LISC LA Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month by Honoring the Work of Our Financial Opportunity Centers
9.25.2020
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LISC StoriesFinancial Stability
“What we do know at LISC is that the hard work of organizations like MAOF and CCNP will ensure that these families make it through – and that the work they’ve already done is the first in many small, but meaningful, contributions towards the LA Latinx community’s resilience.”
When the federal government released stimulus checks, many of the families Susy Contreras and her team served weren’t eligible.
Contreras, who is the Community Development Director at the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF), said families were being denied financial assistance because of their legal status – if the tax filer or one of their family members in their tax return did not have a valid Social Security Number, they were automatically disqualified from receiving aid.
“Many have expressed that they lost their jobs or had their hours reduced,” Contreras said. “They had to access emergency funds to pay their bills.”
MAOF serves the Latinx community of Los Angeles, providing early education programs, child care, seniors services, legal immigration services, and during COVID-19 is supporting families through food banks and cash assistance. Also doing this work are our colleagues at Central City Neighborhood Partners, or CCNP, who focus on creating systemic socio-economic advancements in underserved and low-income communities.
MAOF helps Pedro Reyes become a U.S. Citizen.
Instead of waiting on federal funding, our partners at CCNP and MAOF launched into action. With the generous donations of our LISC partner, MetLife, they worked to provide emergency cash assistance in the form of an unofficial stimulus check to the families most in need.
Margarita Gomez, the Executive Director of CCNP, said the organization has been using MetLife’s grant to directly pay the bills of families who are behind on rent or other fees – especially those who are unable to access government assistance. Gomez said many families also experience barriers to receiving aid due to lacking technological access or unfamiliarity with the bureaucratic processes involved in applying for relief – something that CCNP and MAOF provide assistance for through their financial and employment coaching programs.
Families attend CCNP’s toy giveaway earlier this year.
This month is National Hispanic Heritage Month, and at LISC LA, we are proud to partner with organizations like MAOF and CCNP who work to support the resilient Latinx communities that make up so much of the fabric of this city. Latinx individuals make up almost 50% of the population in Los Angeles – and their contributions are of critical importance to the culture and economy of the region.
At LISC LA, we recognize the importance of the Latinx community – and we work to celebrate it beyond a single month of the year by investing in organizations like MAOF and CCNP, who are doing the vital work of economic capacity building in these communities. In Los Angeles, 14% of the Latinx population was living below the poverty line as of 2017, and the undocumented population is close to 1 million people. These factors create greater barriers to access, whether it be to healthcare and social programs, or more recently, resources such as emergency cash assistance and COVID-19 testing.
CCNP members provide information about completing the 2020 Census.
As of now, we are in a state of emergency. CCNP’s food bank, which normally serves 100 to 150 people in any given week, has seen anywhere from 400 to 600 people using their services weekly. MAOF leaders are working with more and more families who are struggling to help their children through online school, while job hunting in the most downturned economy in years.
What we do know at LISC is that the hard work of organizations like MAOF and CCNP will ensure that these families make it through – and that the work they’ve already done is the first in many small, but meaningful, contributions towards the LA Latinx community’s resilience.
“We’re not here because we’re making money or because of the publicity,” Gomez said. “It was important that we stay open and we're here for our families.”
The MAOF team showed their pride on El Dia Del Grito during COVID-19.
“Families have been sending me text messages and phone calls, thanking us for giving them this opportunity,” said Elizabeth Cervantes, a financial coach at MAOF.
