While city and county leaders reemphasized Wednesday that neither Colorado Springs nor El Paso County are designated as sanctuaries for illegal immigrants crossing the nation’s borders, and county commissioners urged that community assistance be limited to only what’s necessary by law, local nonprofit leaders say they’ll continue to do what they always do: serve anyone in need.

“I understand what the commissioners were saying: that we’re already stretched,” Andy Barton, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said Thursday.

“At the same time, as to the request that nonprofits just not serve migrants, if someone comes up cold and hungry and asks for help, we’re not going to let them go unserved,” he said. “That’s what we’re called to do.”

Springs Rescue Mission, the city’s largest homeless-services campus, also won’t stop aiding those in need, “regardless of their backgrounds,” President and CEO Jack Briggs said in a statement.

“As long as they pose no harm to others or themselves, we extend our support to help people,” he said.

In a news conference announced one hour before it was held Wednesday, county commissioners said that a busload of 30 border immigrants recently had arrived in Colorado Springs.

The Pikes Peak region has not received masses of people crossing the southern border like other cities across the nation.

City spokeswoman Vanessa Zink said Thursday that their arrival was not coordinated by the cities of Colorado Springs or Denver, or nonprofits.

The Salvation Army, which is hosting families from Venezuela according to people staying at the R.J. Montgomery Family Hope Center, a shelter for homeless families, had no part in bringing the newcomers to town, said Capt. Doug Hanson, who leads the El Paso County nonprofit.

“No Salvation Army staff or officer has or will transport vulnerable people between cities, such as from Denver to Colorado Springs, as has been alleged,” he said in a statement issued Thursday.

“The Salvation Army is apolitical and is a mission organization responding to the needs and crises of our communities with a ministry motivated by the love of God,” he said.

Zink said The Salvation Army alerted the city that some immigrants had entered their shelter over the weekend because the city is a partner of nonprofit service providers.

The shelter accepted the families because it had capacity, she said, but added that the city is not experiencing a crisis regarding new arrivals.

Barton and Briggs said they had not heard of the situation prior to Wednesday.

“To date, we have not observed a substantial influx of known migrants,” Briggs said.

Said Barton: “There was not a busload of folks that showed up at our doors for services.”

Over the last six months, Barton said, “the occasional migrant family from Venezuela will come through looking for food.”

On Sept. 20, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced an extension and re-designation for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months for Venezuelan nationals already living in the U.S. who have the designation. New arrivals who qualify can apply for the status, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

A man with a baby strapped to his chest and who was panhandling near downtown Thursday morning said he, his wife and four children came from Venezuela and have been at the shelter for five days.

The man, who declined to give his name, said his family didn’t know anyone in Colorado Springs. When asked how and why they ended up here, he said God brought them to the region.

“While our dedication allows for short-term assistance in caring for the homeless, it’s crucial to recognize that we are not a sustainable long-term solution for migrant populations,” said Briggs of Springs Rescue Mission.

The issue becomes a moral one, The Salvation Army’s Hanson said.

“In working with any state and its agencies, The Salvation Army seeks to promote biblical values, including justice, truth, mercy, equity, human rights and peace, as part of its religious convictions and practice,” he said.

El Paso County spokeswoman Natalie Sosa said the commissioners’ call for local nonprofits to refrain from providing aid to arriving immigrants and their position on the matter had not changed Thursday, despite statements from charitable organizations that they would continue to respond to those seeking assistance.

Sosa and county spokesman Vernon Stewart said Wednesday’s news conference was an opportunity for the Board of County Commissioners to articulate its position on the immigration crisis in the U.S. and on migrants arriving in El Paso County.

Over recent weeks, the board had considered releasing its official position on immigration and declaring El Paso County will not harbor migrants, but news from the city over the weekend that immigrants had arrived in El Paso County “escalated our desire to make our position and stance known,” Stewart said.

At least one local nonprofit does not assist border immigrants. Lutheran Family Services’ office in Colorado Springs has worked and continues to work only with immigrants who are legally in the United States, not those who enter the country illegally, said Floyd Preston, program director of refugee, asylum and disaster response.

At a time when the need for food, shelter and other emergency services is high and could increase if more immigrants make their way to Colorado Springs, Catholic Charities coincidentally issued a public appeal on Thursday for financial contributions for overall operations.

With five months remaining in its fiscal year, the organization, which typically feeds 1,200 people a month in its soup kitchen and provides a food pantry, employment services, maternity and baby items, homeless family services, and assistance for immigrants who have a legal pathway to citizenship for hundreds more clients, is facing a shortfall of $628,000 for its $8 million annual operating budget, Barton said.

As a result, the organization has instituted a hiring freeze, left five positions unfilled and cut supplementary services such as providing gas cards, diapers and rent assistance for clients.

“There’s a perception that we got through COVID and now things are going to get better, but for the folks we serve, the impact of COVID is longer than for some of us,” he said.

More people are struggling, he said, because of continuing high costs of food and housing, lagging salaries and federal COVID-relief funds expiring.

Donations have decreased across the board, Barton said, from grantors, government programs and individuals. The soup kitchen and other emergency services have taken the biggest hits.

Philanthropic giving is down or stagnant for many area nonprofits, Barton said, yet “everyone in the sector of homeless and poverty reduction is seeing an increase in need” from residents already living in the region.

To donate to Catholic Charities, go to https://www.ccharitiescc.org/donate/.

To donate to The Salvation Army, go to https://coloradosprings.salvationarmy.org/colorado_springs_corps/ways-to-give/.

To donate to Springs Rescue Mission, go to https://www.springsrescuemission.org/secure/give-today.

Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade will go live on Facebook Friday at noon “to address concerns about southwest migrants,” he announced Thursday afternoon on social media.

To tune in, go to facebook.com/MayorofCOS.