North Stars: Gladys Muñoz Connects Migrant Families with Support, Hope

Gladys Muñoz has spent nearly four decades advocating for justice and connecting Northern Michigan’s migrant families with resources, support and hope.

This article first appeared in Traverse Northern Michigan. Find this story and more when you explore our magazine library. Want Traverse delivered to your door or inbox monthly? View our print subscription and digital subscription options.

When Gladys Muñoz, a city girl from Puerto Rico, first arrived in Northern Michigan during the summer of 1988, it was a shock to the system. The 34-year-old teacher had never encountered a migrant community before, let alone agriculture of any kind.

And yet she found herself deeply immersed in that world, working with the late Jean Franco, executive director of the Northwest Michigan Migrant Project, to teach elementary and middle school students in Suttons Bay, Traverse City and Elk Rapids. During her first year of teaching, Muñoz was handed a map of Leelanau County—small dots marking each farm—and was tasked with signing children up for classes. She got lost more than a couple times, but the connections she made were more than worth the backroad rambles.

“That was my way to meet the community and learn about their needs, why they were here and the problems they were facing,” she says.

It didn’t take long before Muñoz knew she wanted to do more for the North’s migrant families.

Photo by Courtney Kent

Today, there isn’t much the 70-year-old advocate doesn’t do. Over the last 36 years, she’s worn more hats than she can count. As a devout Catholic, she’s worked tirelessly with the Diocese of Gaylord, helping to launch Spanish-speaking masses and organizing student mission trips to the U.S.-Mexico border.

She also taught medical interpretation classes at NMC, and, for six years, was the director of language and cultural diversity at Northwest Michigan Health Services. Today, medical interpretation accounts for much of Muñoz’s work: She’s on call 24/7 to either dispatch an interpreter or to attend to matters herself, which means interpreting between doctors and Spanish-speaking patients, often in delicate situations.

And then there’s the Traverse City–based nonprofit she co-founded with Rev. Wayne Dziekan of the Diocese of Gaylord. The Justice and Peace Advocacy Center aims to address a wide array of migrant worker issues, from transportation and interpretation, to connecting with local services and navigating medical, educational and legal systems.

During the pandemic, Muñoz led a local effort to share accurate information and offer vaccinations, all thanks to CDC grant money administered by Strangers No Longer, as well as support from the local health department and the dogged dedication of four Hispanic immigrant women. This three-year initiative included a survey to collect data for the CDC. Muñoz added several questions of her own to learn more about their concerns, including: “Are there other health problems you see in your community?”

Photo by Courtney Kent

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Results in hand, Muñoz found that many migrants were concerned about mental health. “Not many people called it ‘mental health,’” she says. “It was alcoholism, depression, anxiety, adolescent depression, things like that.”

With those concerns in mind, Muñoz recently decided to don another hat: that of founder of a pilot project that will connect migrants to mental health services. Four “promotoras,” or promoters of health, have already begun training, and will connect with families throughout Leelanau, Benzie and Grand Traverse counties. Muñoz hopes to secure grant funding soon and envisions the pilot program running for a year before assessing needs and moving forward.

“It’s really exciting,” she says with a smile. “We’ll be a link to our people.”

Muñoz knows firsthand that there’s still so much work to be done when it comes to connecting the North’s migrant families to the resources they need. But for her, the future is bright.

And if you ask Muñoz how you can get involved with her causes, her advice is simple: share your time and your talents.

“We all have something to share, and we have a responsibility to make this world a better place,” she says. “If you can read English, you can teach English. If you know how to add and subtract, you can teach math. Even if it’s just your presence, to be there with someone, listening to them. You can be the bridge.”

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