Our Story
Sigue Jugando started with a simple belief: kids deserve joy, not just support.
Many young people, especially youth from migrant farmworker families, are constantly moving, adjusting, starting over. The support that does exist often shows up only in moments of crisis, leaving little room for the everyday things that make a kid feel grounded, seen, and hopeful about what's next.
We do things differently. While a lot of organizations focus on meeting needs or solving problems, we believe young people deserve spaces where joy, celebration, and play are just part of everyday life, not a reward, not an afterthought.
At Sigue Jugando, play isn't extra. It's sacred. It's how kids build connection, confidence, and belonging. It's how we celebrate the milestones that matter, the laughter, the creativity, the wins that deserve to be seen. Joy isn't separate from the work here. Joy is the work.
Our mission is simple: bring the joy of play and the love of God to immigrant and migrant youth. Everything we do is guided by three things, authentic relationships, respect and dignity, and compassion.
When you spend time with us, whether you're familia, a volunteer, or a partner, we want you to feel it right away: warmth, welcome, and a sense that this is a place built on connection, not charity. Because our kids aren't problems to solve. They're stories still being written, full of strength, creativity, and possibility.
Sigue jugando. Keep playing. That's the whole point.
The vision began in 2023, grew into a grassroots initiative in 2024, and became an official nonprofit in 2026, but for Gloria, this story starts long before any of that.
It starts in the blueberry fields, where she grew up running around with her family, eating fruit straight off the bush while her parents worked. It carries through to her quinceañera, a small celebration held together by madrinas and padrinos, church community and coworkers who showed up when her family couldn't afford much else. Community showing up for each other, that's the lesson she carries into everything she leads today.
That same spirit shaped her years as a foster parent for unaccompanied children, kids who arrived at the border without a parent or guardian. One Christmas, she dressed up as Santa and delivered gifts alongside a volunteer to kids whose parents had been detained or deported, one of the moments that stays with her most. Alongside her Christian faith and her grandmother Nora's example of quiet strength, these experiences are a big part of why this work matters to her.
These days, Gloria works full-time connecting immigrant families with resources and support, mucho corazón in everything she does. She holds a Master’s in Ministerial Leadership and has spent years coaching and mentoring youth. “Coach” is a title she wears proudly.
Outside of Sigue Jugando, she's training for her first half marathon, chasing good tacos, and cheering on the Huskies.
Gloria solis, founder
Amerika has been part of this from the beginning, not just since the idea took shape in 2023, but long before, as someone Gloria could confide in and bounce ideas off of while this vision was still forming.
As the daughter of an immigrant, Amerika grew up translating documents she didn't fully understand for her grandparents and babysitting her siblings young while her parents worked. Play and joy were often second thoughts, which is part of why she wants every child to have a space where, even just for a moment, they can forget everything else and feel like a kid again.
That desire traces back to her own childhood too. She remembers waiting with her siblings in a blueberry field parking lot for hours while her family worked overtime, getting into trouble because they couldn't sit still, somehow one of the most fun memories she has. It's there again in the pride she felt the first time she was old enough to play lotería at the adult table, finally part of the familia in a new way.
Day to day, Amerika supports Gloria in bringing Sigue Jugando's vision to life, whether that's admin work or being a sounding board for new ideas. She doesn't call herself the creative one, but she loves helping make things tangible. One of her favorite moments was interviewing two students from a recent photoshoot, hearing their passions up close, and being reminded how something as simple as a photoshoot can open the door to real connection.
Outside of Sigue Jugando, Amerika works in claims and insurance and is finishing her bachelor's in psychology at UCF. She has a background in youth ministry, and loves building authentic relationships, con mucho amor, wherever she goes. When she's not working, you'll find her at the beach, reading, or playing board games with people she loves.
ameriKa miles, co-founder
Nothing we do happens alone. These are the partners and funders who make it possible for kids to keep playing.