Centro de Apoyo Comunitario (Center of Community Support)

• Project Focus: Small Grants
• Year of Award: 2022
• Grant Award: $6,000

Organization Background and Information

Centro de Apoyo is locally founded by immigrant Latina women and is all volunteers. Community members are mainly Spanish-speaking undocumented female immigrants who cannot access other social safety net resources and rely on each other and the resources that agencies like Centro do Apoyo can provide. Attempting to use methods that meet their community’s needs and constraints, Centro de Apoyo has used social media to provide information. As this information has grown, the community has found it harder to access the information. Creating a simple website as a repository for their information-dense videos will go far in supporting the community. During the pandemic, Centro de Apoyo added a food distribution service. Centro de Apoyo is a founding member of the Delaware County Immigrant Coalition (DCIC) which seeks to elevate immigrant voices for all communities.

Summary of Grant Request/Proposal

Centro de Apoyo hopes to build a resource base and virtual presence for communities that have challenges reading and writing in Spanish. A website will allow video and other auditory content to have a permanent presence where community members can easily be referred. They will then be able to cross-post on other social media sites. The largely undocumented newly arrived female population is particularly vulnerable to disinformation and arrives with high distrust of formal agencies. The website platform will be a meaningful way to help immigrants access valid information and important services.

Grant monies will be used to create a website to increase awareness of available services and information about the community. Video presentations on areas of need (housing, school registration, rights of immigrants) will be the beginning content for the website providing an always-available resource for their low literacy population.

Link to organization’s website: coming soon

Find them on Facebook: Centro de Apoyo Comunitario, Upper Darby @cen-trodeapoyoUpperDarby