Kirk C. Watkins, Jamestown. As we are bombarded daily, by news of political strife and difficulties for the people that have left their homes to find better lives in distant lands, sometimes the cold reality that the world can be unforgiving and hostile threatens to replace the hope that they had once held. They wonder if there is anywhere that will accept and aid them in their journey to freedom and independence. “Casa De Paz,” or “House of Peace,” is one such place of hope for these refugees.

According to their website, www.casadepazcolorado.org, “Casa de Paz began in 2012 as a small, one-bedroom apartment offering hospitality to families separated by immigrant detention. Our work has always been to host families whose loved ones are being detained and individuals who have been recently released. In 2017 we moved into a larger, rented house with more space so that we would not have to turn people away.”

Casa de Paz provides shelter, meals, access to phones, computers, WiFi, transportation, and emotional support for refugees. All of these services are provided through charitable contributions. Since opening their doors, Casa de Paz has hosted over 2,300 immigrants from thirty different countries.

Rainbow Schultz, the proprietor of the Jamestown Mercantile, decided to take action to contribute to Casa de Paz’s cause in the way that she knew best. She organized a fundraiser with Patti Bonnet, called “Build a Bigger Table.” The concept being “When life gives you more than you need build a bigger table not a higher fence.” She invited some of the best chefs in the area to collaborate with her on a multi flight food experience. Chef Daniel Asher is the Executive Chef and part owner of River and Woods, as well as a restauranteur, of the farm to table and ethically sourced food movement. Nate Rajotte is a chef and part owner of Fringe Pizza. And Andy Clark, a long time friend of Rainbow, is the owner of the Moxie Bread Co. A signature cocktail, called the Kombucharita, was created by Courtenay Bedell specifically for this event. Music was provided by local favorites Dechen Hawk and Julian Peterson.

Many volunteers associated with Casa de Paz were also on hand to support the event, that took place on Wednesday November 20, 2019, by providing information and answering questions raised by the attendees. One of the volunteers was Hillary Kellogg, who explained that Casa de Paz is “one hundred percent volunteer run, and the volunteers work in all different capacities.” One of those capacities is called the “Companion Program,” which is where volunteers go to detention centers and arrange to pick up newly released detainees that have no place to go. She mentioned that some are released, “without a penny in their pocket and couldn’t find Colorado on a map.” Such a situation was the experience of Oliver Binza Fon, a refugee from Southern Cameroon, in Africa. He recalls initially contacting his family to tell them he had been placed in Colorado, and their response was, “What is a Colorado?”

During the program, Oliver got a chance to tell his story to the attendees and was able to answer questions that were raised by some of them as well. He described how he had been volunteering at the Casa De Paz center since 2016. He had originally been taken to the center after being picked up in the middle of the night by ICE officials and placed in a detention center for several months. He was asked to represent Casa de Paz on behalf of the founder, Sarah Jackson, who was unable to attend the event. 

Other notable speakers at the event were documentary filmmakers Garrett and Dia Sokol Savage, from New York, who screened a trailer for their film titled Welcome Strangers which focuses on the work of Casa de Paz. They recalled how after they had initially built a relationship with Sarah Jackson and had been invited to come and follow the volunteers as they greeted freshly released refugees outside of the detention centers. They followed them from the detention centers, to the home, documenting the day to day activities of the refugees. Dia explained, “The film shows, as you can imagine, it’s very disorienting at first. You don’t know where you are, you don’t know who to trust. They’ve been imprisoned for essentially following the law.” She went on to describe how sensitive the volunteers had to be when approaching refugees on the street and offering the services of the Casa.

The “Build a Bigger Table” dinner and silent auction was a sold out event that raised over $5000.00 for Casa de Paz. 

(Originally published in the December 5, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)