At the heart of seeking migration with dignity lies a belief: each person is made in the image of God. Kino’s emphasis on education and encounter, policy advocacy, and offering holistic accompaniment are all rooted in this belief.
Over the years, we have seen that community is a powerful means of pushing towards humane, just, and workable migration. Coalitions have a stronger voice when speaking up to policy makers. Groups of migrants at the shelter offer keen and incisive counsel to one another. And interweaving our partners with migrants has allowed our accompaniment work to cross borders, extend throughout the US, and activate the body of Christ. A community committed to caring for one another is powerful!
Every team and aspect of Kino has a role to play in cultivating communities of care. Today, we offer you a closer look at how Kino’s Psychosocial Team is taking part.
What do we mean by Psychosocial?
Before diving into how a psychosocial team and approach can promote an ethos of mutual accompaniment, it makes sense to explain what psychosocial is.
As you may have guessed, it’s a merging of psychological care and social work support. For years, Kino offered both types of resources to people on the move. For example, the psychological care team might conduct group therapy and individual counseling sessions. The social work team would assist migrants in Nogales in accessing healthcare, housing, and education. This approach has shifted, thanks to the realization that each branch could maximize their impact through closer collaboration.
Social Worker Bernie Eguia explains that, “Psychosocial accompaniment helps us recognize that individuals are actors within a broader context. The challenges and opportunities people face are deeply affected by that context. That means if we really want to see people heal or thrive, we realize we have to focus both on serving individuals, but also changing the context, too.”
Bernie says that ultimately means seeking broader societal transformation while also accompanying individuals. “We don’t just want to help people navigate the situation they’re in, we want to change the societal conditions that pushed them into that situation to begin with. If we want to accompany people into health, we need to consider their access to rights, reparations, resources, and justice,” she explains.
In simpler terms, she says that taking a combined approach to social work and psychological care means that Kino is able to be more proactive about accompanying migrants, rather than primarily reactive. Bernie now focuses on social work accompaniment in the US. The psychosocial team also includes Tachita, who leads the Livelihood Project, psychologist Paulina, and Mexico-based social worker Yemilka. Soon, the team will add another social worker and it hopes to grow by welcoming another psychologist, too. This growing team collaborates closely to integrate their efforts to holistically accompany migrants, equip migrants to accompany one another, and activate communities in the US who can accompany migrants as well.
“We recognize that all people bring with them experiences, skills, talents, and knowledge, which is ultimately what makes them succeed,” Bernie says. “At the same time, we also recognize that people’s pains often reflect collective wounds. Healing is a collective responsibility and arises from mutual care and support.”
How Psychosocial Accompaniment comes to life at Kino
With this broader framework in mind, the psychosocial team focuses on four core areas when first getting to know a person in migration:
- Social work identifies the most basic needs, the resources individuals have, and also works on comprehensive support strategies.
- The psychology department supports the emotional process, fosters group dynamics, and develops creative strategies for emotional expression.
- The Livelihood Project complements the support with employment and community-building strategies through artistic workshops, while also facilitating individuals’ documentation through administrative procedures.
- All departments at Kino work to support this integrated approach and take steps to nurture a community of care.
To illustrate how this approach works in real life, Bernie recalls a family who recently came to Kino, whose surname was *Suarez.
“They were a Mexican family – a mother, a father, and a daughter. Soon after they arrived at the Migrant Outreach Center, the mother fell seriously ill. During her illness, the social work team connected her to medical services. Tragically, she did not recover and passed away.
Our social workers supported the father and daughter as they sifted through paperwork, made funeral arrangements, and handled her affairs. At the same time, the psychologists on staff drew the family close. They offered them grief counseling and spaces to process like journaling. The Livelihood Project invited both the father and daughter to participate in regular painting workshops, allowing them to express their emotions through art. And of course, we also reached out to our partners with specialties in Mexico’s legal system, as well as the Florence Project. Our hope is that when this father and daughter cross into the US, we can connect them with networks of churches, partners, and other migrants who are ready to receive them, know their story, and are ready to walk alongside them.”
In this story, Bernie illustrates how the psychosocial team comes together to activate a community of people who can all care for the family in different ways. In the midst of intense grief, which is an innately isolating experience, this family was able to experience care for their minds, hearts, and bodies. Even better, they will arrive in the US with a community that already knows some of their story and is ready to accompany them further.
In 2024, the psychosocial team aims to serve 1000 migrants using this approach.
Embedding Psychosocial Accompaniment in all offerings and structures
Every aspect of Kino has a role to play in supporting the culture of care that the psychosocial team is building. The staff is going to learn about mental health first aid to ensure they can offer it whenever necessary. And Kino aims to build the idea of psychosocial support into its very space – including in a brand new on-site library.
Those structural changes speak to the emphasis on changing migrants’ context. Executive Director, Joanna Williams, recalls the impact that the prospect of a library made on one child at Kino.
“A 9-year-old boy saw us moving all of the furniture around to make space for the library and he asked me what was going on,” she says.
When she explained that it was going to be a library, he exclaimed, “That sounds great! I’ve never been to a library. I wonder what it’s like.” He was thrilled to hear that he would be allowed to check out books and couldn’t wait to do so for the very first time.
What he didn’t realize is that many of the books had been selected specifically to help children process the trauma of migration. That covert, multi-faceted way of supporting migrants is part of what makes a psychosocial approach so strong.
“Getting access to a library, something he has never had before, is one way we can offer hope. It shows that even though the migration journey has been difficult, a better life is possible. Then, the books in the library can support and equip him for the rest of his journey and overall well-being,” Joanna explains.
The Livelihood Project and the Shelter achieve similar aims. In the Livelihood Project, people on the move participate in workshops that equip them for economic sustainability, they also build community with fellow participants and find a space to express themselves.
At the shelter, the Kino team is interweaving a psychosocial approach into the space and rhythms among guests. For example, each Sunday people at the shelter cook food from their own countries as a means of sharing and celebrating their culture. Shelter guests set aside time to play games with one another, and even restrict times where cell phones can be used, to promote a sense of community as people turn to one another (instead of screens) for company. These rhythms are one more way of tangibly encouraging migrants to forge bonds of social support, which can extend far beyond their time at Kino and change the lived experience of migration.
Extending connections: What’s next for psychosocial accompaniment?
As the psychosocial approach takes root, more and more people are able to get involved in building a community of care.
Bernie notes that this year they want to involve volunteers and the local Nogales community more deeply. Nogales already has organizations that offer opportunities that would benefit migrants, like the Nogales Women’s Institute. “We want to renew our agreements and collaborate more closely with community organizations. The goal is to promote awareness, care, and local hospitality towards migrants,” she says.
On the US side, the psychosocial team will continue strengthening the network of communities, churches, and migrants who can help welcome and integrate others when they arrive. The goal is to equip migrants to build their own support networks and activate communities of care already connected to Kino in the US.
And of course, volunteers at Kino will continue to play a key role in supporting this holistic approach.
“We want to welcome volunteers’ talents and the ways they want to contribute to this community of care,” says Joanna. She thinks of a volunteer named Abby who has led English classes, or the Catholic Sister who came and led a Shibashi workshop in the Migrant Outreach Center. Migrants experienced relaxation and strengthened their bodies through the fluid movements of the martial art, which is related to Tai Chi.
One volunteer who has been deeply involved in nurturing a community of care is Judy Bierbaum, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who works in a school in New Mexico. She has been volunteering at Kino for decades, offering psychological accompaniment to people staying at the shelter. Over the years, she has offered both group activities and individual work to boost mental health. She has also led training for our staff on self-care, emotional regulation, and non-violent communication.
“I love serving food, but through these types of offerings I get to accompany people and enter in at a different level. Whether hearing stories or playing games, I witness firsthand the dignity and tenacity of the human spirit that each migrant carries. It is an honor,” she says.
Judy also notes that these moments of encounter are critical for winning hearts and minds in the US. “I think if most people heard some of these stories, they would understand that most people on the move are ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances. My guess is that most people would make similar choices if they were in their shoes.”
Her words remind us how each person can play a role in shaping the societal context that affects migrants by humanizing and complicating people’s views of the border. And that each person can do it while offering up their unique talents to accompany others.
How you can build a community of care alongside with us
If you want to play a role in building a community of care through psychosocial accompaniment, here are a few ways you can:
- Consider volunteering with us. We welcome your talents and gifts – especially ones that can build connections and restorative spaces for people on the move.
- Contribute funds that sustain our work and allow us to expand our capacity to accompany people at the border and beyond.
- Build out our spaces of recreation! We are still accepting donations of books to the library and can accept other materials to support recreation and the Livelihood Project.
- Attend our March 9 dinner, which is all about building a Community of Care. You can click here for details.
Continue to build a community of care wherever you are. Welcoming people on the move wherever you are is a key first step. Each of us can play a role in holistic accompaniment, and building a world where Migration with Dignity is possible.
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