Lorna Henkel and Sarah Henkel
Recorded
February 3, 2021
Archived
February 2, 2021
38:16 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
ddv000479
Description
Lorna Henkel (78) speaks with her daughter Sarah Henkel (39) about the work Lorna does with First Friends, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing support for people in immigrant detention centers, shares memories of visiting people, and talks about the impact COVID-19 has had on the organization.Subject Log / Time Code
LH says she was always an activist, interested in peace, and she met someone who said she visited immigrants in detention centers. She explains that she received training in 2008 to go visit the centers, and gives context about detention centers.
LH talks about how she felt the first time she went to an immigration detention center. She describes her first visit and talks about the conversations she had with people.
SH reflects on how she and her mother share in the hard conversations, but also the celebration that happens when people are released.
LH talks about some of the things that happen after people have been released from detention. She describes picking people up from release and taking people to Alexander Hamilton Park, with a view of New York City on the way home.
LH talks about how she and her husband have taken people in since before SH was born. SH says that when her mother had a landline, she had it listed in her phone as “Henkel Hostel.”
LH remembers a man from Somalia that came to stay with her when there was snow on the ground, and it was his first time seeing it. He now lives in Minnesota.
LH talks about how the Russ Berrie Foundation helped solidify the board and the direction they are taking as an organization.
LH talks about how due to COVID-19 First Friends has strengthened their pen pal program.
SH says she thinks that every American citizen should have the experience of visiting an immigration detention center so they can have a better understanding of how immigration actually happens.
SH expresses how she feels that her mother’s decision to spend time visiting people in detention is beautiful.
Participants
- Lorna Henkel
- Sarah Henkel