Organization: JUCONI (Junto con los Niños)
Where: Puebla, Mexico
When: For the next 10-ish months
Over the last year, I completed my internship at Sarah Reed Children’s Center in Erie, PA (www.sarahreed.org). Sarah Reed is a residential treatment facility that mostly serves children with a history of significant and chronic trauma. Many children arrive there from homes where they experienced abuse, neglect, or other violence. Sarah Reed has adopted a model of trauma informed care called the Sanctuary Model. Sanctuary was developed by Dr. Sandra Bloom and first and foremost emphasizes the importance of creating a safe environment where children are able to heal. I found out about JUCONI through Dr. Bloom. She has been to visit the agency in Puebla and feels very positively about the organization. JUCONI is also a Sanctuary Network Site, which means that JUCONI is committed to adopting the Sanctuary Model and to providing safety to the children whom they serve. JUCONI stands for Junto con los Niños (or Together with the Children). JUCONI has a great website if you’re interested in learning more about it: http://www.juconi.org.mx/english/index.htm. I honestly don’t know exactly what I’ll be doing yet – but I will be sure to keep you all updated! Here is their mission statement straight from the website to give a better idea of what the agency does:
“To design and implement services which reintegrate into their families and society children that live or work in the street or are at high risk of doing so; and to offer to other civil society organizations and government agencies consultancy and training in our tried and tested methodology.”
