The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is seeking volunteers that speak a variety of languages in the Phoenix metro area to help unaccompanied kids in federal custody navigate the often confusing and overwhelming American immigration system.
Phoenix volunteer coordinator Isobel Conroy said volunteers’ weekly visits allow staff attorneys and social workers a unique window of understanding the children they represent.
“They can meet with the child as well,” said Conroy, “but they learn through the volunteers' visits how the child is doing, if there's anything that they might need, any supports that they might need. And also, more than anything, understanding who that child is, what their wishes are, and what they need in order to ensure that they're safe.”
Conroy and her staff train bilingual volunteers to visit with one child every week while they face deportation proceedings.
“Our volunteers are truly the backbone of our organization,” she said, adding that child advocates in the Phoenix metro area are sorely needed.
They’re especially looking, she said, for those that speak “French, Wolof, Pular, Arabic, Spanish, as well as Mayan indigenous languages and languages indigenous to Central America.”
“We're seeing an increase in diversity of the children that we're serving,” said Conroy. “So, we're looking to continue to diversify our volunteers to ensure that whenever possible, these children have a volunteer that can speak their same language or that shares their same culture. So, that's one challenge that we've been facing.”
