Megan Sweas is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles. She writes about social and economic justice issues and world religions and is the author of Putting Education to Work: How Cristo Rey High Schools are Transforming Urban Education (HarperOne, 2014). She is an editor at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture based at University of Southern California. She previously was an editor at U.S. Catholic magazine. Sweas was an Annenberg Fellow at the USC, where she earned a master's degree in specialized journalism. She graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

 

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Italian convents act as safe houses in trafficking portal

Jan 12, 2015

GSR: we're sharing this story with you again - Sisters from various communities work together to provide trafficking prevention and rehabilitation services for women who migrate to Italy, usually from Africa. While secular NGOs run shelters in Italy as well, Sr. Eugenia Bonetti emphasizes that, for sisters, working with the women is “their life.” They aren’t simply staff who rotate in and out with each shift, but people who come to know the women deeply.

Ministering to unaccompanied immigrant children

Jun 19, 2014

Momentary ministry: sisters and other advocates try to help minors who are coming to the United States all alone from South America, but the increasing numbers of children arriving at shelters and processing centers are making the work of legal representation and follow-up services difficult.
Related - We mobilized to meet their needs and on NCRonline.org
How to treat unaccompanied immigrant children at center of policy debate

Immigration officials call on churches, nonprofits to help detained families

Jun 10, 2014

As more Central American migrants cross into the Southwest United States, the Department of Homeland Security wants community organizations to help care for detained families. Churches and nonprofit organizations are working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ensure that the families have access to food and services upon their release, said Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House, at a press conference Monday.