Our newest team member has been volunteering with Unity 4 Orphans since 2021, leading service trips and now as a special liaison to engage and support our community.
Join us in welcoming Julia to the team officially, although she’s been involved with our organization for over a year and a half. She originally heard about U4O from Joe during a church service at La Jolla Christian Fellowship, and was drawn to help based on her past experiences volunteering at orphanages in Tijuana.
Hearts align in support of orphaned and vulnerable children
With prior experience in serving children who have been abandoned, Julia began volunteering for monthly service trips to Mexico and eventually became a leader for this special outreach that’s at the heart of Unity 4 Orphans.
Although the children at the orphanages in Tijuana have unique struggles that many volunteers can only imagine, both they and the kids can feel discomfort at the beginning of the day. But something amazing happens in a short time just by playing games and doing activities together.
The children can be shy due to their foundational trust issues, but you can see love breaking down barriers just within a day.
–Julia Valencia, U4O Engagement Specialist
The importance of counseling in the lives of traumatized children
The investment U4O makes in the mental health of the children we serve is especially important to Julia, who is a psychology student. She recently returned to school to complete her undergraduate degree with the goal to become a faith-based counselor with a special interest in anxiety and depression.
As a psychology student, I feel it’s important to not only meet needs like nutrition and education but also break the trauma cycle through counseling.
–Julia Valencia, U4O Engagement Specialist
Compassionate care begins with dedicated team members
As our Engagement Specialist, Julia maintains, encourages, and promotes relationships with financial partners and community supporters. She follows up with event donors, service trip volunteers, and works with leadership to ensure we keep our community members informed and engaged with our mission.
Julia is filling another role at U4O that we’re excited about: organizing a prayer team. Through this new initiative, we will be sharing prayer requests for the children we support and the staff who in turn support them. We know that by uplifting the children and each other in prayer, we answer a calling and strengthen bonds within our own community.
We’re excited to formally welcome Julia to the team and thankful for her dedication to the children we serve, both in person in Mexico as well as through our programs in Nicaragua and Ecuador. Stay tuned for more information about how to join us in praying for the precious kids entrusted to our care.