Luke Fodor talks about how the New Neighbors Coalition is a welcoming organization. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

The Rev. Luke Fodor recalled the situation quite clearly.

It was an act of kindness – of brotherly love.

In addition to telling audience members Wednesday during the New Neighbors Coalition and Journey’s End Refugee Services press conference that immigration is making Jamestown a better, and a more friendlier place, he talked about meeting a man, at the 4th Street Cafe, whom he did not recognize.

“I was here one day, and one of our new neighbors came in with someone I didn’t quite recognize, who was agitated,” Fodor said. “And I left, and when I came back in, they were already here. And so I could see there was some crisis brewing. And this neighbor from the Congo had found this man and had brought him here, and he was needing directions to city hall for an appointment.”

Fodor said people who come to 4th Street Cafe, located at the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 410 N. Main St., do so for the coffee and donuts, as well as fellowship, possibly a haven, and a willing ear. According to stlukesjamestown.org, the cafe is open from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursdays.

Fodor said the cafe is for people who are unhoused or single occupants, or anyone who is not sure where to be.

Fodor said he was trying to help the Spanish-speaking man, but wasn’t having much luck. Fodor’s limited Spanish skills were not coming to his rescue.

So he tried a different way.

“I pulled out my phone and was trying to read the Spanish, and it wasn’t working. So I said, ‘just read it.’ And he wasn’t interested in reading my phone, and I couldn’t understand what was going on.”

Fodor said as the man was speaking, Fodor heard him say “city hall.”

So Fodor told the man that he would give him directions to city hall, and then the man got up from his chair and put his hand on Fodor’s shoulder.

“I realized that he was blind,” Fodor revealed.

And the Congolese man witnessed the blind man earlier that day having difficulty, so the Congolese man brought the blind man to the one place he knew could help – New Neighbors.

Fodor said when outsiders are welcomed into Jamestown, the first thing that they want to do is extend that welcome to the next person.

“This is how resettlement makes our communities better, stronger, more resilient, a more humane place to live – where everyone is touched and brought to where they need to be,” Fodor said.

At the press conference, New Neighbors and Journey’s End announced at St. Luke’s a next step in their collaboration in the city. Both organizations have signed an agreement reaffirming their partnership to provide long-term integration services to refugees and immigrants who are making Jamestown home, and builds on the tradition of welcome in the community.

For more information, contact (716) 483-6405 or email momina@stlukesjamestown.org.