Thanks to the support and collaboration of Washington Area Women’s Foundation, the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) has moved quickly ahead in the area of communications capacity over the past year.
CARECEN provides direct housing counseling and legal services, as well as citizenship education and community economic development to 8,000 area Latino residents per year, while also reaching thousands more through outreach efforts.
An Open Door Capacity Fund grant in 2008-2009 provided a key source of support needed to allow CARECEN to focus on communications as a priority. In May 2008, CARECEN met with Lisa Kays, The Women’s Foundation’s Director of Communications, to talk about emerging strategies for enhancing communications in nonprofit organizations, and CARECEN also participated in the highly informative July 2008 workshop on “Communications and New Media” put on by The Women’s Foundation.
Over the past year, Mi-Young Kim, an extraordinarily dedicated volunteer skilled at Web site design, worked closely with Ana Negoescu, Director of the Citizenship Program, to redesign our Web site.
CARECEN also embraced e-communications, and starting in February 2009 launched a monthly e-newsletter for a community of 1,000+ friends and supporters, including more than 100 volunteers who contribute annually to the organization.
With artwork by Salvadoran-American artist Hugo Bonilla, the new Website is designed to reflect the community CARECEN serves, consistent with the organization’s mission and cultural heritage. Still a work in progress, it aims to help people understand the historical roots of CARECEN as a community-based organization dedicated to serving the Latino immigrant community. It also encourages interested constituents to participate in educational activities and advocacy efforts. In addition to providing the opportunity to recognize and honor our community partners, sponsors and supporters, the site focuses on helping members, volunteers, and friends stay updated on CARECEN as well as key issues such as immigration reform.
In the area of fundraising, in addition to the Website, CARECEN is also adopting Web2.0 generation tools such as Facebook and Change.org as a way of engaging new supporters and facilitating awareness of CARECEN, not to mention the ability to recognize and thank donors.
These low-cost communications and outreach strategies, and the ability to assemble lists of supporters with simple tools such as Constant Contact, help in building visibility of the work of community-based organizations like CARECEN.
Still, our challenges continue, particularly in the realm of bilingual communications, given that Spanish is the first language for the majority of our constituents.
Also, we cannot forget that many Latino area residents, particularly adults, lack easy access to the Internet, a fundamental tool in accessing employment and services, and in resolving basic financial issues.
Latina women, a vital force in our community, are active participants in CARECEN programs and activities. Women are frequently leaders in local tenant associations, and are often the first in their families to pursue citizenship.
The support of The Women’s Foundation helps to provide more opportunities for empowering women, strengthening families, and building communities in our region.
Hilary Burger is Director of Development at the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.
