Latino/a community

Farmworker Families Deserve Dignity: Student Action with Farmworkers

info@paulimurraycenter.org — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 18:57:42 +0000

Farmworker Families Deserve Dignity: Student Action with Farmworkers info@paulimurr… Mon, 03/29/2021 - 14:57

Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) is a Durham-based non-profit organization committed to fostering collaboration and understanding between students and farmworkers in order to promote justice in agricultural systems and equitable, safe, and dignified working conditions for farmworkers.

SAF’s beginnings can be traced to child psychiatrist Dr. Robert Coles and Duke Public Policy professor Bruce Payne, who led 12 Duke students in a project to investigate conditions in migrant camps during the summer of 1976. These students successfully lobbied for the creation of NC Farmworker Legal Services, and the group began to grow, creating spaces for student interns to work with agencies serving farm workers during the summers of the early 1980s. In 1992, SAF was officially established as a non-profit, and in the following years, SAF started to incorporate the needs of students from farmworker families into its focus by establishing scholarships and recruiting student participants through College Assistance Migrant Programs across the country.

But SAF was just getting started; in the years since its official establishment in 1992, SAF has been awarded the first Peace Prize from the North Carolina Peace Corps Association, published campus guides for how to involve students in farmworker advocacy, started “National Farmworker Awareness Week,” collaborated with justice organizations and legislators, and created documentaries and artistic publications. To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic SAF has given away more than $121,000 in mutual aid to participants and alumni.

SAF’s wide-ranging programs in education, mentoring, activism, leadership, legal advocacy, and community collaboration have created a far reaching impact in and beyond Durham. But at the heart of all of SAF’s diverse programs is one vision: to create a world in which communities speak up for farmworkers, in which migrant children can attain their goals, and in which all farmworkers can live and work with dignity, agency, and respect.

Learn more at www.saf-unite.org

Location Coordinates

POINT (-78.918091534697 36.004113562574)

Tags:

Latino/a community

farmworkers

Community Organizing

College students

Immigrant Rights

Bridges House Center for Documentary Studies, 1317 W Pettigrew Street, Durham, NC 27705

Sara Heilman

El Centro Hispano: Empowering A Growing Latinx Community

info@paulimurraycenter.org — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 18:52:15 +0000

El Centro Hispano: Empowering A Growing Latinx Community info@paulimurr… Mon, 03/29/2021 - 14:52

El Centro Hispano (ECH) was founded in 1992 to advocate for and address the needs of Durham’s growing Latinx and Hispanic community. By 1997, ECH became an independent nonprofit, and in 2000, it was a partner in the opening of the first Latino Community Credit Union (LCCU) in the state. ECH has grown over the past 30 years from serving 200 people to serving thousands. It is now the largest grassroots Latinx organization in the state, with branches in Durham, Carrboro, and Raleigh, North Carolina.

El Centro Hispano has four focus areas. The first is education, which includes literacy and ESL classes for Spanish-speaking adults who want to complete elementary or secondary schooling. The second is economic development, best represented by ECH’s partnership with the LCCU, which has become known as one of the most influential and reliable financial resources for Durham’s Latinx community by empowering individuals and equipping them with the knowledge to make their own financial decisions. The third focus area is health and well-being, which includes ECH’s annual health fair, which provides health screenings and educational sessions, including support groups for Latinx members of the LGBTQ community across North Carolina. And the fourth area is community engagement and advocacy, which ECH encourages through leadership development programs in order to empower Latinx adults and teens to be change-makers in the larger community.

When asked about the impact that El Centro Hispano has had on her life, Jovita Leyva Espinoza said, “I feel secure, with better self-esteem. I know that I can pursue difficult goals and reach them. I am raising three children as a single mom, and showing them that despite our age or our life circumstances we can reach our goals. I feel like a new person, I see my future differently, and I know that it is never too late to learn.”

Sources:

https://elcentronc.org/about-us/

https://sites.duke.edu/latinosindurham/2015/01/05/el-centro-hispano/

https://blog.bcbsnc.com/2017/05/el-centro-hispano-invigorated-durham-25-years/

Location Coordinates

POINT (-78.927822638454 35.989192430309)

Tags:

2000 Chapel Hill Road, Suite 26A, Durham, NC 27707

Sara Heilman

Living for a Brighter Tomorrow: Latinx Families Overcome Mental Health Struggles

info@paulimurraycenter.org — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 18:47:01 +0000

Living for a Brighter Tomorrow: Latinx Families Overcome Mental Health Struggles info@paulimurr… Mon, 03/29/2021 - 14:47

“Venir acá es como estar en el desierto y llegar a tomar agua. Al venir acá, me siento renovada.”

Coming here is like being in the desert and finding water to drink. When I come here, I feel renewed. — El Futuro Patient

El Futuro was founded as a volunteer effort in 2001 to meet the otherwise unmet or ignored need for bilingual mental health services for North Carolina’s growing Latinx and immigrant communities. El Futuro has grown to become one of the state’s most trusted resources for culturally inclusive and responsive mental health services despite drastic cuts in funding for community-based mental health care since 2004. El Futuro offers clinic based services, such as mental health evaluations, family treatment, and substance abuse treatment, as well as evidence-based practices, such as cognitive behavioral therapy and trauma-sensitive yoga.

While El Futuro serves people of all ages, the organization prides itself on the care it takes to provide support to young Latinx people and students who may otherwise be socially isolated. One word is at the center of El Futuro’s efforts: familia. The most meaningful achievements of the organization are when families grow together, not allowing mental health battles to prevent them from achieving their dreams for the future. In fact, El Futuro’s primary source of referrals is from the friends and families of clients, reflecting the trust that the Latinx Durham community has invested in the organization.

Learn more at https://elfuturo-nc.org/

Location Coordinates

POINT (-78.927813489781 35.988723849326)

Tags:

Latino/a community

Healthcare

2020 Chapel Hill Rd. Suite 23, Durham, NC 27707

Sara Heilman

La Cooperativa Latina Credit Union - Financial Empowerment for Immigrants

balau — Thu, 05 May 2016 20:47:01 +0000

La Cooperativa Latina Credit Union - Financial Empowerment for Immigrants balau Thu, 05/05/2016 - 16:47

(text in English below)

Usando un banco por primera vez y tratando de comprender las finanzas en una economía compleja pueden ser un reto para cualquiera persona. Sin embargo, para los últimos inmigrantes Latinos que no pueden hablar inglés, a menudo es insuperable. En la década de mil novecientos noventa, Latinos comenzaron a emigrar a la zona de Durham en grandes cantidades. En el año 2000, 8.6% de la población era Latino. Muchos Latinos nunca en su vida habían usado un banco, porque venían de una economía basada en el dinero en efectivo y no podían confiar en los bancos. Después del día de pago, en Durham, muchos de los inmigrantes Latinos cobraban sus cheques y mantenían el dinero en sus bolsillos en lugar de ponerlos en un banco.

Como resulto, los delincuentes comenzaron a robar a los inmigrantes Latinos en un brote de robos. Muchos inmigrantes, por temor a los funcionarios de la policía e inmigración, no los informaron de los crímenes. En 1996, para responder a estos crímenes, un movimiento de nivel local fue creado por los líderes Latinos de Durham. Se reunieron en El Centro Hispano para encontrar una solución al problema.

La comunidad inmigrante no podría esperar y mirar más cuando sus vecinos fueron elegidos como víctimas en asesinatos, violaciones, y robos violentos. Crearon la Cooperativa Latina Credit Union (una Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito) en el año 2000 para ofrecer servicios financieros para los inmigrantes Latinos, y ofrece servicios financieros bilingües, mejores opciones de crédito y educación financiera para sus miembros.

La idea de una Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito es que todas las personas tienen el derecho fundamental a tener acceso a créditos y servicios financieros asequibles. La cooperativa intenta concentrarse en individuos que no tienen otras alternativas financieras viables, y su misión es ayudar a los miembros a ayudarse a sí mismos. Más del 75% de sus miembros nunca han tenido una cuenta bancaria antes.

Dentro de cinco años de su creación, la cooperativa creció para servir más de 40,000 miembros en cinco diferentes ramas en Carolina del Norte. Se ha convertido en un modelo nacional y ahora es la Cooperativa de crédito que está creciendo más rápido del país, ofreciendo educación financiera y libertad a muchas poblaciones que no han recibidos servicios financieras en el pasado.

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The English version of the audio for this point is located here.

Using a bank for the first time and trying to be financially literate in a complex economy can be a challenge for anyone. For recent Latino immigrants who might not speak English, however, it is often insurmountable. In the 1990s, Latinos began immigrating to the Durham area in large numbers. By 2000, 8.6% of the population was Hispanic. Many Latinos had never in their lives used a bank, because they came from a cash-based economy where banks could not be trusted.

After payday, many of them would cash their checks and keep the money in their pockets instead of putting them into savings. As a result, criminals began to target Latino immigrants as victims in an outbreak of robberies. Many immigrants, fearing the police and immigration officials, did not report the crimes. In 1996, in response to these crimes, a grassroots movement led by Latino leaders from Durham met at El Centro Hispano to find a solution.

The immigrant community would not stand by any longer and watch as their neighbors were targeted in violent robberies, rapes, and murders. They created the Latino Community Credit Union, or the LCCU, in 2000 to offer financial services for Latino immigrants, as well as immigrants from other areas.

The LCCU is owned by members, and it offers bilingual financial services, better credit options, and financial education to its members. The idea behind a credit union is that all people have the fundamental right to access loans and affordable financial services. The LCCU tries to focus on individuals who have no other viable financial alternatives, and their mission is to help members help themselves.

More than 75 percent of their members have never had a bank account before. Within five years of its creation, the LCCU grew to serve more than 40,000 owner-members at five different branches in North Carolina. It has become a national model and is the fastest growing credit union in the country, offering financial education and freedom to many underserved populations.

Date

Mon, 06/26/2000 - 12:00

Location Coordinates

POINT (-78.898674 39.9981)

Tags:

Latino/a community

Economic Justice

Immigrant Rights

100 West Morgan Street

Liz Hanah