Cindy Escárcega began delivering food to immigrant families two days ago with the goal of helping the community in south central Los Angeles where she has worked for years.

Hundreds of Latinos in the area have been seriously affected by the massive raids that ICE has been carrying out for several years in southern California in search of undocumented immigrants.

“We are all suffering and scared, and it's horrible,” said the Latina who works as a speech therapist in the community. “The children can't get enough food because their parents can't go to the grocery store, because they don't have income, because they can't go out to work, so anything I could do to help was my main goal.”

Immigrant families have stopped going to work, shopping for basic necessities, and are afraid to leave their homes due to the situation.

However, several organizations and individuals, like Escárcega, have offered resources to alleviate the uncertainty and worry of those impacted by the situation.

Among the resources offered that have been seen are: direct funds for street vendors who are unable to work, food delivery services, and mental health support services, among others.

Currently, KTownForAll, a Koreatown-based non-profit mutual aid organization, has raised funds for 42 street vendors to pay their rent, food, and basic needs for a month so they can stay safe.

In addition, they have 16 additional families on their waiting list; if you'd like to donate, you can check out the organization's Instagram account: @ktownforall

Different local YMCAs are also helping people by delivering food and essential items to their homes.

For those who would like to support with donations, the YMCA is looking for the following: non-perishable food items (canned goods, rice, pasta), personal hygiene items, basic household items (toilet paper, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies); and baby and children's items (baby formula, diapers, wipes,snacks).

Items can be dropped off at the following Y locations: Anderson Munger, Ketchum-Downtown, Mid Valley, San Fernando Gardens, Southeast-Rio Vista, Weingart East Los Angeles, and Wilmington.

To date, Escárcega gets food for families for free from food pantries that are throwing away food because drivers haven’t been picking up food in Los Angeles.

“They’re throwing away [the food], so my first thought was this is how I can help people who can’t get out… and if I’m already in the area, it’s easy for me to just drop off some food while I go see my client,” the Latina said.

She started giving food to young children and women at a daycare center because they were afraid to go downtown LA to shop.

Some of the items she has provided include potatoes, lettuce, bags of salad, rice, squash, and eggplant, among other things.

After two days, Escárcega has been overwhelmed by the number of requests for help and is looking for more people to support.

The Latina highlighted that the silver lining of the situation has been seeing the community support each other and share resources.

“From all of this, the important thing is to see the solidarity among everyone and how the community is there for each other,” Escárcega said. “It’s not the government; the government is harming us, so we have to depend on each other for these types of things.”

Free Therapy

One of the free services offered to migrants and people affected by the raids are free therapy sessions thanks to a volunteer list created by the nonprofit The Relational Center, which offers affordable therapy for California residents.

One of the volunteer therapists is Brittany Bueno, an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT) who grew up in Chula Vista just two border crossings into Mexico.

During her youth, she saw firsthand the impact of border crossers, and coupled with addiction and other childhood trauma, she was motivated to want to help when the migrant crisis hit the Los Angeles area.

“I’ve done a lot of crisis interventions… so I feel like I’m very well-equipped to handle situations like this, and I just want to offer my services to the best of my ability,” Bueno said.

According to the therapist, regardless of whether you’re directly impacted, simply witnessing incidents, or are part of protests, collectively the entire community is experiencing a crisis from a traumatic event in history.

“Just watching it nonstop,“You can enter a state of dysregulation and paralysis, and secondary PTSD is very real,” Bueno said. “But for those who suffer from it directly, it is a very isolating experience, and I imagine that when telling other family members who are also going through it, there can be some exhaustion, or maybe people shut down or don’t know how to react in situations like this.”

The Latina therapist adds that the good thing about the mental health department is that they don’t inform ICE agents because everything is confidential and sessions can be done from the comfort of your home via phone call or video conference.

Other resources:

Immigrant Legal Resource Center

Informed Immigrant

Health Access for Latinos

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

Southern California Community Legal Assistance

Human Options, Inc.

Immigrant Advocates Legal Center

Rapid Response Networks