Fertile ground for
behavioral health
research
L
Rosa, the promotora, introduced Clinical
Director Javier Rosado to the family soon after
the accident. Magdalena later brought Andres to
the center, where he began to meet with Natalia
Falcon-Banchs, one of the three on-site FSU
postdoc clinical psychologists.
ocated just north of one of
“He didn’t tell me what he feels, why he feels
Florida’s most affluent communities, like that,” Magdalena said. “He’s more open
Immokalee’s residents experience with Dr. Falcon. I was surprised. He was closed
harsh conditions that make toxic before. Now he has opened up – he started to
stress largely unavoidable.
Nearly 60 years ago, CBS News anchor Edward
R. Murrow reported in ‘‘Harvest of Shame’’
play soccer again.”
William and Mario Lopez-Roblero.
Magdalena Reynoso Francisco was walking
A few miles away, another family of migrant
farmworkers also struggles with grief.
about deplorable working and living conditions her five young children from the mobile home for migrant farmworkers in Immokalee. they shared to the bus stop just before 7 a.m. Mario Lopez-Roblero and his wife collected
Improvements since have been incremental. last October. Her husband had been deported their final paycheck of the season on a Friday
to Guatemala. Her mother, who previously afternoon. They departed the next day in a 2002
helped with the children, had died of an illness. Ford Explorer with seven occupants – headed
Farmworkers’ typical days start before 5 a.m.
They gather before sunrise in a dimly lit parking
lot looking for work or preparing to board
buses bound for fields that may be hours away.
Children here spend more time than most
separated from their parents.
Andres, 11, her oldest child, was about 20
yards ahead, holding hands with 6-year-old Luis.
After the tomato harvest ended in May 2016,
to North Carolina to pick blueberries.
William Lopez, 4, sat in his mother’s lap in
Magdalena, daughters Talia, 8, and Vibiana, 7, the front passenger seat. On Interstate 95 south
and son Alex, 4, were holding hands. In a flash, of Jacksonville, Mario merged into the center
“It’s very common for young children, many as other family members watched, Luis pulled lane at the same time a Ford F-150 had already
of them in elementary school, to be responsible free from Andres and ran into a roundabout. entered from the outside lane. He overcorrected
for taking care of younger siblings and relatives He was struck by a 16-year-old driver. and lost control. The Explorer veered across
while their parents are in the fields working,”
Luis died on the way to the hospital.
the northbound lanes and flipped multiple
said Rosa Martinez, a former farmworker who Magdalena, who works 50 minutes away in a serves as the College of Medicine’s community tomato-packing plant in Fort Myers, remains health ‘‘promotora’’ in Immokalee. “They wake and emotionally scarred, but has declined offers to died there. A 22-year-old from the back seat
dress them, feed them and get them to school. work with a psychologist to deal with her grief. died at the hospital.
Then they have to get themselves to school.” She says she finds it too painful to talk about.
Parents with less time and energy for family needs
Andres, who previously spent most of his
times before landing on its roof.
Two back-seat passengers, ages 17 and 19,
Mario, 25 at the time, remained in the hospital
in a coma for several months and today, with
can’t provide the buffer that has been shown in time after school playing soccer, went from no insurance, is permanently disabled. His wife,
research to diminish the effects of toxic stress. outgoing and playful to guilt-heavy and somber. 25-year-old Maribel Velasquez Perez, died in a
“A lot of our moms really carry the stress “He was so sad about it. He was judging of gender-specific roles – after getting home himself,” Magdalena said in soft and broken from the fields, the mom prepares the meals English. “For two months he came home from family brings him for regular visits to the center, and
and bathes the children,” said Kristina O’Hern, school and closed door to bedroom alone there. he has begun to play and behave more like a child
community learning coordinator for the He stopped playing soccer.” his age. But he has never asked about his mother.
different hospital a week after the accident.
William was hospitalized for several weeks. The
Redlands Christian Migration Association,
Florida’s largest day-care provider for foreign-
born and low-income wage earners.
“She also makes the meals for the next day – tacos
or tortillas or whatever they bring with them to the
fields – because there’s nowhere else to get food
where they are. Cleaning … they do everything, in
addition to their already-difficult farm work.”
It’s not unusual for one parent to be missing
altogether – separated, incarcerated, deported
or deceased.
Trauma, too, is common.
Natalia Falcon-Banchs, right, is a College of Medicine clinical health psychology fellow.
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