Building Cultural Bridges of Support and Understanding

Migrant Programs provide academic and social supports for children of migrant farm workers and their families, and creates opportunities for cultural exchange between volunteers and migrant families.
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Program Components

Migrant Mentoring
The Migrant Mentoring Program matches community volunteers with a migrant child to meet weekly for duration of the family’s seasonal residence. The program improves academic achievement, develops cross-cultural connections, and increases access to the community for the children and their families.

2012 Recruitment Kicks Off!
Interested volunteers are welcome to apply by completing our online application...

Questions? Contact Eunice Ruiz at (616) 846-9074 or migrant@ethnicdiversity.org
 
Summer Reading Program
The Summer Reading Program brings groups of volunteers to local migrant camps to read, play games, and socialize with children, continuing to promote cross cultural understanding and reduce the isolation between the migrant and larger communities. Program will resume after Memorial Day 2012.

Participant Feedback

“I was completely unaware of where the migrant workers lived or how they lived. This has opened my eyes to the challenges that these families face.”
- Mentor

"This is the only place I have seen such a program. We lived in a lot of places and there was never anything like this. It makes the community better."
- Migrant Family

"There are good people here. [The mentor] has done so much for our kids; she is closer to us than our family. People here will give you a hand, before we thought people like this were only in Mexico."
- Migrant Family