Hoyleton’s Puentes de Esperanza Hosts Two Firsts to Support Immigrant Clients in Southern Illinois

The outreach of Hoyleton Youth and Family Services in Fairview Heights, Ill., extends to clients throughout southern Illinois, many of whom often have nowhere else to turn. One of its programs, Puentes de Esperanza (“Bridges of Hope”), extends a much-needed lifeline to immigrants and their families. Recently, Puentes accomplished two firsts in the struggle to help immigrant families. 

In October, it brought representatives from the Mexican and Guatemalan consulates to nearby Carbondale, Ill., to help individuals and families obtain proper documentation and identification. Then, in November, Hoyleton hosted a roundtable discussion with Rep. Nikki Brudzinski (D-Ill.) and area immigration nonprofit and advocacy organizations at its Fairview Heights offices. Both were part of Hoyleton’s consistent work to aid immigrant families in the region.

Years of Persuasive Effort Pay Off

For years, Edda Berti, immigrant services manager for Hoyleton’s Puentes program, has made it a point to stop off at the Mexican and Guatemalan consulate offices in Chicago when she travels to the city for conferences. Her goal? To build a strong partnership between the consulates and Hoyleton, and to convince them to provide greater assistance for the rural areas of southern Illinois that Puentes serves. Her persistence paid off.

For several years, the Mexican consulate has sent its mobile office to southern Illinois at least annually to serve the residents of the rural southern Illinois area. The Guatemalan consulate lacked the equipment for such a broad outreach. So the Mexican consulate offered to share its mobile office equipment with the Guatemalan consulate. 

On Oct. 24-25, 2025, the two consulates conducted a joint mobile consular event at a community center in Carbondale to provide passport and national ID services to Mexican and Guatemalan residents. The Puentes team coordinated the community outreach. A week before the event, it  helped clients secure appointments. For example, team members conducted outreach with the Guatemalan residents of the area, providing information about the visit and helping them schedule appointments. 

The threat of potential ICE activity overshadowed efforts before and during the event. “Due to community concerns and rumors regarding potential ICE activity in Chester (Ill.) the week before the event, outreach was conducted strictly via text messages, avoiding Facebook or other public platforms to ensure safety and reduce anxiety,” Berti said.

The joint mobile consulate operated all day Oct. 24, and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 25, with Puentes staff assigned to support the consulates. Each consulate assisted approximately 300 individuals over the two days. In addition to coordinating appointments, Puentes staff helped clients obtain money orders for consular fees—for example, $65 for a five-year Guatemalan passport and $100 for a 10-year passport—and guided them on which identification documents are accepted by Illinois authorities.

The visit marked the first time the Guatemalan consulate had provided services in the region, and they were amazed by the result, and thankful for Puentes coordination. Guatemalan immigrants from southern Illinois and portions of Missouri were able to gain valuable consular assistance that they normally could not access because of the distance between the Chicago offices and rural southern Illinois.

“Bringing both the Mexican and Guatemalan consulates to southern Illinois—together, for the first time—reflects our unwavering commitment to meeting people where they are and ensuring they feel seen, supported, and safe,” said Chris L. Cox, president and CEO of Hoyleton. “This effort was about much more than paperwork; it was about dignity, trust, and standing alongside our community in moments when fear and uncertainty too often take hold.”

Roundtable Meeting Creates Space for Information, Insights

Some three weeks after the joint mobile consulate event, Hoyleton hosted an immigration roundtable discussion with Rep. Nikki Budzinski of Illinois’ 13th district. The meeting included immigration nonprofit and advocacy organizations from throughout the district, who raised concerns about a spike in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace raids, families avoiding health care due to fear of ICE presence, and the broader, chilling effect on immigrant communities. Participants also discussed steps lawmakers and local groups can take to protect residents.

Budzinski expressed concern for and a commitment to keeping immigrant residents in her district safe. “The surge in ICE activity we have seen across central and southern Illinois is deeply concerning,” she said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to bring together local immigration advocates, nonprofit leaders, and my friend Congressman Chuy Garcia [D-Ill, 4th district] to talk about how we can work together to keep our communities safe.”

Budzinski is a co-sponsor of Garcia’s Protecting Sensitive Locations Act which, if passed, will prohibit immigration enforcement in places providing essential services, such as houses of worship, schools, hospitals, courthouses, and community centers.

“I deeply appreciate Congresswoman Budzinski’s commitment to engaging with providers to better understand the challenges immigrant communities face across our region,” said Kristen Eng-Shinn, Hoyleton’s director of community support services. “Her willingness to create space for dialogue and then use those insights to advocate at the federal level for transparency in ICE processes and humane treatment demonstrates true leadership. Having elected officials who stand in solidarity with communities experiencing adversity is critical for meaningful and lasting change.”

For Cox, the roundtable meeting is just part of Hoyleton’s outreach to the community. 

“As ICE activity increases anxiety in our communities, convening spaces for collaboration and advocacy becomes not only important—it becomes essential,” he said. “Hoyleton and Puentes de Esperanza remain steadfast in our responsibility to protect, uplift, and empower the individuals and families we serve. Opening our doors for this dialogue reflects who we are: a partner, an advocate, and a safe place for those seeking hope and stability.”

Puentes Supports Clients

Puentes de Esperanza’s support for its immigrant clients extends past advocacy. For example, its women’s group celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month in October, as well as the Day of the Dead in November. “We are constantly placing ourselves in the shoes of our clients and thinking of how we can best support them,” said Eng-Shinn. “We try to honor their cultures and background through our interactions with them.”

The idea for Puentes began in 1995 after Hoyleton realized that a significant number of community residents spoke Spanish and couldn’t answer questions on a grant-sponsored community needs survey. With the help of CHHSM member Embrace Living Communities in nearby Oak Brook, Ill., which provided translators, residents were able to successfully complete the survey. Hoyleton later teamed up with a local church to provide services to the Spanish-speaking community, and Puentes was born.

From the start, the mission of Puentes’—which was named after the church that assisted it—has been to transform the lives of Latinx children and families in southern Illinois through community-based ministries directed at their physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs. It is one of only 50 agencies in the United Sates, and the only one in southern Illinois, that adheres to the CARE Model, a trauma-informed model with roots at Cornell University based on six core principles that create successful outcomes.

Puentes’ services in Spanish for limited English-speaking (LES) families are vast:

• Bi-lingual therapy and parenting services
• Immigrant family resources program
• Community outreach to LES families needing advocacy, education, interpretation, translation, and other support
• Latino Special Services Program in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services to provide interpretation and translation services during child protective investigations conducted by the department
• A satellite location of Hoyleton at the Illinois Welcoming Center, a one-stop community center that provides Hoyleton’s services to immigrant populations. 

Puentes also offers several workshops, creating new ones as the need arises. “We will often create a workshop when we notice a trend in a topic that we’re explaining to families,” said Eng-Shinn. “In 2017, there was a growing concern from families about their rights and their children, so we arranged a ‘Know Your Rights’ workshop and Power of Attorney and Guardianship workshops. In these events, we were able to help more people at once rather than one appointment at a time.” Current workshop favorites among clients are “Know Your Rights,” “Healthy Relationships,” and “Community Resources.”

The increased presence of ICE has made the work more difficult. Puentes has been partnering with other groups to offer workshops specifically about ICE, including what to expect if you’re detained, and what your loved ones should know and expect.

“We have tried to be more diligent when working with individuals to ensure that their families are protected,” said Eng-Shinn. “For individuals who are required to participate in the ICE Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, we have encouraged them to contact a partner [agency] that is leading an initiative to accompany the individual to the appointments. This is meant to ease anxiety, provide comfort, and deter any maltreatment or detention of the individual.”

In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, Puentes served more than 3,000 individuals, often with community partners who help host workshops, refer clients, and conduct outreach events. Added Eng-Shinn, “We are all dedicated organizations looking to support our growing Latinx community.”

A Spanish version of this story also is available. Special thanks to Hoyleton Youth and Family Services Puentes de Esperanza’s Patricia Merz and Edda Berti for the Spanish translation.