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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jorge Paz Reyes, Community Organizer at Mixteca
5:46:34
ยท
3 min
Jorge Paz Reyes, a community organizer at Mixteca, testified about the impact of proposed budget cuts on immigrant services and emphasized the importance of mental health services for immigrants. He highlighted Mixteca's work in providing legal assistance, Know Your Rights workshops, and culturally sensitive mental health support to the immigrant community in Sunset Park.
- Mixteca has assisted 840 asylum seekers since January 2024 and provided Know Your Rights workshops to 3,800 community members in January and February alone.
- The organization offers a range of mental health services tailored to the Latinx immigrant community, including individual counseling, group discussions, and workshops on various topics.
- Reyes stressed that the proposed budget cuts would have real consequences for thousands of immigrants who rely on these services to build better futures for themselves and their families.
Jorge Paz Reyes
5:46:34
Good afternoon.
5:46:35
My name is Jorge Petraeus and I'm the community organizer at Amisteca, a community based organization located in Park Slope Sunset Park where we provide the immigrant community a different variety of services including education, mental health, health and wellness advocacy, and legal services.
5:46:52
I come before you today to speak on behalf of the immigrant community we serve to express a deep concern regarding proposed budget cuts particularly affecting legal services for low income immigrants, immigrant health initiative, immigrant opportunities initiative among others.
5:47:09
These cuts are not just a number, they represent the loss of critical services that help immigrants community better a better life, and after are fleeing unimaginable hardships back in their back in their home country.
5:47:20
I do wanna echo the statements of previous panelists of the need of funding all these legal services.
5:47:27
Misteca is a small nonprofit that does receives the people directly, and we're the ones that do the referrals to larger organizations.
5:47:36
However, in our own capacities, we do have a small legal team, and we're trying to provide the community the services that they need.
5:47:44
And we've seen just in these two months how there's still the need for all these services.
5:47:49
We have received more than 40 requests for Know Your Rise worships in the last two months, and we have provided 3,800 community members assistance with Know Your Rise as well as Know Your Know Your Rise worships just in the month of January and February.
5:48:04
And we have also continued to assist asylum seekers, and we have assisted 840 applicants since January 2024.
5:48:12
However, something that we really wanted to emphasize in this hearing was the critical service that we provide through our mental health service program.
5:48:21
This service is highlighted by the city as part of the immigrant health initiative.
5:48:25
In our service, we try to focus on the unique challenges that immigrants face, the trauma from their experiences in their home countries navigating a new a new life that is often unfamiliar, and the stresses that they face because of legal and social barriers.
5:48:39
For these reasons, Misteca has dedicated significant resources to offering a wide range of cultural sensitive mental health services.
5:48:47
We provide individual counseling, group discussion, workshops, healing spaces that focus on parental skills, violence awareness, prevention, trauma healing, and emotional management.
5:48:58
These services are tailored to resonate with the Latinx immigrant community, blending contemporary mental health approaches with traditional healing practice to create meaningful and effective support.
5:49:08
We conduct all the services in Spanish with translation to indigenous language when needed.
5:49:14
Every aspect of our programming is designed to culturally relevant and trauma informed.
5:49:19
The impact of our mental health and legal service cannot be overstated.
5:49:23
And with these proposed cuts, we see the risk of losing them.
5:49:27
None of this will be possible without the support of city council, as well as the funding that the city provides for immigrant services.
5:49:34
We understand that budget decisions are difficult, but these cuts will have real consequences for thousands of immigrants who rely on these services to build a better future for themselves and their family.
5:49:44
Thank you for your time and ongoing support for the immigrant families across the city.