Catholic Charities of Long Island is a familiar friend to many refugees that have chosen to make Long Island their home.

“They know, ‘This is something that helped me in my country,’” said Carmen Maquilon, director of immigrant services for CCLI.

And helping was the theme of a recent Health Fair held by Immigration Services at our Amityville campus.

Close to 100 refugees, who arrived here on their own, from countries including Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Central and South America, attended the daylong health fair.

Cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes screening, as well as flu shots for those over 18, were offered by Catholic Health Services.

Catholic Charities’ WIC program for women, infants and children, Fidelis Care, a health insurer, and SNAP, the federal food stamp program, supplied helpful information for refugees as they negotiate their new life here on Long Island.

The health fair also dealt with important mental health issues.

Isabel Clostre, a supervisor of Charities’ NYSARY program for at-risk youth delivered a lecture in Spanish, which was translated into French-Creole.

Clostre shared a story about one man who told her he missed his wife and children back home. She explained if those feelings get progressively worse over time, it could indicate a more serious problem and warrant mental health counseling.

Refugees are “real people with real families running away from terrible situations,” Maquilon said.

Catholic Charities attempts to give refugees a sense of welcome modeled by Jesus in Matthew 25 and to show their new communities that they are not people to be feared.

Catholic Charities of Long Island has provided services to immigrants for more than 40 years, including Legal Immigration Services, Resettlement for Refugees, Response to Human Trafficking, Assistance for Migrants, and many other associated services.

Maquilon and her team wanted to ensure that everyone who attended the fair walked away with “much more knowledge than when they came.”

Catholic Health, Fidelis Care and Molloy University in Rockville Centre were among the Health Fair’s sponsors and funding was provided by grants from New York State.