Family Support Center Fall Transitions

This summer, Mondays in the Family Support Center have been somewhat slower. Flower & berry picking in full, the majority of those we know and who come visit us have been working as much as possible. Some even 2-3 jobs, picking berries during the day and digging clams at night! Children have even been working the summer days, trying to help their parents make rent payments. We've been out in the camps, visiting people in their apartments, and getting things cleaned up and ready for the year.

Today, however, was another story: we had a consistent flow of families, some we know well, others first time in our doors. One couple we've known for a number of years was Ana & Antonio. A cold morning, I offered them tea as Salvio helped them fill out a housing application and we chatted about the picking season this summer. The work has actually been good, they tell me, not as many came up from California. However the migrant camps are shutting down soon, and this year they are deciding to not go back to California for the harvest season. Their three kids have had enough of the school and living transitions, they want to stay in Skagit. Yay! So, the search la busqueda begins for housing that's affordable, and the preparation begins for the upcoming winter when work for the parents is simply not available. After the housing application, they ask to gather clothing from our clothing closet and we talk about other resources. I can't help but think of the bears & squirrles that are gathering food right now for winter, to carry them through til Spring. If only it was so simple.

While chatting with Ana & Antonio, a newer Mixtec family came in, who I immediately directed to Salvio as I could tell that their Spanish was incredibly limited. Later he pulled me into the sanctuary to have a more private conversation with them, interpreting to me the horrific situation. It turns out the woman's husband had impregnated their 12-year-old daughter. He had been arrested and is jailed, but the daughter and other kids had been taken by CPS and are now living with another family member. A nightmarish situation in a foreign context with a system that is hard to navigate by educated English-speaking people. The mother wanted to know how she can get her kids back.

"We have court next week, and I want my kids back...can you help me?"
Knowing very little of the background, it seemed best to figure out if they had a lawyer and what they were working on with the family (and what they were assuming the family understood). I know enough of the system to know that CPS often puts requirements on the family, and there may be even protection orders between family members. More interpretation, Spanish-Mixtec-Spanish-Mixtec (thanks to Salvio!) and it turns out they have a lawyer but no idea where or who. After phone calls to our local public defender office, Salvio has the lawyer's name and has made an appointment for the family, which he will accompany them to. Although an interpreter will be provided for court next week, none is for appointments with lawyers. In these situations language is one barrier, as well as literacy, system navigation, let alone finding the lawyer's office.
As we wrap up, with the CPS and court primarily on the mother's mind, I encourage Salvio to tell her that we want to support her through this process, not just the legal but also the stress and trauma of the situation. I'd also be willing to meet with the daughter. The silence, the shame, the horror. I'm grateful for my experience with Skagit Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services, to prepare and equip me for this work. However, not wanting to play too many roles, I also want to refer them to that agency, and advocate that they bring in a Mixtec interpreter.

Navigating the challenges of deportation and immigration were other themes of the day, and have been of the summer.
One woman I have been getting to know, had called me earlier, asking for $50 to put on her daughter's account in Northwest Detention Center. She was really sick last week and needed medication, but they don't have any money for it. She also needs money to make phone calls out. After talking with Salvio, we decided this was an appropriate use of our Emergency Funds money for a family I am increasingly getting to know. After trying to navigate a network of companies that contract with Detention to provide these services, and figure out how to not have TN's card info in an open account, it ended up being easiest to purchase a money order and mail it. Sometimes the old ways are the best ;)

While working through this, another woman came in, who I didn't know. Her brother was picked up last week and is now also in the NW Detention Center in Tacoma. She is going around to various places asking for letters of support and character references. Unfortunately, I had to tell her we can't write one, because he never came to Tierra Nueva and myself nor others here personally know him. We brainstormed other places and she went on her way.

The rest of the requests are more simple, people coming for their mail, for baby diaper coupons, and for clothing. We need the guidance and wisdom of Jesus as we navigate these situations, and at the end of the day, lay the burdens in his welcome and eager hands.

I'm grateful that Salvio and I had started out our day with the 'Midday Prayer' from the Common Prayer book: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, which involved a St. Francis prayer, the Beatitudes, and the Lord's Prayer which we pray in Spanish:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love,
Where there is injury, pardon...

Through our lives and by our prayers: may your Kingdom come!

Now, off to another day.