The world today is a world in transition. International borders are becoming more and more porous. By most estimates, tens of millions of people are on the move on any given day. But today in St. Paul, the whole restless immensity of this human migration comes down to one frightened woman. Desperate and alone, she rings the doorbell at Sarah’s...an Oasis for Women. She steps into the vestibule and waits. As a staff member unlocks the inner door to this place of refuge, one part of her transition ends. But another has just begun.         The immigrant women who knock on this door are alone simply because they have left everything behind——their husbands, their children, their parents, their jobs and, of course, their homes. In many cases, they arrive at Sarah’s...an Oasis for Women with only what they can carry in a backpack.

Some come seeking safety from torture or persecution in their home country. Some have seen family members murdered. Some are victims of domestic abuse or human trafficking. Some come simply in hope that life will be better here for themselves and ultimately, for their families.  But from wherever they come, for whatever reason, these women have a certain commonality: they are alone, homeless, and desperate. They’re looking for a sanctuary. Here, at a former Sisters of St. Joesph (CSJ) convent in a quiet neighborhood in St. Paul, they discover a place of respite and serenity. “As it turns out,” says Sarah’s director, Sister Margaret Kvasnicka, “Oasis was exactly the right name for this place.“

        Sarah’s...an Oasis for Women, founded in 1996, is an extension of the Sisters’ mission to serve the “dear neighbor without distinction,” even when that neighbor comes from a world away. One or more Sisters are always on staff at Sarah’s, and one Sister--Susan Smith CSJ--currently lives in the house fulltime. Social agencies refer women to Sarah’s, and there is almost always a waiting list. Sarah’s can take only 29 residents at time. But over the past 10 years, more than 500 women from nearly 50 nations have rung that doorbell and stepped inside for the very first time.  Continued...

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