This past weekend, as a multicultural outreach effort, students from the FSU Art Therapy Student Association (FSU-ATA) visited El Refugio or “The Refuge”, a hospitality house located in Lumpkin, Georgia.

El Refugio serves to provide hospitality to the families of individuals that are detained at the Stewart Detention Center. The house provides families with free meals and lodging, support and comfort, visits to the individuals detained, as well as outreach activities and advocacy about immigration detention centers. Due to the immigration status of many of the detainees’ family members, many of the individuals that are detained may not get visits or talk to other people for several months, even years. Thus El Refugio allows individuals to volunteer their time to visit those that are detained, to seat and talk with them about their lives.

The FSU-ATA art therapy students would like to thank El Refugio for their time, and for allowing them to be part of the incredible work they do. They would also like to thank the individuals who are detained there for their time and for visiting with the students and telling them stories about their lives.