Andrea Moya Cordero
Advocate for juvenile justice in Mexico. :: November 2019
Andrea, we have seen your heart energy in your work with Juvenile Justice Advocates. Your heart has always been to serve children, and you came to JJA at the beginning of this year from being president of a local orphanage. You first took charge of the JJA Mobilization project in Chihuahua, which was designed to mobilize the local community to help children in detention and change the unjust juvenile justice system. In less than a year you have trained over 20 volunteers, led classes in detention, and organized numerous events-- including getting a nationally renowned opera singer to perform a concert on Mother's Day right in the detention center.
We know that your most rewarding and challenging work has been with families of children in detention. Often these parents are living at the very edge of economic despair. Once their child is in detention, they can no longer care for them, advocate on their behalf, or even visit them. You work to get bus tickets, find donors to provide soap, shoes, and toothbrushes for the children, arrange babysitters for infants on visiting days, and lead a Family Round Table every month after visiting hours.
You have often become the lifeline for these parents. When all other agency of government, even their own public defender, are non-responsive, you help parents advocate for their children. In one case, a child was ordered released by the judge, and the public defender failed to even tell the family. You helped them track down their child, who had been sent to a foster care shelter in another city. In another case, you received a call from a mother whose son was being threatened by local gangs. You, along with the rest of the JJA team and the local authorities, arranged for the family to move out of the city to safety.
Congratulations!
Elissa and Bruce Peterson, Founding Members