Maria Turcios

Coordinator of the Accompaniment Program at the New Sanctuary Movement + Community Leader 

Nomination:

Nominated by Waleska Lopez: She is a community leader working with Latino and Hispanic immigrants. She works in a non-profit organization helping families, parents, children advocate for their rights. She is also a religious teacher at her church.

About Maria:

Maria Turcios has resided in Philadelphia for 27 years. Maria is currently a coordinator of the accompaniment program for the New Sanctuary Movements. Growing up, her dream was to become a teacher. Her parents did not believe in college or higher education, so her highest education is sixth grade. Her passion and love are God, family, and community service for immigrants. She never thought that she would leave her country to come to the United States. Maria was the owner of a Mini Market in Honduras, and her clients were the poorest people because nobody else wanted to provide services for their demographic. Her mini market became successful because she changed the concept to become a cooperative, and through this she was also able to provide employment opportunities for her community in Honduras.

It was a very hard decision for Maria to immigrate to the USA, as she was married with five children. Whenever she heard stories about a mother who went to the USA and left behind her children, she would say, “but she is “grosera” (rude)”, “what kind of mother leaves behind their children?” Yet, she became one of them. Her travel was safe, and after one year, her husband was able to join her in Philadelphia, PA. She cried every day for eight years knowing her children were still in Honduras. Once they were able to travel to the USA, her journey dramatically shifted. ICE was behind them, "all the time, we were running, and running, changing houses." One night ICE came to their house and took three of her family members. She felt dead inside. Eventually, ICE returned two of her children and retained only her oldest daughter. After her daughter was reunited with them, they fled their property. During that process, they purchased three houses. When ICE would show up, she would never again return to that house.

One day, Maria admitted to her daughter that she was tired of running. She couldn’t run anymore. She even thought of bringing her daughter to ICE. The New Sanctuary Movement was fighting to implement the Sanctuary for families. During that time, Maria was volunteering with them. She never imagined that her daughter and her family would receive the benefits of that process. Her daughter finally won the case and was able to stay in Pennsylvania in peace. 

Since then, she has become an employee for the New Sanctuary Movement, where she is able to help immigrants and accompany families to a variety of court cases. She catalyzed the “Familia Unidas” committee, whose purpose is to collect money to help families pay for bail or court fines. When the group became very successful, she decided to transfer it to New Sanctuary Movement. Later, during the COVID pandemic, Maria developed “la voz de mi pueblo” due to the many constant phone calls she was receiving all throughout the day, night–even past midnight–of people asking for food or rent assistance. She decided to create a weekly zoom meeting that invited everyone to provide services for their needs. Another initiative by Maria was the virtual office (Oficinas Virtuales), which helps people who don’t understand English well to complete the application for rent assistance or COVID rent assistance. Lastly, she had a goal in Honduras that started with $100.00, and now she has collected $1,000.00.

As an immigrant with many years under her belt here, she encourages everyone to “keep going, you are not alone, don’t lose this opportunity.”     

Article by I Belong Philly. Created by Waleska Lopez, and Maria Gonzalez.

Quotes from Maria:

"I have many initiatives with communities. I remember in my town, at the age of 17, I created a group to receive a sewing class. I organized 22 youth people to take the training. That training helped me in the USA, because I worked for 22 years in a factory, sewing." 

"I encourage other immigrants to keep going. Don't lose this opportunity—it is a blessing to live here. We are not alone; we are here to help you and help your family. I try to answer my cell phone any time, any hours, because I understand the needs of the immigrants." 

" In my 27 years living here, I have never visited a restaurant, because if I am going to spend $50.00 or $100.00 in a restaurant, I would prefer to send this money to Honduras to help families who need it." 

"Faith keeps me motivated to keep going, and help others. Together we are stronger; we can do it."