SAMU First Response responds to the call for help at the border

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Arizona is one of the border states where migrants cross every day to enter the United States. Casa Alitas – a part of Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona – is the principal nonprofit organization receiving migrants in the Tucson sector along the border and has been aiding those who are crossing the border since June 2014. Casa Alitas is a local humanitarian aid project committed to helping legally processed asylum seekers by offering hospitality, housing, food, clothing, toiletries, advocacy, and travel assistance. They receive between 400-1,800 individuals per day who have fled their home countries to escape violence and persecution. As of 2024 Casa Alitas has served over 400,000 individuals seeking a better life.

Casa Alitas reached out to SAMU First Response leadership in March with a request for immediate support in first response care to migrants crossing the southern border and we were able to answer their call by sending five of our dedicated first response employees to help in Tucson and Nogales, Arizona. Our emergency deployment team arrived on April 28, 2024.

“We are seeing a lot of people that need help and searching for a better life. Since we arrived this week, we have attended to 500 to 600 people per day. The work that they do here is incredible in making sure the intake is process is fluid and efficient “, said Derick Alegria who is on the ground in Tuscon, AZ and part of the Intake and Emergency Deployment Team. “We are seeing a great need in supplies such as beddings, cots, and hygiene kits. The amount of people arriving each day is so much that it is hard for Casa Alitas to keep up with the demand and they need support.”

This week, our team’s work has been crucial in the intake process of aiding in the coordination of intake services, logistical support, and procurement of necessary items. Our team will provide assembled hygiene kits to Casa Alitas to aid in the intake procedures and distributing donations, ensuring that migrants receive the assistance they need at the beginning of their challenging journey in a dignified and respectful manner. Our team is also delivering psychological care through specialized workshops for minors and ensuring access to life’s basic necessities while equipping them with the necessary documentation and information about their next steps.

Our team will continue to support Casa Alitas and evaluate the need for a second deployment based on the ongoing assessments of the current migrant situation in Arizona. This deployment of our team is focused on sustaining support and adjusting resources as needed to ensure effective long-term assistance for migrants. As always, our mission at SAMU First Response is to save lives and we will continue to collaborate and support those whose mission is the same.

About Catholic Community Services:

Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona has been dedicated to Providing Help, Creating Hope, and Serving All since 1933. As a diverse family of clients, staff, volunteers, and donors, CCS is committed to touching lives daily, guided by love, hope, and compassion. With a wide range of services, from the Community Outreach Program for the Deaf to the Pio Decimo Center for young children, Casa Alitas for migrants and refugees, a new Medical Respite Center for men and women experiencing homelessness, and services in Yuma, Sierra Vista, and beyond, CCS provide access to basic needs and ensure vulnerable communities’ safety, stability, and lifelong health.

About SAMU First Response:

Is a passionate humanitarian aid organization based in Washington, D.C.. Our mission as a 501(c)(3) non-profit is to serve vulnerable populations during national and international crises. Since June of 2022, SAMU has provided reception and respite services to more than 12,600 migrants in our nation’s capital, while our Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams deployed to Turkey and Morocco, as medical teams provided critical support to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Deployment and Evaluation of the SAMU capacities in Madrid, Spain

Deployment and Evaluation of the SAMU capacities in Madrid, Spain

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The SAMU First Response team traveled to Madrid, Spain this week to participate in the deployment of the SAMU Group’s emergency intervention team held before the General Director of the Spanish Civil Protection. They were being evaluated in order to participate in the Civil Protection of the European mechanism funds.

The objective of this day was for the General Director of the Spanish Civil Protection to see firsthand the capabilities of Grupo SAMU and their ability to deploy their health team effectively. The health team that would be deployed to any intervention would be made up of five assistance tents, an ambulance to transport critical patients, as well as the organizations team of doctors, nurses and volunteers.

At SAMU First Response we are very proud of all the work that our SAMU Group team has done. We thank the team of doctors, nurses, technicians and volunteers. We continue to advance in our work to serve vulnerable populations during crises and/or natural disasters.

SAMU First Response and Washington English Center join forces to support non fluent english speakers migrants

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“Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savor their songs” – Nelson Mandela

At SAMU First Response, one of our greatest assets is communication and the ability to speak to our guests in their native language. Language is the roadmap of a culture, and without it, it is impossible to fully understand the individual and where they come from. We are fortunate to say that the majority of our 70+ staff members in the Washington, DC and Maryland area are linguistically diverse and able to communicate directly with the vast majority of our guests.

We strive for excellence in our staff and our services and are constantly looking for ways to improve our knowledge and skills, including our forms of communication. The majority of our staff members’ first language is Spanish, which is an immense asset when working with the community of migrants that are traveling from Central and South America. As our organization has grown in the metro area and we are working on educating the community of the services that we provide, we have constantly sought opportunities for our staff to bolster their English language skills. This will help with educating our community about who we are and what we provide, as well as providing us with the skills to better serve our guests and help them connect with the resources available in the community.

At the end of 2023, we were very fortunate to receive several scholarships from the local English Language School, Washington English Center (WEC). Since 1993, more than 30 years, Washington English Center has welcomed immigrants and refugees to the United States as they learn to read, write, listen to, and speak English with greater fluency and confidence. Their mission is to provide affordable English-language instruction and workforce programs to adult immigrants using community volunteers.

WEC graciously offered SAMU multiple scholarships so that our employee’s, whose second language is English, can have the opportunity to speak with greater fluency and confidence, which leads to being able to provide better services and opportunities for those migrants that we serve.  We are proud to partner with an organization whose mission is to help the lives of immigrants and refugees who come to the United States to seek a better life and are actively providing them with the tools and resources to create the life they are looking for.

Currently, fourteen of our staff members have accepted the challenge to better their English communication skills through the group classes and individual tutoring offered by WEC. These staff members will be able to take the lessons that they learn in the classrooms and apply them directly to helping the individuals that walk through our doors by being able to confidently advocate for their needs through phone calls to local shelters, bridge programs, local schools for the children, report important data and information to local authorities and general guidance in the United States for those migrants that stay with us in our respite centers.

The organization is powered by community volunteers, so the English language teachers are flexible to work with our staff members to create a learning environment conducive to the demanding schedule that exists with working in first response.  Our staff members have been able to attend classes during work hours in a quiet corner of the respite centers or in the comfort of their own homes. The supporters of WEC come from all walks of life, just like the supporters of SAMU First Response, and are children of immigrants and refugees, and companies owned and run by immigrants. The DC Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (MOAPIA) is a large supporter of WEC and Ben de Guzman, Director of MOAPIA, believes that “the work that WEC does in terms of providing its students with the language skills for a fair shot at upward mobility is so important.” We make it a goal to partner with organizations whose mission and goals are similar in creating better lives for all immigrants to receive a fair shot at a life in the United States.

We are forever grateful for the support that we receive from the community in the Washington, D.C. area and the alliance that we have formed with Washington English Center, whose mission has been alive for more than 30 years helping immigrants and refugees arriving to the D.C area.  We always say that the community support is what makes our organization strong and able to continue with the mission of helping migrants who arrive in need of a place to rest and start their new lives in the United States.

We at SAMU First Response are forever thankful to the entire staff and volunteers at Washington English Center. Thank you for the knowledge, skills, and confidence you have provided our staff members and the continued work that you do helping immigrants and refugees arriving in the Washington, D.C. area.

Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellow(s) from Aruba Conducting Professional Placement with SAMU First Response

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Nicole Ruiz is partnering with SAMU First Response in Washington D.C through the U.S. State Department’s Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative. For four weeks, Nicole, an emerging international young leader, is working at SAMU First Response collaborating in outreach and preparing the Entrepreneurial Leadership Action Plan (E-LAP) they will undertake upon their return to Aruba.

For four weeks, Ms. Ruiz will play an important role in the programs implemented by SAMU First Response to benefit migrants received in Maryland and Washington D.C. through their participation in outreach activities to connect with potential donors and community members. In addition, the fellow will be able to conduct the intake process to know first-hand the conditions in which migrants arrive in the United States and learn new intake practices so that she can implement them in her country of origin, Aruba.

“We are very excited to have Nicole as part of our staff, and we are very interested in making the most of her abilities and talents based on the programs available to the migrants we receive in the capital of the United States. Nicole will learn about the family admission process, learn first-hand the reasons why migrant families leave their countries and how, at SAMU First Response, we help them integrate into the United States. Also, she will help us generate strategic alliances for the organization that increase our reach,” said Andrea Gallegos, managing director of SAMU First Response.

As part of the fellowship experience with SAMU First Response, the fellow will also have access to the entire training package that the organization has for its staff, such as Psychological First Aid, how to act in case of epilepsy, and DC mandated reporters where she will learn how to report child abuse and neglect.

Nicole’s long-term goal is to continue to support non-profit organizations to help achieve their goals.

Launched in 2015, YLAI empowers emerging entrepreneurs from the Western Hemisphere to enable the full economic potential of the region’s citizens. This year’s YLAI fellowship program launched in October 2023, bringing together 280 young leaders from 37 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada. In March 2024, Fellows will convene in Houston, Texas for an Opening Orientation and will then travel to 19 cities across the United States for four-week professional placements with U.S. businesses.

They will collaborate with their peers to address shared business challenges, as well as engage in virtual and in-person events and cross-cultural activities. The program concludes with a Closing Forum in Washington, D.C. in April. Fellows return to their ventures with new skills, resources, ongoing support from U.S. partners, and a broader network, strengthening business ties between the U.S. and Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada.

For further information, please contact us. Follow the fellowship using the hashtag #YLAI2024.

The Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX.

Learn more about the YLAI Fellowship Program on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn at @YLAINetwork, or at ylai.state.gov/

Washington, D.C. Nonprofit Provides Relief During Texas Wildfires

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Hutchinson County, Texas – The fires that have killed at least two people and scorched nearly 1.3 million acres of land in the Texas Panhandle are still raging. First responders and those displaced by the disaster are getting some relief from a SAMU First Response volunteer team sent from Washington, D.C., to help meet ongoing needs in the region.

Today, our Texas volunteer team has split time between two sites. At the first, a donation and distribution site located at The Dome Civic and Convention Center in Borger, SAMU’s  fully bilingual team has been able to support impacted residents with supplies.

“What we are seeing is trucks coming with ALL kinds of goods,” Mission Lead Borja González Escalada said. “There is no one showing up with just one box, but pallets of water, diapers, hand soap, new clothing and cleanup supplies. This is being distributed to the people so they have all they need for weeks.”

At a second site in nearby Canadian, SAMU team members received, organized and distributed farm supplies, including hay and feed resources, as well as fencing supplies. According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, about 85% of the state’s more than four jmillion cattle are located in the area. In some counties across the panhandle, the department reports that cattle population far exceeds people.

“The livelihoods of many cattle farmers in the area have been severely impacted by the fires,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said. “These fires not only threaten lives and property but will also have a substantial impact on our agriculture industry.”

Although four wildfires have been contained in Cass, Red River, Wood and Tyler Counties, active wildfires in Gray, Hutchinson, Moore and Oldham counties continue to burn. Most are between 55 and 85 percent contained, but the largest, the Smokehouse Creek Fire in Hutchinson County is about 15 percent contained. That blaze has become the largest wildfire in the state’s history and is estimated to have consumed a total of 1,076,638 acres. On Saturday, the Texas A&M Forest Service responded to four new requests for assistance with approximately 37 acres of wildfires burning across the state. Strong winds on Sunday prompted another evacuation in Sanford, Texas.