WELCOME CIRCLE MINISTRY

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Welcome Circle Ministry


The St. Vincent de Paul Parish Welcome Circle is a ministry of outreach and assistance to our immigrant brothers and sisters in our parish and the broader Federal Way community. We formed in 2023 to sponsor a family fleeing the war in Ukraine, helping them start a new life here.


We are now developing a navigator team to assist immigrants who are newly arrived or already members of our parish and community. We hope to help them:

  • Navigate the education and health care systems.
  • Improve their English-language skills.
  • Connect with agencies specializing in housing and employment.
  • Connect with resources in the community providing food, rent and other assistance.

How can you help? We’re looking for parishioners who:

  • Speak languages in addition to English, so we can more effectively communicate with and assist people seeking our help.
  • Can help newcomers practice conversational English.
  • Can provide transportation as needed.
  • Have been through and understand the experience of coming to the U.S. from another country.
  • Have expertise or experience with our school and health care/insurance systems and can help newcomers connect with community resources.
  • Are willing to sit side-by-side with immigrant families as they learn how to navigate local resources.


Volunteers are required to complete Safe Environment training or have a verifiable background check, plus sign our code of conduct. (Click here to review code of conduct.)

For more information, contact:

Maureen Larson

Welcome Circle Parish Liaison

mlarsonassoc@msn.com

Connie Fleming

Navigator Team Coordinator

con24n@comcast.net

253-839-6478

How we got started


The St. Vincent de Paul Parish Welcome Circle formed in January 2023 under the Welcome Circle program established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to support displaced individuals and families through the Uniting4Ukraine (U4U) and Process 4 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) programs. 



The beneficiaries of these programs are admitted into the United States under Humanitarian Parole, which permits a temporary maximum stay of two years. Beneficiaries of these programs must have a U.S.-based sponsor. 



The Archdiocese of Seattle is one of six agencies nationwide participating in the program. Father John Patrick DePalma, our priest administrator, learned about the program and took the lead in creating our Welcome Circle ministry. Our dedicated CORE team and direct services volunteers received staff support from the Archdiocese of Seattle’s Welcome Circles ministry.

After becoming certified by the U.S. government as a Welcome Circle, we sponsored a family of four fleeing the war in Ukraine. We raised money, obtained grants and collected household necessities through the generosity of our parish.


Our sponsored family arrived May 1, 2023, and we helped them establish their new home in Federal Way, get their children enrolled in school and move toward independence — with the ultimate goal of doing it with them, not for them. We continue to assist them on an as-needed basis.


Our long-range hope is for our parish to sponsor another family from an eligible country or someone who has been living in a refugee camp for years.

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