Good afternoon, everyone.

I call to order today's meeting of Boston City Council.

Viewers can watch the council meeting live on YouTube at Boston.gov backslash city dash council dash TV.

At this time, I ask my colleagues and those in the audience to please silence their cell phones and electronic devices.

Also pursuant to Rule 42, I remind all in this chamber that no demonstration of approval or disapproval from members of the public will be permitted.

Councillor Braden.

Here.

Council Mejia.

Councillor Murphy.

Council of Pen.

Council Santana.

Council Weber.

And Councillor Warrell.

Thank you, Mr.

Clerk.

Thank you.

I've been informed by the clerk that a quorum is present.

Now it is my pleasure to introduce this week's clergy, invited by Councillor Louis Jeanne.

Thank you, Madam President, and good afternoon, everyone.

I'm very happy to welcome back into this chambers and into this body, Reverend Caitlin Ho Givens, who is just a transformative leader here in our city and in her East Boston community.

She was here with us last year, you know, May, obviously, Asian Heritage Month, but it's also Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and having her here is a testament to the diversity and the greatness of our call members of Congress to support uh extending temporary protective status for the Haitian community.

And I know if it would for any other community, you would do so.

I would get messages saying, hey, I just spent 30 minutes of my morning making these calls and with you in this fight.

And so I just want to say thank you because that work of solidarity building, our cross identity, multi- multi-racial uh solidarity, and building the just world and the just country that we want to see.

You exemplify that, both in your work as a religious leader and just as a compassionate person here in our city.

So I want to thank you.

She's lived here in Boston over 20 years and is a pastor at Resurrection Church in East Boston.

A great representation of Boston's multiculturalism and bilingual, and I heard you speaking with Anna Spanish before we started English and Spanish and pastor of a mixed white and Latino congregation.

She is passionate about building a community of Americans and immigrants that worship together and engage strategically in neighborhood life, advocating for justice, supporting neighbors in need, and partnering with local leaders for the good of the city.

It is my great honor to bring up to the dais Revan Caitlin Hoe Givens.

Good afternoon.

I wanna start by just acknowledging that there is a lot carried here in this room.

There are deadlines, there are things that you have to do, there are people who are coming to you to be listened to and be advocated for.

And I wanna just have us arrive here together.

Let's just take a moment to pause to breathe.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here, and thank you for the service that you do for the people of Boston.

It is a demanding job with seamlessly ending needs, and you are doing it in a divided time and exhausted time.

I continue to witness small and stubborn forms of hope.

I pastor a church in East Boston that is this joyful mixture of Americans and immigrants.

And much of our recent life together has involved accompanying immigrant families through seasons of uncertainty and fear.

Recently, one of the pillars of our church, Raul, he is a husband, a father, a minister in training who regularly preaches at our church.

He went to a routine immigration check-in and was detained on the spot.

I was with his wife outside in the waiting room.

His kids were outside of the building because they were too scared to come in.

They were with other church family members.

And then the moment came that no family should have to go through, where I walked with Lillian as she went to her kids to tell her that their father had been taken away, and that they did not know when they would see him again.

As they shook with grief.

There's a 12-year-old, a 13-year-old, a one-year-old in her arms, all trying to hold on to hope together.

And what followed was extraordinary.

Our small church rose in love and in advocacy and in generosity.

So meals were showing up, groceries, diapers were quietly delivered, people were watching, kids, raising funds, attending court hearings, searching for legal support, writing letters, making calls, and as people of faith, we were praying late into the night.

And Raul, this minister in training, while he was detained, he began ministering to those around him.

He was praying for men who felt abandoned.

He was preaching hope into the night when the men would gather to worship.

He was encouraging those who had spent months there waiting in uncertainty.

It was astonishing to witness.

It was amazing to behold love taking shape in the very place where love is not intended to survive.

Prison is a cold, hard place, and yet I have seen courage and hope emerge from there.

Since then, Raul has been released, and we have continued to care for men in detainment.

We have sent books and we send, we write letters, we send money so that they can buy extra clothes because it's literally cold in there.