[Editor’s Note: Welcome, Kim! Our new CEO, Kim M. Nolte, MPH, MCHES offers perspectives on Migrant Clinicians Network through this mini-series of blog posts during her first 100 days. Here is her second installment. Read the first post, on migration, justice, and the challenges ahead, here. Support the Moving Mountains with MCN Campaign here.]

It’s hard to believe I’m two months into my leadership role at Migrant Clinicians Network. It’s been a pleasure getting to know our team and our partners across the US. I’m loving every minute of it. MCN is a strong and stable organization with a deep bench of national thought leaders and experts in migrant health. We truly are a force for health justice.
 

At MCN, we are moving mountains! Our work plays a vital role in promoting and protecting the health of marginalized people. Migration continues to headline the news with heartbreaking stories, from the 39 detained migrants who died in a fire in Ciudad Juarez, to the New York Times exposé shining a light on the rampant exploitation of unaccompanied minors who are working long hours in dangerous situations, skirting the protective US child labor laws. And now we are all holding our breath as Title 42 sunsets, the pandemic-era border policy which allows migrants to be quickly expelled at the southern border without a chance to ask for asylum. Ending Title 42 may have a profound impact on the government’s effort to manage migration, causing bottlenecks, chaos, and more trauma to migrants and those who serve them.

MCN creates practical solutions at the intersection of vulnerability, migration, and health. Our work is urgent and necessary to help ease the burden of those fleeing untenable or dangerous situations in search of a better, safer life. We’ve helped thousands of migrants and asylum seekers access timely, culturally relevant health care when they needed it most. Our innovative virtual case management system, Health Network, saves lives. We’ve connected pregnant women in their last trimester to urgent prenatal care. We’ve found lifesaving cancer treatments for children, and much more.
 

Our award-winning climate program prepares community health centers and the communities they serve for climate-fueled disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires. Through our education and training on the climate crisis, disaster preparedness, recovery, and response, health centers and communities are better prepared to serve the frequently isolated members of their communities – those who are unaccounted for due to geographic remoteness, language, culture, immigration status, poverty, medical issues, or social disconnection.

Our training, technical assistance, and resources for clinicians ensure that they are well equipped for the emerging health concerns of migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers. MCN’s comprehensive education program helps develop excellence in practice, clinical leadership, and the dissemination of best models and practices for quality health care to mobile populations for all members of the health care team.

Our Witness to Witness program serves those frontline workers who are in high stress jobs working with vulnerable clients who are themselves experiencing high levels of stress, moral distress, and/or moral injury, helping them build resilience and flourish despite the demands of the work.

We're providing hope, healing, and health justice for some of the most historically marginalized people in the United States and for those who serve them every day -- and we need your help to do more.

Individual giving is crucial to help fill the gap and support our work. One of the most effective ways you can help is by donating to MCN. No matter the size of your gift, your commitment improves the health and well-being of individuals and better prepares our response in the face of the next crisis whether it be a pandemic, hurricane, or rush at the border. It also allows us to continue doing our everyday work of strengthening community health centers to provide the best care for mobile populations.

When you donate to MCN, you are equipping a national organization and leader to tackle tough problems and often tragic situations resulting from health inequity. You are joining MCN and other committed individuals in setting the world on a new track, affirming the imperative of health justice for all. With just a few clicks, you will make the difference in the life of someone who is seeking a better, safer, healthier future for themselves and their families. Please join us in Moving Mountains. Donate today.

As always, I’d love to hear from you--our partners and supporters--as we continue to fight for health justice. How has MCN been helpful to you? What more do you need from us to do your work well? Feel free to drop me a line: knolte@migrantclinician.org.