About
Rooted was founded to address a critical gap in West Michigan.
While many immigrants can access affordable legal representation through nonprofit providers, psychological evaluations often remain out of reach.
We exist to ensure immigrants and their families have access to culturally-sensitive, trauma-informed evaluations when they need them most.
2x likely to be approved
Research indicates that asylum cases that include a forensic psychological evaluation are nearly twice as likely to be approved as cases without one.
Rooted provides trauma-informed psychological evaluations for immigration cases.
These evaluations are conducted by specially trained mental health professionals and offer objective clinical insight into the effects of trauma, persecution, abuse, trafficking, family separation, and other hardships that may be relevant to a person's case.
Our evaluations support a variety of immigration matters, including asylum, U Visas, T Visas, VAWA petitions, hardship waivers, and cancellation of removal proceedings.
Our Work
Many immigration cases depend on demonstrating how an individual has been affected—or would be affected—by significant hardship. A psychological evaluation helps ensure that important experiences and mental health concerns are fully understood and considered throughout the legal process.
Research indicates that asylum cases that include a forensic psychological evaluation are nearly twice as likely to be approved as those without one. Beyond strengthening cases, these evaluations help humanize applicants, support due process, and ensure that critical parts of a person's story are not overlooked.
Our Impact
Our Team
Emily Mendez, LMSW
Founder & Executive Director
Emily is an experienced bilingual social worker dedicated to reducing the barriers that prevent immigrants and their families from accessing high-quality, culturally responsive mental health services—especially survivors of trauma. Born in Central America and raised in the United States, she brings both professional expertise and personal insight to her work, having navigated the immigration process with her own family. Emily lives in Jenison, Michigan, with her husband and two children.
Emily earned degrees in Psychology and Spanish from Hope College and a Master of Social Work from the University of New England. She has worked with immigrant clients across a variety of social service settings since 2011 and began conducting psychological evaluations for immigration cases in 2021. Trained through the Immigration Evaluation Institute and Physicians for Human Rights, she has completed more than 100 immigration evaluations and testified in immigration court as an expert witness.
Clinical Evaluators:
Mary Hoekje-Gonzalez, LLPC
Maribel Andrade, LMSW
Brenda Cuellar Spedale, Board President
Anna Kalmbacher, Board Secretary
Ebuka Mefor
Jeff DeJong
Freshta Tori Jan
BOARD OF DIRECTORS