Established in 1987 to serve as a resource center to the influx of new Irish Emigrants to the United States, the Irish Pastoral Centre (IPC) has been supporting the Boston Irish Community spiritually, socially, legally, and emotionally for nearly 40 years. Its commitment to welcoming “the stranger among us” can be witnessed in a wide realm of ways. Whether its through the community knitting group, senior coffee groups, nursing home visits, bereavement sessions, or processing immigration statuses, the IPC is an important hub for the extended Irish community.
“Our progams and offerings have been expanding at an enormous rate,” says Mary Swanton, IPC Executive Director. “The grant from the Catholic Health Foundation has been vital support. In the last year alone, we’ve served over 3,500 clients through senior coffee groups, phone calls, nursing home and hospital visits. We’ve dealt with over 400 immigration cases, seen 100% increase in our Health and Wellness Services, and we print and mail 2000 newsletters each month to keep our community connected. It’s been quite a year.”
Quite a year indeed for this small but mighty organization. With a tiny, part-time staff, they manage large, full-time responsibilties and initiate monumental efforts on behalf of clients.
“Back in the 80s and 90s, the Pastoral Centre would offer legal clinics,” states Maryann Casavant. As the IPC’s Immigration Coordinator, Maryann is the point of contact for both immigrants and non-immigrants who struggle with issues related to immigration, visas, citizenship, or similar areas of concern. “We still play a large role in helping our community navigate through legal issues. We help clients understand how to get their green cards, process requirements for new laws, and even help with repatriation of a family member who has died. We work with people on so many levels. Once they trust us, they share more of their backstory and information which helps us help them.”
Many community members enter into the Irish Pastoral Centre for one issue, only for the staff to discover that there are layers of issues that need addressing.
As part-time counselor and Behavioral Health and Addictions specialist, Gina Gallagher sees this first-hand. “I’ve had many clients come in dealing with grief and bereavement issues. During an intake, I spend a good deal of time ‘pulling out’ details that point to depression, anxiety, or substance abuse. These are young adults with young families. One young man was referred by his wife for having ‘low energy’. It turned out that his best friend back in Ireland was dying of cirrhosis. I worked with him through the process of his friend’s death and then helped him to learn to live with the daily grief.”
“There’s also a lot of shame around substance abuse and suicide,” she continues. “It’s a silent epidemic that has been continuing since Covid. The rate of overdoses has substantively increased; there is a lot of opportunity for IPC to build new bereavement pathways for people.”
Advocacy is the common thread that ties together all of IPC’s efforts. Many clients don’t pursue help because they don’t have the resources nor even know the proper questions to ask. IPC helps make connections with agencies that can help them. “I’ll make a three-way call among my client, an agency, and myself. It’s a way to give our clients a warm handoff to agencies so that they don’t fall through the cracks,” says Gina. “The issues – housing, immigration, etc.- have become so comprehensive that it requires some handholding.”
“We get challenged a lot in the work that we do,” adds Mary. “We’re seeing a lot of red tape everywhere these days. We get frustrated when we receive ‘the automatic no’ but then we put our heads together and figure things out. We have incredible resources and partnerships with other agencies.”
But when asked what really lies at the root of the Centre’s success, Mary believes it all boils down to… tea.
“To the Irish, tea is a way of offering hospitality and warmth. Here, folks of all ages pop in for a cup,” she smiles. “Tea is absolutely the vehicle by which we become clients’ advocates. They pour a cup of tea, they sit with us, they engage in conversation, and it is then that they begin to trust us. They trust that what we’re going to do for them is safe and in their best interests. It absolutely all starts with a warm cup of tea.”
In that case, keep the kettle on.
Life is like a cup of tea… It’s all in how you make it. -Irish Proverb
