Encounter Immokalee
See. Hear. Know. Serve. Receive.
Encounter Immokalee was born from the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19–31—the Gospel proclaimed at Mass on the day Encounter Immokalee was born.
That day, Jorge Cebreros was having an afternoon coffee outside Vicky’s Bakery in Ave Maria after noon Mass. He was deeply convicted by the Gospel and felt called to action. Patrick Molyneaux, co-founder of the Human Formation Coalition, had also been deeply convicted by the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus several months earlier. As Patrick happened to walk by, he stopped to talk with Jorge.
Together, they began discerning how to build bridges from Ave Maria and Naples into Immokalee.
That conversation planted the seeds for what would become Encounter Immokalee, an outreach of the Human Formation Coalition, in collaboration with Together Ministries, a separate apostolate founded several months later by Jorge and Karla Cebreros.
Lazarus Was Not Far Away
Lazarus was not far away.
He was at the rich man’s gate—close enough to be seen, yet somehow unseen; close enough to be encountered, yet remaining a stranger.
The story offers a powerful challenge for our own communities.
Immokalee is often described as one of the five poorest communities in the country. Yet it is only a short distance from Ave Maria and Naples. People can live remarkably separate lives while remaining close to one another geographically. We can be neighbors without ever truly becoming neighbors relationally.
Encounter Immokalee seeks to help reverse that story by building a bridge from Ave Maria and Naples into Immokalee—a bridge built not simply through charitable giving, but through encounter, service, relationship, and mutual self-gift.
The journey begins simply:
See
See the person, not simply the need.
Hear
Listen to the stories, hopes, struggles, and dreams of our neighbors.
Know
Move beyond an anonymous recipient of charity to a person we actually know and care about.
Serve
Work alongside one another.
This can happen through volunteering, meals, mentoring, coaching, leadership development, community organizations, schools, churches, and other opportunities for shared service.
Forming community leaders who understand sustainable self-gift is a unique charism of the Human Formation Coalition—and one of our primary contributions in Immokalee, Ave Maria, and Naples.
We support and collaborate closely with Together Ministries, One by One Foundation, Catholic Charities, and The Immokalee Foundation.
Receive
Discover that the people we thought we were coming to serve also have gifts, wisdom, faith, resilience, friendship, and love to give us.
This is not simply about Ave Maria and Naples helping Immokalee.
It is about people encountering one another as neighbors—recognizing that every person has inherent dignity, a story, gifts to offer, and something to receive.
Perhaps the deeper lesson of Lazarus is that the rich man did not merely fail to give Lazarus enough.
He failed to see him.
Encounter Immokalee exists to help us see one another again.
Human Flourishing Through Encounter
Encounter Immokalee is an expression of the broader mission of the Human Formation Coalition: helping people become more fully the persons God created them to be and, in doing so, helping people, organizations, and communities flourish.
We believe human flourishing is not simply about becoming better individuals.
We flourish through relationship, through self-gift, and through discovering the dignity and gifts of others.
Encounter Immokalee creates opportunities to practice that human formation in the real world—crossing boundaries, serving others, receiving from others, and becoming more fully the people God calls us to be.
Cross the distance.
Discover the neighbor.
Encounter Christ.