“We can’t be passive in this. We can’t be bystanders.”

It was that conviction that propelled Chris DePalma into launching Abide in Love St. Louis 12 months ago and sustains her through the toughest days when the news around immigration enforcement is bleak and the needs are especially great.

Ana’s Story

Chris says it was the very first family Abide in Love STL worked with that set the tone for the kind of work the group would become known for.

Ana* was referred to Abide in Love STL in early October 2025. Ana’s husband had an open asylum case and was going to his scheduled check-in and doing what he was supposed to do, when he was detained. The family drove to a scheduled appointment in Kansas City and upon their arrival, Ana’s husband was taken. Ana doesn’t drive and found herself stranded in Kansas City with a car and two school-aged children and no way to get home.

Chris says this both infuriated and “lit a fire” within her. She found herself delivering groceries and winter coats for the kids and using a translation app for the first time. When Ana’s heat was turned off, Abide in Love STL helped pay her utility bill and when Ana and her children were going to be evicted, Abide in Love STL helped Ana find a new place to live.

Like many families torn apart by detention and deportation, Ana was faced with an impossible choice: to stay here in the U.S. and try to make a go of it on her own, or choose to self-deport. At first, Ana hoped to stay.

Chris says eventually most families realize the harsh reality of this immigration climate: that once detained, chances are their family member is not going to be released unless they voluntarily deport. For Ana and her husband, reality set in and about six months later, with the help of Abide in Love STL, Ana had airplane tickets to Bogota, Colombia, passports for her kids, and $700 in her pocket to cover a month of rent and food.

Chris is heartened by these family reunifications.

Close to Home

The topic of immigration hits close to home for Chris, who adopted her daughter many years ago from Ethiopia. She has since travelled to the country several times and also sponsored her daughter’s cousin, whom she refers to as her “unofficial adopted son,” to America. She often says that love has no borders and that borders should not divide us.

“When this administration’s immigration crackdown began last year it was eating away at me the way it was unfolding,” Chris explains. Rather than despair at the headlines or engage in arguments on social media about the recent immigration crackdown, Chris prefers to channel that energy into action. “This is my statement to the world that I disagree with what’s happening,” she explains, adding: “We are not sitting idle just letting it happen, we are doing something!”

A Force for Change

Chris first learned about Abide in Love through friends that live in Rolla, Missouri, where the first Abide in Love got its start. She learned there was great need in St. Louis to provide support for the families left behind when their loved ones are detained or deported. And so the idea of Abide in Love St. Louis began to form. To Chris, it sounded a lot like social work. “I’m not a social worker, but I am a business person,” she recalls thinking.

Chris was given the names of a few people, two of whom were social workers. And a group began to come together. “I don’t know how to do this,” she thought. “But I do know how to run a business. I’m a leader. I can give that gift to starting this organization.”

The launch was not without growing pains. “It was a bit chaotic when we started,” Chris says with a laugh. “We realized we needed structure. At the end of last year we started getting our heads around it.”

She says it wasn’t until January when snow storms hit the area and the organization’s leaders were snowed in, giving them time to stop and work together virtually, that the group really hit a turning point. Two major changes happened: The group formed a new structure, dividing into various teams with team leads. And collectively it was decided that each family would be paired up one-on-one with one of our volunteers (now called Family Advocates).

“That’s when we knew we could sustain this and grow,” Chris explains.

Then the volunteers started pouring in. Today, Abide in Love STL has over 120 vetted and active volunteers, serving in various capacities.

“I think the world of our volunteers,” says Chris. “The leaders that have risen up within our organization are such a blessing. I’m constantly amazed and every day I am filled with gratitude for their energy, time and talents they bring to Abide in Love St. Louis.”

“We’re not just an organization or a nonprofit,” she adds. “We’re building a movement. A force for change.”

*Name changed to protect privacy