Human Trafficking and Gender Equity in the Latinx community

Human Trafficking and Gender Equity in the Latinx Community

Virginia Paiz-Gilbert, a native of Guatemala, serves as Mental Health Team Coordinator for La Casita Center, a grassroots non-profit located in Louisville, Ky., that accompanies families in the Latinx community. The center’s mission is to empower these families, providing a foundation for systemic change with long-term effects. And mental health care is clearly an essential part of that goal. Virginia immigrated to the United States in 1989 as a child and was raised in Los Angeles, CA. She joined the U.S. military at age 17, serving four years on active duty, deployed to many countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, South and Central America. After her service, she attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, graduating in 2012 with a major in Social Sciences and Humanities. Committed to a desire to help children, particularly those who’ve experienced trauma, Virginia first became a foster parent and then began to study for a master’s degree in social work – a dream further fueled by her mother’s death during her first year of study. She earned her master’s in 2022. Virginia came to Louisville in 2013 to be closer to family and joined the team at La Casita in 2021, drawn by its commitment to serving the Latinx community in a holistic practice of accompaniment, not charity. Today, Virginia facilitates monthly workshops to teach positive parenting techniques and empower parents to break the cycle of violence. She also facilitates Latinx teen groups to promote healthy relationships, college readiness, self-esteem, community engagement and empowerment. And she has launched Mentes Sanas, an online program that promotes mental health to the Latinx community in their language. Outside her work, Virginia is the proud parent of a 6-year-old daughter and a 8-month-old son. She also enjoys running, yoga and reading.
Yamira is a Graduate from Spalding University with two degrees in social work. She was raised in Louisville, KY. Yamira's career has been focused on working with minorities and survivors/ victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and many other crimes. She has been working with these populations since 2017. She is a full-time victims advocate for the Latinx community at La Casita Center and a part-time crisis response advocate-crisis line at a domestic violence and sexual assault crisis line.

Virginia Paiz-Gilbert, a native of Guatemala, serves as Mental Health Team Coordinator for La Casita Center, a grassroots non-profit located in Louisville, Ky., that accompanies families in the Latinx community. The center’s mission is to empower these families, providing a foundation for systemic change with long-term effects. And mental health care is clearly an essential part of that goal.

Virginia immigrated to the United States in 1989 as a child and was raised in Los Angeles, CA. She joined the U.S. military at age 17, serving four years on active duty, deployed to many countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, South and Central America. After her service, she attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, graduating in 2012 with a major in Social Sciences and Humanities. Committed to a desire to help children, particularly those who’ve experienced trauma, Virginia first became a foster parent and then began to study for a master’s degree in social work – a dream further fueled by her mother’s death during her first year of study. She earned her master’s in 2022.

Virginia came to Louisville in 2013 to be closer to family and joined the team at La Casita in 2021, drawn by its commitment to serving the Latinx community in a holistic practice of accompaniment, not charity.

Today, Virginia facilitates monthly workshops to teach positive parenting techniques and empower parents to break the cycle of violence. She also facilitates Latinx teen groups to promote healthy relationships, college readiness, self-esteem, community engagement and empowerment. And she has launched Mentes Sanas, an online program that promotes mental health to the Latinx community in their language.

Outside her work, Virginia is the proud parent of a 6-year-old daughter and a 8-month-old son. She also enjoys running, yoga and reading.

Yamira is a Graduate from Spalding University with two degrees in social work. She was raised in Louisville, KY. Yamira's career has been focused on working with minorities and survivors/ victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and many other crimes. She has been working with these populations since 2017. She is a full-time victims advocate for the Latinx community at La Casita Center and a part-time crisis response advocate-crisis line at a domestic violence and sexual assault crisis line.

Women's Center

Human Trafficking and Gender Equity in the Latinx community