It is designed to be an educational experience first and foremost. It also has a service component that is designed to give the group a direct experience with migrants (thus the name: The Encuentro Project). However, service is NOT the focus of the program, experiential learning is. The service component is also contingent on the Annunciation House shelter system availability. Although we consider the “Encuentro" to be perhaps the most important aspect of the program, it is unpredictable due to the ever-changing numbers of asylum-seeking migrants being allowed into the country and to what is happening with the COVID pandemic. 

Overall, emphasis is placed on experiential learning: seeing for yourself what is happening, learning the facts about the legal issues of immigration, and coming to understand what migrants are experiencing and why. Finally, we expect to provide groups with enough information about the issue to then begin to respond appropriately within their own communities and to make a difference in improving the situation. 

Each group will have a custom-made program that considers age and fitness appropriateness. The program specifics also depend upon the availability of presenters and the current situation given an ever-changing immigration landscape.