In September 2016, Eastside Pathways embarked on a remarkable journey of community engagement that culminated in a grand celebration on April 29.
The Eastside Pathways Promotores project has been working with eight bilingual Latino community members to identify and address opportunities and needs within the community through grass roots community outreach and engagement.
The idea emerged from the ‘Promotores & Liaison’ community engagement model that was being used in King County by SOAR. Led by Mercedes Cordova-Hakim, an experienced and passionate community organizer, educator, and advocate for marginalized communities and supported by Cathy Habib, Eastside Pathways Lead Facilitator, the Promotores project has successfully engaged and trained eight members of the Latino community to be leaders and expand their opportunities for education, employment, and professional development. The members are Rosaura Pérez Algaba, Isela Vega Arriaga, Ana Gloria Lino, Blanca Alfaro López, Delfina González Medina, Paulo Pérez Medina, Víctor Londoño Quintero, Reina Lagos Rodríguez.
The project benefited the Latino community as well. It helped to build trust and relationships and create alignment between community, service providers, and systems. It also provided an opportunity to identify current levels of knowledge in areas of high interest and need within the community.
On Saturday, April 29, the Promotores and many volunteers celebrated with the members and families at an event at Jubilee REACH. They shared the community input collected in November/December, continued the conversation, and received additional input on the opportunities and needs of the Latino community here in Bellevue and the greater Eastside. They also provided information on resources for the Latino community in the areas of housing, health (mental & physical), legal services, programs for youth, education and social services.
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- Announcing the event
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- The event was hosted at Jubilee REACH
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- Welcoming the community
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- A volunteer from Latino HEAT, a group based out of Youth Eastside Services
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- Sharing the results with the community
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- Promotores leading the community through vetting the community results
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- Door prizes donated by our partners
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- Lunch was served to all the families
The presentation of the final survey results will be made to the community in mid-June 2017. For more information, contact us at info@eastsidepathways.org
Also, read ‘Discovering the voice of the Latino community on the Eastside‘