Mighty Writers has expanded to the U.S.-Mexico border

Mighty Writers, the nonprofit that promotes literacy among children, has locations in Philadelphia, Kennett Square, Camden, Atlantic City, Newark, and now, slowly, El Paso, Texas.

In many ways, the program is primed for the expansion at the border. It already works with undocumented and bilingual populations and understands that while the mission is centered on writing, it’s about more than that.

“You can’t teach kids writing if there’s chaos at home, or if they’re hungry, or if their families are having great challenges,” said executive director Tim Whitaker.

The underlying philosophy that acknowledges children are less likely to be able to focus on writing if they’ve got other stressors applies at the Southern border as well, except there, a Mighty Writers staffer is usually seeing them at the tail end of a harrowing journey. Many have traveled the jungles and violence of the Darién Gap or made yearslong stops in other Latin American countries before heading to Mexico.

The families at the shelter Casa del Sagrado Corazón are asylum seekers, passing through for a week or so before they board a bus to other parts of the country, like Chicago.

Sara Dickens-Trillo, who helped found the Mighty Writers Kennett Square location and is an El Paso native, returned to the area about a year ago. News of a migrant surge at the border dominated the news.

Since the fall, Dickens-Trillo has distributed bags of candy, colored pencils, coloring books, puzzles, stuffed animals, jacks, jump ropes, and other games popular in Latin America to children who, in some cases, have been on the move for years. She has dropped off 50 “Mighty Bags” of goodies every two months. Though she’s the only Mighty Writers staffer in El Paso right now, she’s hoping to connect with more local businesses and organizations to help stock the drawstring bags and make more frequent drop-offs.

“It’s very important to give them that support of having something with them, to relax them, to have fun, to take their mind off for what is going to happen because, by the time they’re established [at the shelter], it’s gonna be a different, new journey,” said Dickens-Trillo.

Still, even with Dickens-Trillo’s experience working with immigrant populations, she’s had to tweak her approach in El Paso.

Initially, the bags included books that were “all about the United States.” The thinking being the photos and names of major cities could be a good primer for children in their new chapter. But kids were “not really connecting” with the material, said Dickens-Trillo.

Mighty Writers does not keep detailed data on the families they serve at the border to avoid scaring them away, but Dickens-Trillo says most children taking part in the program range from 5 to 10 years old.

Most of the children receiving Mighty Bags have been from Venezuela, though some children have been away from their birthplace for so long, they see their home country as someplace else entirely.

Dickens-Trillo has also partnered with the nearby Canutillo Independent School District and started offering literacy workshops in five elementary schools. The partnership is possible through federal funding from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers and managed by the state of Texas.

What’s more, with a $500,000 grant from Spring Point Partners, a self-described social impact organization based in Philly, Mighty Writers intends to expand programming in their South Philadelphia location and El Paso. The plan is to add complementary staff in El Paso and find a center where kids can go every day, said Whitaker.