, and the help she offered his wife to get her started in nursing school.

“She set up our filing system,” Shafaq said. “It’s been a blessing to have her here.”

The Catholic Charities staff talks to local companies about their willingness to hire the refugees, many of whom served in professional careers in Afghanistan.

“We hope they become naturalized citizens in five years. That’s how long it usually takes,” Sister Jacinta said.

Volunteers are needed to assist the refugees. They can volunteer to get the houses ready, to help with food, or to take people to school or for medical appointments, Sister Jacinta said. She is counting on the Ursuline Sisters’ Powerhouse of Prayer to ensure success for the program.

Catholic Charities also needs donations of household items, cleaning supplies, furniture, toiletries, towels, bedding, and cooking utensils.

“I’m excited – and scared,” Sister Jacinta said. “You don’t wait for fear to go away before you start.”

Montalvo-Gesser said Sister Jacinta’s presence offers the staff a different way of looking at a situation when times are tense.

“If we get upset or scared, she has welcome advice and gives us perspective,” Montalvo-Gesser said. “Our hearts can’t be filled with anxiety, because we have people who need our hearts to be filled with love.”