Waymakers Virtual Mile Challenge

#BeAWaymaker: Walk with a Child on their Journey to the United States

In solidarity with the children Elizabeth worked with, our goal in 2024 is to collectively walk, run, or roll the same number of miles a child travels in search of safety to the United States.

As we kick off our race, we invite you to lace up your sneakers or tune up your bikes and join Joaquin on his journey in search of safety.

Walk with Joaquin

Joaquin is a young boy fleeing gang violence in Honduras. After being viciously attacked in his hometown by members of a local gang, Joaquin decided to make the journey to New York City to reunite with his mother and younger siblings.

But before he can be with his family,  he will first need to travel 1,500 miles through the jungle and the desert to get to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Join Joaquin as a team or an individual and contribute to the total number of miles he needs to travel and help get him to his family. 

Each mile walked will help raise $35,000.00 and every dollar will go towards sustaining the programs that Liz started to ensure that no child ever walks through our immigration system alone again.

How you can honor your Waymaker

Walk in celebration of someone who supported you!

Everybody has a waymaker in their lives. These are the people who have taken us aside and have shown us the way forward in our new home, school, country, or chosen industry, paving the way for our future successes.

In that spirit, we celebrate the contributions of all Waymakers and want this race to honor their work. If you would like to walk on behalf of a mentor who helped make your way, let us know who you’ll be racing for and how many miles.

We also ask that you download the graphic bib “I AM RACING FOR MY WAYMAKER  [INCLUDE NAME]” found in our toolkit and write in your Waymaker’s name.

Post it on your social media and tag us.  Track your miles and let us know how much you’ve walked.

Story of the Waymaker

Years ago, the Young Center had the honor of serving a girl from West Africa. When she was successfully released from custody, settled in, and enrolled in high school, she sent a letter to her Child Advocate, thanking her for being her Waymaker. We love that word. Today, as children continue to be separated from their families at the border and children who arrive on their own are at risk of being deported to danger, we need more Waymakers than ever.

6,000+ immigrant & refugee children served so far

In 2023, we served 1,598 children from 48 different countries facing deportation across 21 states. 335 of the children we worked with were under 12 years old and 479 were at risk of being transferred to adult detention.

The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights is a human rights organization that champions the best interests of unaccompanied immigrant children, making sure that wherever they land, whether here in the U.S. or their home country, they are safe. The children we serve are fleeing violence, trafficking, abuse, extreme poverty, discrimination, and the effects of climate change. We advocate for the well-being of each child while they’re detained, in court proceedings, and post-release. We stand for the creation of an immigration system that sees children as children.