Sitting on a tan couch on a Friday afternoon, Rosa del Carmen Ortez-Cruz and a visiting friend crocheted intricate stitches of thin, pink yarn into a small spiral, about half the size of Ortez-Cruz’s palm.
This is how Ortez-Cruz has spent most of her time over the past two weeks — crocheting, reading the Bible, sewing and learning English — all within the confines of her office-turned-bedroom, 50 miles away from her family and home.
Ortez-Cruz, a Honduran immigrant, sought sanctuary from deportation at the Church of Reconciliation in Chapel Hill, which is working in partnership with the Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship.
Sanctuary provides Ortez-Cruz a place to eat, sleep and bathe where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are unlikely to detain her. Church of Reconciliation members turned an office into a bedroom and a closet into a shower. Volunteers from 10 congregations in the area bring Ortez-Cruz meals and keep her company.
“Our church is not ideally set up for bringing someone into a residential situation,” said Mark Davidson, pastor of Church of Reconciliation. “We are really compelled to make a difference and do something about this, so we tried to be creative. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Ortez-Cruz came to the U.S. in 2002 with her oldest son after she was stabbed by a former partner multiple times. She said she nearly died, and she had to have her abdomen reconstructed. She also said her attacker threatened to kill her if she returned.
The now-mother of four relocated to Greensboro in 2007 with her children, ages 19, 13, 9 and 7. Three of her children are U.S. citizens.
“I’m sad and I miss my family,” Ortez-Cruz said through a translator. “I have no choice but to stay here.”
Honduras is one of the most dangerous places for women in the world. Honduras’ Center for Women’s Rights reported there were 285 violent deaths of women in 2017. Ortez-Cruz said she fears her partner will kill her, and she will have no protection.
