For All Seasons is growing with the Latino community

EASTON — For All Seasons, a behavioral health and rape crisis center serving the Eastern Shore, has had what could be described as a long and continuously adapting relationship with serving the local Latino community.

Ivy Garcia, director of Latino services at For All Seasons, said it began in 2006 when she was hired as an interpreter for the nonprofit. Garcia said though the work she was doing at the time was important, the more she talked to the local community, the more she realized that this was just a stepping stone.

She moved on to become an advocate, and when word got out that a Latina was advocating for the Latino community, more and more Latino clients began to seek resources.

Garcia’s passion shone through her work as she began to advocate for more and more services, including a Spanish language crisis hotline, staff training, educational groups, and the Latino Program at For All Seasons.

“The people started to trust and confide themselves to me,” Garcia said. “I started doing education workshops on self-esteem and women empowerment. I also bring in guest speakers like Planned Parenthood and the Department of Health, and we eat food together and discuss topics they may have questions about.”

Today, For All Seasons has established a Latino Program to help serve the many needs of the local Latino community. This program provides bilingual education and outreach initiatives for communities throughout the Mid-Shore region.

The services provided range from support groups, case management, advocacy and referrals to local resources. Garcia leads a support group for Latinas on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., where she listens to the needs of women and finds ways to assist their ever-changing needs.

Beth Anne Dorman, president and CEO of For All Seasons, said it’s important for people to understand that the Hispanic community in Talbot County is growing. Currently, 15% of the clients For All Seasons serves are Spanish-speaking, and Dorman said they are preparing for those numbers to continue to climb.

Education has been the staple of expanding mental health services for the Latino community. Garcia said that mental health is seen as taboo to many Latinos and carries a stigma of being associated with “crazy.” For Garcia, it’s essential to explain to clients that mental health should be taken as seriously as physical health.

However, education does not stop with clients. Garcia and Dorman have made a point of educating both community members and staff on culturally relevant information in order to better serve the Latino population.

The entire agency team receives cultural education so that when Spanish-speaking community members come in, all staff can better understand ways to assist and accommodate expected needs.

Alongside the education the staff receives, Dorman said For All Seasons has also created a safe environment where staff can ask questions if they have questions pertaining to cultural differences that may arise.

Garcia said that because many of their Latino clients are undereducated about health, especially mental health, it’s important for staff to put in extra work to help assist them and meet them where they are. However, what she keeps at the forefront of her work is admiration for her clients.

Many of her clients are migrants who have left behind friends, parents and children to come to the United States to work to send money back to their loved ones. Still, when they journey to the United States, they will often go through intense trauma and may not know the tools to navigate their new reality.

“It’s important to sit down with clients and tell them that though I may not be in your shoes, I see you and admire you for doing that,” Garcia said.

“Because to leave your family is not easy, but you are doing it for love and because you didn’t have another option,” Garcia said. “It’s a passion that I have for this community that I don’t think I will ever lose in my lifetime.”

Dorman said one of the moments that made her feel that the Latino Program was working was two years ago when they hosted a backpack giveaway in the nonprofit’s parking lot.

“I’m not joking with you. They were lined up down the street, and we were their safe place to land,” Dorman said. “When you think about the trauma that these families have experienced, you think about being in a space where they know nothing, they know no one, and they are coming here for them to show up in the parking lot of For All Seasons during the backpack giveaway, and be able to know that there’s a place for them to be served.

“And that they’re a part of our community and they are a part of something. To me, that’s the moment that I think just really sort of says it all about who we have become for the Latino community and Talbot County.”