Hey.

Hey.

That.

Hey.

When I. Welcome to Arizona.

They're a show that takes a look at current issues through a Hispanic lens.

I'm your host, Catherine Anaya.

We've talked before about the stress and trauma that immigrants are facing in the current political landscape.

Here in Arizona, a nonprofit serving students, dreamers and immigrant families is helping them heal through the power of art.

Alejandro's arts and healing program, called cultivar, is opening doors for dialog and healing, especially in Latino communities where stigma around mental health can run deep.

Here, to talk more about how cultivar is helping families discover new ways to transform pain into strength is the program manager, Iliana Salinas.

Nice to have you here.

Thank you so much.

Yeah.

Thank you for welcoming us.

Good to see you.

So talk to me a little bit about the pressure that families are facing right now.

Immigrant families in particular.

What kind of trauma and mental stress are they dealing with?

Yeah.

Well, one of the main things is the uncertainty about what is going to happen every day.

The news are changing.

Every day, the news are telling us about all the rapes or like, the detentions.

And so that brings a lot of uncertainty, a lot of anxiety and stress as well, in families.

There have been families that I work with who have a family member who is in detention or maybe, in deportation proceedings.

And it's it's a lot of, unknowns.

And, I think what I, what I hear a lot is this sense of, powerlessness sometimes, like, not being able to, to remain, even if they've been here for so many years.

And we work with a lot of the families who've been here for many years.

Ten, 20 years dreamers who've been here since they were little.

And so what we try to do is to bring about in our workshops coping skills.

But also what is like, an opportunity for expression of all of those feelings processing and, also for expression of those emotions through art.

And that's why this program is so important, because they're going through a difficult time emotionally, physically, so many different emotions.

And this is helping them transform some of that pain into strength.

Right?

Yes.

Yeah.

The mission that we have is transforming that trauma, that pain, that fear into hope and action.

So how do we also turn all of these difficulties into, resiliency?

So we talk about resiliency, agency.

Because a lot of, when you think about trauma informed care, it's important to always have options.

And so we try to include options for people, to decide whether they want to process or if they want to express something.

Because what happens with trauma is that it makes it so that you feel like there's you don't have control over the situation or you don't have control over your life.

So bringing about the topics about agency, resiliency, which we all have.

It really helps to connect with ourselves, but also to connect to each other and to know that we're not alone, that we're going through this together.

That's so important, that shared experience and being able to tap into that resiliency that you say we all have.

Let's talk about the different ways that you are helping families channel these stories and these experiences together.

Let's start with the visual arts part of the program.

We have some photos of some of the students that you have helped to express themselves through art.

Talk to me about how impactful that is.

Yes.

So we have some partnerships at the elementary level, junior high and also high school level.

And at every level we see the creativity, blossom from these students.

Whether it is an, like a canvas with acrylic paint or we also do different mediums, a watercolor or we've done stamps.

We have different visual arts.

And the idea is for them to express in, in only about 35 minutes, whatever comes to mind and what comes to their heart, about the topics that we talk about.

And so with the way that I think about it is that it's like spontaneous art.

And it it is always, amazing, surprising to see how much they can say, in those 35 minutes through art, which tells you there is so much on their minds.

Right.

I know that you also, another component is the mic nights that you host and you recently had one which we have some pictures of as well.

This is an opportunity for a families to come together and share their experiences through music, through poetry.

Tell me a little bit about how impactful these nights are.

Yes.

So we started these nights since 2016 after we started our workshops.

And the idea is that during the workshops we create.

But during the open mics we express and we perform.

So it can be stories, poems, songs.

Many times we've also had like, interpretive dance.

And the idea is that not only people who are impacted, get to share what they're going through in, in their own way, but also, supporters and people who might not be directly impacted, but they still want to support.

They get to come together and share as well.

And it's a safe space for them.

Yes, it's a safe space.

When many times we feel this the stigma about the immigration status that maybe, we don't want to talk about in other places, what we try to build is this sense of a safe and brave space.

I love that.

And I love the opportunity to to create this, outlet for everyone to be in a safe space and share and really identify with each other.

Yes.

I think that makes a difference for anybody going through some kind of healing process.

So let's talk about your partnerships with the schools.

Tell me a little bit about that and what you teach in the schools.

Yes.

So as I mentioned, we have like partnership that at the elementary level, junior high, high school.

And we also have a fellowship with students who are in college right now.

And so they create their own events.

We support them in their leadership skills.

In creating the event, inviting people who they know, like their student, their fellow students, and basically we can bring a workshop out, like a one time workshop, or we can do several workshops in a year.

And one of the partnerships that we've had for seven years, we do one workshop a month, and then at the end, we do a gallery where families come together with teachers and also the students, and they get to see the art that they created throughout the year, celebrate and share community time.

That's so fabulous and so important.

You also include the educators in in exactly what the families are going through.

According to your website, in the 20 2324 school year, Orlando provided workshops to over a thousand students in Phoenix and Mesa High School.

Of all the students who completed pre and post surveys.

84% reported sustained or reduced levels of stress and 82% reported sustained or reduced levels of anxiety.

Have you noticed an increase in the number of schools needing this, particularly right now?

Yes, we've heard from a lot of, counselors, teachers, social workers who reach out and, ask us, if we can come and bring a workshop.

We also offer professional development sessions for the teachers just to bring about some best practices that have worked with us and that we see in other, practitioners that have helped, the families they serve.

And so we lead those workshops, and then we also do parent engagement.

You know, as far as the need, we see it.

We've been to several districts here in Maricopa and also Yuma and Tucson in Flagstaff as well.

And the need is there because, families, are, basically going through this process of figuring out how do I talk to my child about what's going on?

How do I, basically process these emotions or maybe, like, have a way for them to process them.

And so, the teachers see this as an opportunity to not only, provide that for the students, but also connect with the students in a different level that they usually might not.

And what are some of the questions that educators have on their minds right now when they're dealing with the trauma.

And some of the mental health issues that their students may be facing?

So what we've heard is some families are afraid of coming to school.

Because they don't know if there might be rates going to the schools.

There have been requests for like, virtual, so that the students can still have an education, but at home.

And so a lot of, the teachers might ask us, like, for tools of what to do or what to say to support the families.

Have you noticed an increase in the partnerships and the schools that are wanting to partner with you, especially right now with everything that is, impacting immigrant families?

Yes, yes.

So we have been to districts here in Maricopa in Tucson and Yuma in Flagstaff, as well.

And we do have a lot of requests.

So we're doing the best we can, to fulfill them all.

A we're a small but mighty team.

But I think what we are trying to do is to also offer, resources on our website so that the teachers can also access them directly.

So we have a toolkit for best practices.

We have a community wellness resources, know your rights.

And then also like a preparation plan as well as our college access.

So we have so many different resources there.

And we try to like let people know.

And the teachers know that they can come and get some resources there or invite us.

We can do professional development sessions for, their meetings and then also parent engagement.

We've done that in the past as well, which is so important to have the parents involved.

But the educators, what is the biggest challenge they say that they're facing right now?

I think the biggest challenge that I hear from the educators is to know what to say.

They have been families who reach out to them who say, my loved one was detained.

What do I do?

And so the teachers don't know how to support, like, so we provide them with the list of trusted attorneys.

We also, recommend some, like, mental health best practices.

Another question that we get a lot is the fear from families about, school, like schools being targeted, for rates.

And so we offer know your rights information.

And a lot of, principals have worked on their own about what the plan would be in case something like that were to happen.

So you have so many resources on the website.

If somebody is watching right now, whether they're with the school or in the community, and they want to participate in these programs which are free community, or they want to bring these programs into their schools, what's the best way for them to go about doing that?

Yeah, they can contact us on our website.

Elementary.

Zorg.

We're also on Instagram.

Very active and on LinkedIn.

Add a link to easy.

And yeah, reach out to us and we would love to come and share some of the resources that we have.

This is also an opportunity for us to learn what works with them, so that we can pass it on to others.

So it's it's this constant, kind of community of share and sharing, with each other.

So the website would be the best.

Yeah.

But you do so much great work in the community.

Thank you so much for sharing this program.

We appreciate it.

Yeah.

Of course.

Thank you.

Good to see you too.

Thank you.

And that's our show for Autism and Arizona PBS.

I'm Catherine and I will see you next time.

Hey, hey, I can't wait.

I.