I’m Marta Gomez Hamilton, a licensed clinician and the founder of TeleWellness Hub. I built this platform to support providers and the people they care for. What’s happening right now is personal for me, and it’s why I’m writing this.
I am a first-generation Mexican American with dual Mexican and American citizenship, and the child of immigrants who became U.S. citizens when I was 17. What is happening in our country right now is not abstract to me. It is deeply personal.
Living With the Reality of Detention
I grew up mostly in California’s Central Valley due to my dad’s work in agriculture. I now call El Paso, Texas home. Living near the border means living next to detention centers like Camp East Montana, the largest ICE internment facility in the United States, where thousands of people are held under conditions that human rights groups have stated as inhumane and abusive.
Right now, communities from Minnesota to Texas, and across the country, are reeling.
What I’ve Seen as a Clinician
Before founding TeleWellness Hub, I worked in private practice primarily with bicultural, bilingual, and binational clients. I think about the people I worked with who I know are living an actual nightmare right now. I think about the fear they carry into their homes, their workplaces, their bodies, and minds.
My own children have asked me what would happen if someone in our family was taken by immigration agents, even if they were U.S. citizens, simply because of how they look. Before the killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE, I foolishly answered one of their anxious questions by saying, “I’d like to see them try.” I never imagined the level of gun violence and disregard for the law that would follow.
What Shifted for Me
Yesterday, while brushing my daughter’s hair and helping her gently work through a knot she asked me to help with, I was overwhelmed thinking about the children held alone in unaccompanied minor camps. Children who have endured fear and loss. Children without someone to brush their hair at night, to tuck them in, to protect them.
That moment shifted something deep in me.
Minnesota Is Carrying a Heavy Load
Minnesota is at the center of this moment right now, but it is not alone. What is happening there reflects a national pattern of fear and trauma that is affecting both people seeking care and the providers trying to support them.
Clinicians are holding an enormous amount. Many are supporting clients who are afraid to leave their homes, while others are working with families facing detention and separation under a constant threat. Providers are still showing up, carrying a heavy emotional toll of their own.
Stress is high. Trust is fragile. The demand for care is rising.
A Message From Minnesota
We are sharing the following message from someone living and working in Minnesota. This reflects what people on the ground are experiencing and what they are asking others to understand and act on.
Minnesota is under sustained stress. What communities are experiencing is collective trauma. Local therapists are showing up for their clients and, for the most part, there is clinical capacity. The weight being carried by the community, however, is heavy and ongoing.
What’s Being Missed in National Coverage
Despite media narratives suggesting federal agents are being removed from Minnesota, people on the ground report the opposite. Federal presence is increasing. There are active discussions about building housing for federal agents on federal land within the state. This aspect of what is happening matters and needs continued attention.
How People Outside Minnesota Can Help
People outside Minnesota can help by contacting their own state and federal representatives. Calling and emailing senators and representatives is especially impactful. Tools like the 5 Calls app or website can help guide outreach.
For those who are able, please donate to local organizations. Many people are afraid to leave their homes due to fear of detention. This includes immigrant communities, Somali communities, Hmong communities, Indigenous communities, and queer communities. Community-based organizations are working urgently to support safety and basic needs.
Context That Matters
It is also important to understand context. What is happening in Minnesota is not about detaining or removing violent criminals. That framing does not reflect reality on the ground. Federal authorities are using fraud reports and recent cases in Minnesota to justify escalating enforcement actions. This is not political rhetoric. It is what residents are witnessing.
There are visible, practical impacts as well. Abandoned vehicles are appearing throughout communities where people have been detained, leaving families without transportation or information.
Minnesotans want people to know this too. They are proud, strong, and deeply connected to their state.
The Ask From Minnesota
The ask is simple.
Keep talking about Minnesota.
Stand up where you live.
Use your voice.
Minnesota-Based Resources Shared by the Community
- https://www.standwithminnesota.com/
- https://smittenkittenonline.com/
- https://monarcamn.org/
- https://neighborhoodhousemn.org/programs/
Vehicle assistance
Leo’s Tow is helping return abandoned vehicles belonging to people taken by ICE to their families. Reach out via Facebook or call 651-703-4914.
Why TeleWellness Hub Exists
During this heightened crisis, I want to use TeleWellness Hub to be of service.
We are not a VC-backed company. TeleWellness Hub is my passion project, and I have not netted a profit from this platform. I built it as a provider who wanted to be of service, to support other providers and the people we all care for.
Here is how TeleWellness Hub can help right now.
Providers can share resources directly with clients and communities.
Clients can save trusted resources to their own profiles, similar to a private Pinterest for support, without entering sensitive information like dates of birth or insurance details. Privacy and safety come first.
This space was built to feel like home, shaped by the values I was raised with. Mi casa es su casa. Everyone should feel welcome and safe here.
For Providers Holding Capacity
If you are a trauma-informed provider, care worker, or clinician and you want to help, there are a few ways to step in.
Minnesota-based providers are invited to reach out for lifetime free access. You can contact us through our website contact form or email me directly at marta@telewellnesshub.com.
Providers outside Minnesota who want to support this moment can sign up using the free access code ALLY.
If you have capacity, referrals, or can help share this with others who need it, please reach out. Our inbox is open.
We will communicate if we reach capacity due to storage or infrastructure limits. Until then, this space remains open for care and connection.
This is about showing up for people in a moment that demands it.
