ProBAR’s Social Work Team: Empowering Clients Through Human Connection & Access to Services

When a fire consumed the home of a local immigrant family late one night in December 2025, Ana Carrera, a social worker with ProBAR, was among the first to respond to the emergency.  

Ana had been working with the eldest child in the family – a ProBAR client by the name of L* – on securing important documents for her immigration case, and was waiting for L to return her call so that she could go pick her up and take her to her appointment that morning. But when L never answered, Ana became concerned and drove out to where she and her family lived. “I already had scheduled to do a home visit with them”, she said. “But when I got there…my heart dropped as soon as I saw that their home had burned down”. 

Immediately, Ana and her team took action to ensure the safety of L and her family. To Ana’s relief, the family had already been helped by the American Red Cross and were offered a place to stay with neighbors while they figured out their next steps. Once the safety of the family had been confirmed, Ana met with L to discuss postponing her appointment given the tragedy that had just befallen her family the night before. To Ana’s surprise, L decided to persevere through her family’s tragedy and keep her appointment. 

L, the oldest of four children at 19-years old, had been aware of the economic uncertainty and increased immigrant persecution taking place in the world around her, and had been eager to support her mother and siblings any way she could. So, she sought out ProBAR’s help to secure an Employment Authorization Document, which would grant her the legal right to work in the United States as an undocumented immigrant. Her appointment that morning was a critical part of this process. 

With a collective spending power of $300 billion, undocumented immigrants are one of the largest socio-economic groups in the United States, reaching a record 14 million individuals in 2023. However, despite contributing nearly $90 billion in taxes to the US economy, many of these individuals still struggle to support their families due to the continued rise of housing, food, and healthcare costs. Immigration cases can also take anywhere from months to years to complete, with each case draining a family of their time and resources. In the case of L and her family, a second salary could make a world of a difference. 

The next day, Ana called L’s school and explained what had happened. “That also allowed for a counselor to do a home visit…to help students [like L] go back to school”, she said. With the help of ProBAR’s Social Work team, L’s family was able to obtain emergency funding for groceries, clothes, and school supplies, narrowly avoiding a pause in the education of the family’s children, and ensuring that L would be one step closer to legal relief, a goal for millions of undocumented immigrants. 

The Social Work team at ProBAR specializes in alleviating stressors that exist outside of a client’s immigration case by connecting them with services and non-profit organizations, and offering counseling to minimize stress and anxiety. Without advocates like Ana, many families with undocumented immigrants would find it challenging to meet their basic needs while navigating an emotionally draining immigration process. 

Assistance comes in all shapes and forms, including resources for dental and mental health, community clinics, housing support, school enrollment assistance, English classes, and much more. “What we want to do is make sure that as we are working with clients, we’re offering a well-rounded service” says Lilia, Social Work Supervisor with ProBAR.