From the Hope CommUnity Center
Thank you for your support of Hope CommUnity Center.
Because you care about what is happening to the communities we work with, I thought you might like to know about some of what we have been doing recently.
As you know, these communities, immigrants, People of Color, and LGBTQ+ individuals, are all under attack from unjust laws explicitly targeting them.
Our Mission Statement reads:
Hope CommUnity Center fosters diverse, empowered learning communities engaged in personal and societal transformation. Through service and advocacy, we stand together with immigrants and others who are tenacious and courageous in the face of all systems of oppression.
And advocate we have, from earlier this year when we opened a dialog with OCPS to work together towards solutions for registering immigrant students to our work with Orange County Commissioners to create a Community ID program. The first resulted in once-a-month events in which OCPS staff come to hope to register students. We’ve even added other partners to provide the required vaccines and physicals so students are prepared to start school right away. On the latter, the new anti-immigration law has made this one much harder as cities and counties are prohibited from funding such endeavors. A setback, to be sure, but not insurmountable.
The law does not exclude private funders, so we are exploring avenues for that.
And, with regards to the recent legislation in Florida, we have brought staff and community members to the state capitol in Tallahassee to educate lawmakers about the impact of policies on the lives of everyday people. We have held some of those same lawmakers accountable through rallies, protests, and events at their local offices, and we have garnered quite a bit of press, with members of our staff being regularly quoted locally, state-wide, and even nationally. We are also holding regular information sessions for community members to understand better how the law affects them, and we are creating neighborhood committees (called Hope Communities) to disseminate information more quickly and document harm and abuses to community members.
Most recently, Hope's Executive Director, Felipe Sousa Lazaballet, was invited to a Latino outreach event at the White House, where he had the opportunity to speak with President Joe Biden. Felipe asked the President to visit Florida and meet with immigrants and LGBTQ+ communities. The President agreed that he needs to come. We hope he follows through.
Everything we do to support our community is possible because of your faith and trust in us, and for that, we are eternally grateful.
Most recently, Hope's Executive Director, Felipe Sousa Lazaballet, was invited to a Latino outreach event at the White House, where he had the opportunity to speak with President Joe Biden.
Photo from Hope CommUnity Center
ABOUT HOPE COMMUNITY CENTER:
Hope CommUnity Center fosters diverse, empowered learning communities engaged in personal and societal transformation. Through service and advocacy, we stand together with immigrants and others who are tenacious and courageous in the face of all systems of oppression.
To learn more about other services and programs, please visit our website, www.hcc-offm.org/
