The Santuario del Corazòn (SDC) Program limited services to Northern New Mexico in 2020 due to the global pandemic. The SDC team worked tirelessly with immigrants through the covid crisis as many, if not all, were ineligible for government assistance yet most of them had jobs that were directly affected by the health restriction. Now that restrictions are easing, the team is looking to resume pre-covid activities.
Borderland Mobile Unit to Resume in August: Santuario del Corazon team members plan to resume their Mobile Unit work at the Borderland in late August of this year. In August of 2019, the SDC team was called to provide crisis support to the El Paso community in the wake of the August 2019 Wal-Mart shooting. The team provided acute trauma treatment to survivors and trauma processing groups to collaborative partners within the legal community, many of whom were first responders. In honor of this anniversary, the agency’s mobile team feel that returning to El Paso in the anniversary month of this tragic event two years ago will serve as an important and significant way to re-connect with families and community partners of El Paso, a number of whom continue to benefit from the SDC team’s support to address the long-term impact of this traumatic event. El Paso is currently in a “month of healing” to honor the upcoming August 3rd anniversary (https://www.ktsm.com/news/local-news/month-of-unity-and-healing-to-offer-events-ahead-of-aug-3-mass-shooting-anniversary/).
Borderland Partnerships Grow during Pandemic: SDC Program Manager Jose Gonzales and SDC Program Director Stacey Frymier maintained relationships virtually with key collaborative partners along the Borderland throughout the pandemic, and joined virtual community coalitions to address immigration efforts in the region led by the HOPE Border Institute (https://www.hopeborder.org). Regular meetings were held with Las Americas Immigration Advocacy Center, Diocesan Migrant Refugee Services, the Frontera Welcome Coalition, the Migrant Advocacy Coalition, UNICEF, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). SDC leadership provided ongoing consultation to collaborative partners, including weekly meetings with Las Americas to develop a social work internship program, as an integrated support to enhance their legal services. Christina Garcia, a legal representative, and coordinator of this effort at Las Americas, shared the following about the impact of our work together:
“Las Americas is extremely grateful for the support that we have received from Las Cumbres since beginning our relationship in mid-2019 in supporting our staff wellness, many of whom are faced with secondary and vicarious trauma on a daily basis. Soon after the August 3rd Walmart Shooting, Las Cumbres quickly planned a trip to El Paso to support our work and accompany those families directly impacted by this tragic event by providing mental health and legal services. Las Americas has gone on to represent over 50 individuals impacted by this tragic event by providing legal assistance in applying for U Visas. Las Cumbres has continued to be in contact with some of these impacted families they initially met within the fall of 2019 in addition to supporting our social work interns in continuing contact with these special needs clients. The holistic partnership we have created together will only ensure that we are able to provide better quality legal services to those who have experienced extreme hardships and/or trauma.”
SDC Team Makes National Impact: The SDC Director participated in national efforts through the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) to develop resources and provide trauma-focused trainings. A special webinar on trauma-informed approaches for ORR staff working with “tender age youth” (ages 0-8) in children’s immigration shelters around the country was provided in March. Over 400 ORR staff attended this event. SDC leadership also assisted in the revision of a national provider resource directory of sites that specialize in providing services to immigrant children. Additionally, SDC Director was requested to assist with the development of a new NCTSN product to enhance the capacity of direct support staff to provide trauma-informed care to unaccompanied minors in shelters: Adaptation of Psychological First Aid for Unaccompanied Children (https://www.nctsn.org/resources/pfa-for-unaccompanied-children)