Comment on immigrants and Valley Neighbors from Lauren AlleyDear Kalispell City Council,
Thank you for the opportunity to email a comment about a situation with an immigrant family in our community last week.
First, I want to express my appreciation for each of you as you strive to administer to a growing and very complex city. Our family lives in rural Flathead County and we rely on Kalispell
for many of our needed services.
A few months ago, Valley Neighbors asked for volunteers to cook a dinner for a newly arrived family as they are very committed to providing sufficient services for the families they
support. The family had a child a little younger than my son, and in addition to putting some extra meat in the crockpot to bring them for supper, my son was able to identify a few
toys that he’d moved on from that could be passed down. When we dropped it all off, they were incredibly warm and gracious - the kind of people I would love to live next to. And my
son and I were able to have a conversation about what it would mean if we needed to leave our community behind and what kind of support and care we would hope for if we arrived somewhere
completely new.
This week our family is all consumed with Teacher Appreciation Week. Next week it could be passing on clothes to a family in need, buying formula for a young parent, helping friends
going through tough times transport their kiddos to meaningful activities, or completing a house repair for someone who doesn’t have the tools or knowledge to do it themselves. In our
family, sharing is our core value and we believe that sharing our gifts and receiving them from others is the way we want to exist in this world - being in relationship with people
from many walks of life, not just those most familiar to us.
Please know that many of the people who are helping with immigrant needs here in the Flathead are the very same ones volunteering at food banks, through faith based ministry, in our
schools, in our animal shelters, and on our trails.
As you hear from people who may express fear and alarm because there are immigrants in our community, there are many people who live here who will always build a longer table even for
new people who want to pull up a chair. If you have ever joined a new school, club, church, or community, please consider what a welcoming open door might have meant for you - may we
all extend that welcome to our new neighbors. Thank you.
Lauren Alley
Coram, MT
Sent from my iPad