Student volunteers became voice of some victims of Highland Park shooting, highlighting bilingual social services needs and increasing Latino population

When the news broke of the mass shooting at the Highland Park Independence Day Parade, most referred to the suburb as affluent, mostly Anglo and typically quiet and peaceful. But when the names of the victims began to surface, it was the story of a Mexican grandfather who attended the parade with his family that made the first headlines.

For Cary Rositas-Sheftel, a longtime resident of Highland Park and director of Latino Affairs for Catholic Charities, it was not a surprise. In the last decade the population of Spanish-speaking immigrants has increased in her neighborhood, she said. Highland Park and neighboring towns, such as Highwood, “are thriving communities full of restaurants, and a lot of people who work there speak Spanish and are now part of our community.”

Many of those families joined the thousands of other attendees at the July Fourth parade where Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III is charged with killing seven and wounding dozens of others. Two of the victims were Mexican grandfathers, Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69.

When Rositas-Sheftel was put in charge of coordinating bilingual interpreters for the family assistance center that was temporarily set up at Highland Park High School following the massacre, she noticed the “extreme need” of interpreters at the center and immediately contacted colleague Maria Vidal de Haymes, a professor at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Social Work, for help.

Three bilingual students at Loyola responded to the urgent call, Vidal de Haymes said. Edith Reynaga, Nohemi Rosales and Camille Morhun were among the volunteers that assisted victims and their families for more than a week after the shooting.

The three young women helped to welcome the Spanish-speaking residents who felt intimated by the language barrier and large presence of police and other authorities. The students also assisted the victims through FBI interviews and counseling sessions to help them help process the traumatic event.

“They became the voice of some of the community that desperately needed it; and it takes a lot for immigrants — some who may be undocumented — to trust others to be their voice,” said Rosita-Sheftel.

The urgent need for bilingual interpreters during the aftermath not only highlighted the changing demographics in the suburbs, it also restated the need for bilingual social workers, therapists and crisis respondents, said Vidal de Haymes.

The Latino population in Highland Park is 9%, according to the latest U.S. census data. More than 25 other volunteers from 20 organizations also assisted at the center that offered mental health services, legal counsel, crime victims compensation applications, food and shelter, among other services.

“And sometimes, it was just not enough,” recalls Rosita-Sheftel. There was a constant need for more interpreters as the days went by, she added.

Rosita-Sheftel said the level of trust that the clients had with the students was essential to helping them and it demonstrated the importance of trauma-informed bilingual professionals.

“I know the caliber and the heart of the Loyola students,” she said.

Morhun, who recently got a bachelor’s in social work and is now in the MSW program at Loyola, was the first interpreter to arrive at the scene.

After receiving an email from Vidal de Haymes, her former professor, Morhun rushed to a school she had only been to for social events since she grew up in Glenview, about 20 minutes from Highland Park.

“It was overwhelming,” she recalled. “But I knew I needed to be there. Even though I don’t share the same ethnic background and no one in my family is Latino, I feel privileged to be able to use my skills and my abilities — that I’ve worked so hard to establish — to volunteer in this capacity.”

It was in kindergarten when Morhun was introduced to the Spanish language. She continued learning it in high school and college.

When she became a part of Loyola’s School of Social Work, Morhun said she realized the importance and need for bilingual social work services. As a volunteer at the center, she became more committed to her future goal.

“This type of domestic terrorism leaves everybody in fear, but it’s important to recognize that these populations (immigrants) experience the trauma differently; some of the people I was working with had survived different type of violence in their home countries and use Highland Park as a place to find refuge,” Morhun said. “We were able to help to establish trust and connection that can go a really long way.”

All three students were part of Vidal de Haymes’ migration study class.

“I knew the three had a really deep commitment to equity and access to services in one’s (own) language,” Vidal de Haymes said.

At Loyola’s School of Social Work there has been an ongoing commitment to developing bilingual social workers, Vidal de Haymes said. There are several programs, including migration studies and specialization in the social work program that focus on fostering bilingual social workers than can develop a linguistic capacity and a cultural understanding of migration dynamics, and the effect on binational families.

“These are students who have a number of classes with the focus on understanding the dynamics of migration, the policy and justice issue — but also what are the social and emotional consequences of migration,” Vidal de Haymes said.

Reynaga’s parents emigrated from Mexico to the Chicago area, so volunteering at the center hit close to home, she said. In each client, she could see her parents, who inspired her to also pursue a master’s degree at Loyola’s School of Social Work, specializing in migration studies. She remembers translating for them as a child.

“I wanted to make sure I could help them use their voice to their fullest potential and still feel safe,” Reynaga said.

For Rosales, the opportunity to volunteer also touched her heart. She was born and raised in Mexico and knows firsthand the struggles of only speaking Spanish. “It was frowned upon, it wasn’t something I was proud of,” she said.

Being a bilingual social worker is a “reclamation and the beauty of being able to speak multiple language and seeing it as a strength to help the Latino community during a traumatic time,” Rosales said, adding that she is committed to advocating for more mental and spiritual support for people from all backgrounds and who speak different languages.

larodriguez@chicagotribune.com