[Click for English, which follows Spanish.]

Esa habilidad llegó a la vida de Elena Macario después de conocer a Luis Ostolaza, Guía de éxito familiar de Comunidad Promesa de la Mission a mediados de 2017. El encuentro se dio en la escuela primaria Bryant, donde estudiaban los hijos de Elena en ese tiempo.

“No sabía mucho de tecnología, como enviar un correo electrónico y en ese momento estaba en proceso de encontrar un apartamento de vivienda económica”, dice Elena, quien es oriunda de Guatemala.

Luis tomó el tiempo para enseñarle a Elena el uso de esa herramienta, consciente de que le sería útil para la obtención de recursos y para la comunicación con la escuela.

“Recuerdo las palabras de Luis ‘soy el guía, pero no todo el tiempo estaré ahí, debe aprender por sus propios medios’”, dice Elena.

Por supuesto el apoyo de Luis no se limitó al uso de la tecnología. La visión de Mission Promise Neighborhood es crear un futuro donde cada niño sobresalga y cada familia triunfe. Luis, como Guía de éxito familiar, le prestaría asistencia a Elena en dos de sus metas: obtener vivienda económica y hacerse ciudadana de Estados Unidos.

“No entendía cómo funcionaba el sistema de vivienda, sólo quería irme a un lugar para tener tranquilidad con mi hijo”, dice Elena. “Luis me ayudó con cada solicitud que hacía”.

Elena tuvo confianza en el proceso de la lotería de vivienda económica y fue persistente. Su esfuerzo tuvo frutos por partida doble ya que consiguió apartamentos para su familia y para sus padres en nuevas construcciones asequibles.

Con vivienda estable, Elena pasó a concentrarse en hacerse ciudadana de Estados Unidos. Tenía temor a la entrevista, por la barrera idiomática, pero Luis estuvo allí para ayudarle con la preparación.

La madre ahora es ciudadana y cuenta con vivienda estable. Su hijo Darwin está en noveno grado de secundaria y Jhonatan, el más pequeño, va a la escuela intermedia. Elena sigue el desempeño de sus hijos gracias a la comunicación por correo electrónico que mantiene con maestros.

“Como testigo del camino de la familia Macario, los veo como el mejor ejemplo de resiliencia”, dice Luis, quien ha estado en MPN durante seis años. “El amor por su familia y comunidad ha podido transformar a Elena y alentarla a superarse a sí misma a pesar de cualquier barrera que se le haya puesto en el camino”.

Ahora Elena usa su historia y su voz para inspirar a otras familias.

“Animo a los padres a que no tiren la toalla porque muchas cosas se pueden lograr con persistencia”, dice Elena. “Vivo con mucha tranquilidad con mis hijos, tenemos un gran espacio. Hay que seguir luchando por el sueño, hay gente que cree que es mentira, pero se puede lograr, es como buscar un trabajo, es algo que toma tiempo”.

Immigrant mother finds stability for her family with support from Mission Promise Neighborhood

Typing emailings throughout the day may be a normal task for most people working in corporate America, but when you’ve never crafted an official email before, and you don’t know what programs to start – it’s not a normal task, but a daunting one. 

Having safe internet access and learning to use email for the first time were essential for one immigrant mother who was desperately seeking and working towards stability for her and her family in San Francisco.

That new skill and ability, one many may take for granted, came into Elena Macario’s life after she met Luis Ostolaza, a Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN) Family Success Coach, in the summer 2017. The two met at Bryant Elementary School where Elena’s children were studying at the time. 

“I didn’t know much about technology, like sending an email, and at the time I was in the process of finding an affordable housing apartment,” said Elena, who is originally from Guatemala.

MPN is a community and anti-poverty education initiative under the umbrella of Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), a community backbone organization. 

Luis took the time to teach Elena how to use this tool, aware it would be useful for obtaining resources and communicating with her children’s school.

“I remember Luis’ words ‘I’m the guide, but I won’t be there all the time, you have to learn by your own means,’” said Elena.

The support was not limited to teaching Elena how to format an email nor the use of technology. MPN’s vision is to create a future where every child excels and every family succeeds. Luis, as a Family Success Coach, would later assist Elena with two goals: obtaining affordable housing and becoming a United States citizen – two monumental steps in her and her family’s lives.

“I didn’t understand how the housing system worked, I just wanted to go somewhere to have peace of mind with my children,” Elena said. “Luis helped me with every application.”

Elena was confident in the affordable housing lottery process and was persistent. Her efforts paid off, undoubtedly, as she secured apartments for her family and her parents in affordable newly-constructed buildings in the Mission District.

With stable housing, Elena went on to focus on becoming a United States citizen. Due to the language barrier, she was afraid of the interview but Luis was there to help her with preparation.

She is now a citizen and has stable housing. Her son Darwin is in ninth grade and Johnatan, the youngest, is in middle school. Elena can now track how her children are doing in school thanks to email communication between teachers and officials – something she wasn’t able to do before.

“Being an eyewitness of the journey of the Macario family, I could describe it as the best example of resilience,” said Luis, who has been with MPN for six years. “How the love for her family and community has been able to transform and encourage her to overcome herself despite any barrier that may have been put in her way.”

After this experience, Elena uses her story and voice to inspire other families. 

“I encourage parents not to give up because many things can be accomplished with persistence,” says Elena. “I live very calmly with my children, we have a great space. You have to keep fighting for your dream, there are people who believe it’s a lie, but it can be achieved, it’s like looking for a job, it takes time”.

Read More

[Click for English, which follows Spanish.]

A la Comunidad Promesa de la Mission la conocí por medio de mi sobrino que estaba en un programa de Seven Tepees Youth Program, uno de los socios fundadores de la Comunidad Promesa. Era el año 2014, hubo una feria de recursos en la que personal de MEDA estaba entregando información sobre compra de vivienda y el concilio de familias. Me interesó porque en ese tiempo quería información sobre cómo comprar una casa. Hice una cita con ellos y ahí empezó todo. 

La primera persona con la trabaje en Comunidad Promesa fue con Ada Alvarado Freund, que hoy es la gerente del programa de Aprendizaje infantil. Tenía mis dos hijos pequeños y estaba buscando un programa preescolar de alta calidad. Le pedí que me ayudara a encontrar una escuelita. La verdad no conocía mucho sobre Comunidad Promesa o sobre los recursos que hay disponibles para las familias antes de esos primeros contactos con Ada y el resto de personas que trabajan en MEDA. Mi mamá trabajaba mucho cuando recién llegamos a Estados Unidos, descansaba unas cuatro horas, y no le quedaba mucho tiempo para involucrarse con la comunidad. Luego se sorprendía cuando yo le mencionaba sobre los recursos que había. Algunas vez tuvimos el apoyo de Good Samaritan, pero desconocíamos que era una organización parte de Comunidad Promesa. Es un alivio saber que alguien te puede ayudar sin tener miedo que te juzgue por necesitar un poco de apoyo para salir adelante y dar lo mejor a tu familia. 

Mi segunda gran conexión con MEDA fue a través del programa de Mission Techies. En ese tiempo trabajaba limpiando casa, que es un trabajo digno, pero también tenía otras metas. Era consciente de mis privilegios por ser bilingüe, tener un estatus migratorio regularizado, y saber operar una computadora. Debía tomar el programa porque iba a cumplir 25 años y en ese entonces sólo se aceptaban a personas entre 16 y 24 años. Mi madre y mi esposo me apoyaron bastante. Ellos iban por los niños a la escuela. Trabajaba limpiando casas de ocho a doce y media, para luego venir a Techies de una a cinco de la tarde. Fueron semanas largas, de mucho esfuerzo. 

Recibí asistencia de MEDA en la búsqueda de empleo y la primera oportunidad que apareció fue como contratista Comunidad Promesa para el programa Making Connections del Distrito Escolar de San Francisco. Aquí se enseñaba a padres o tutores de estudiantes a usar una computadora Chromebook. En un momento tuve la oportunidad de ayudar a cambiar el currículo para que fuera culturalmente relevante para nuestras familias. También me enfoqué en que tuvieran acceso a internet de bajo costo. Más adelante los conecté con el servicio de preparación gratis  de impuestos de MEDA y así empecé a trabajar con las familias. Un año después me contrataron de tiempo completo, dividía mis labores entre Making Connections y Guía de éxito familiar. Estuve asignada a Bryant Elementary,  luego a John O’Connell y después a Felton Institute. De ahí pasé a ser Especialista en participación de padres y jóvenes con la organización.

Ahora estoy en Promise City* con la meta de siempre: apoyar a las familias para que tengan una voz y un espacio donde digan lo que les está sirviendo y lo que no, lo que les está ayudando y lo que no. Siento que puedo llevar su voz a espacios en los que regularmente no son invitados.

He pasado junto a la Comunidad Promesa ocho de sus diez años. Le he dicho a mis supervisores que más allá de que hoy tenga ingresos y vivienda estable (sí, compre una casa), la Comunidad Promesa me ha ayudado a crecer en lo profesional, emocional y personal. Gracias a todos los  entrenamientos que me han dado he aprendido a conectar con las familias, entre ellas la mía.  Tengo un hijo transgénero que no quiero que crezca en la sombras por ser transgenero, quiero que vea la misma luz de los demás, que no sea tratado diferente. He aprendido a entender a mi hijo y no juzgarlo. Dejo que él me guíe en su vida y que él decida cómo quiere vivir su vida en el futuro.

Soy una madre que se involucra en el Comité asesor de padres ( English Learner Advisory Committee) de las escuelas. Con mi hija me he involucrado desde el principio. He hablado en foros públicos sobre la importancia de la interpretación. Por mi hijo fundé un pride club, en donde los niños aprenden sobre la comunidad LGTBQ. Quiero que mis hijos sepan que estoy allí por ellos, para ellos y con ellos.

La Comunidad Promesa ha sido más que un trabajo para mí.

Ahora visualizó a la Comunidad Promesa abriendo  el camino para otras comunidades en la ciudad. Las necesidades de los latinos no son tan diferentes a las necesidades de nuestros vecinos asiáticos o afroamericanos. Las familias merecen tener vivienda estable y segura para ellos y sus hijos. Me gusta el abordaje de la Comunidad Promesa porque se enfoca en el bienestar de todos, no solo una persona, por eso es importante el rol de cada socio de la Comunidad Promesa. Sabemos que se requiere de todo un pueblo para criar a un niño. 

*Promise City es una iniciativa para compartir el modelo Promise Neighborhood en todo San Francisco en consonancia con el Plan de Recuperación de la Alcaldía

Ana Avilez: My Journey Through Mission Promise Neighborhood

I first learned about Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN) through my nephew who was in a program with Seven Tepees Youth, one of the founding partners of MPN. It was the year 2014, and there was a community fair where MEDA staff were handing out information on home buying and the family council. It interested me, because at that time, I wanted information on how to buy a house. I made an appointment with them, and that’s where it all started.

The first person I worked with at Comunidad Promesa was Ada Alvarado Freund, who is now the manager of the Early Childhood Learning program. I was looking for a high-quality preschool for my two young children. I asked Ada to help me find an escuelita. I didn’t know much about MPN or about the resources that are available to families – before those first contacts with Ada and other MEDA staff. My mom worked a lot when we first arrived in the United States, she was resting for about four hours daily, and she didn’t have much time left to get involved in the community. Later she was surprised when I mentioned to her about the resources that were available. I believe we had some support by Good Samaritan, but we were unaware that it was an organization that was part of MPN. It is a relief to know that someone can help you without being afraid that they will judge you for needing a little support to get ahead and give the best to your family.

My second big connection with MEDA was through the Mission Techies program. At that time I was working cleaning houses, which is a decent job, but I also had other goals. I was aware of my privileges for being bilingual, having regular immigration status, and knowing how to operate a computer. I had to take the program because I was going to turn 25, and at that time only people between the ages of 16 and 24 were accepted. My mother and my husband were very supportive of me. They went to pick up the children from school. I worked cleaning houses from eight to twelve thirty, and then came to Techies from one to five in the afternoon. Those were long weeks, a lot of effort.

I received job search assistance from MEDA and the first opportunity that came up was as a contractor for MPN for the Making Connections program that was funded by the San Francisco Unified School District. Here parents or guardians were taught how to use a Chromebook computer. At some point,  I had the opportunity to change the curriculum to make it culturally relevant to our families. I also focused on helping families obtain low-cost internet access. Later I connected them with MEDA’s free tax preparation service, and in a blink of an eye I was connecting families with resources. A year later I was hired full time by MEDA-MPN as a Family Success Coach, dividing my duties between Making Connections and as Family Success Coach. I was assigned to Bryant Elementary, then to John O’Connell High School, and later to Felton Institute. Later I became MPN’s Parent and Youth Engagement Specialist and was based at Plaza Adelante.

Now I work for Promise City* with the same goal: supporting families so that they have a voice and a space where they say what is working for them and what is not, what is helping them and what is not. I feel like I can bring their voices to spaces where they are not regularly invited.

I have been with MPN for eight of their ten years. First as a client and later as a team member.  I have told my supervisors that beyond the fact that today I have a steady income and stable housing (yes, I bought a house), MPN has helped me grow professionally, emotionally, and personally. Thanks to all the training they have given me, I have learned to connect with families, including mine. I have a transgender son, and I don’t want him to grow up in the shadows because he is transgender. I want him to see the same light as others, not to be treated differently. I have learned to understand my son and not judge him. I let him guide me through his life and let him decide how he wants to live his life in the future. 

I’m a parent who gets involved in the schools’ English Learner Advisory Committee. With my daughter I have been involved from the beginning. I have spoken in public forums about the importance of interpretation. I also started a pride club at my son’s school, where children can learn about the LGTBQ community. I want my children to know that I am there for them and with them.

 MPN has been more than a job for me. 

Now I envision MPN leading the way for other communities in the city. The needs of Latinos are not that different from the needs of our Asian or African American neighbors. Families deserve stable and safe housing for themselves and their children. I like the MPN approach because it focuses on the well-being of everyone, not just one person, which is why the role of each partner organization is so instrumental. We know it takes a village to raise a child. 

*Promise City is a citywide initiative to share the Promise Neighborhood model across San Francisco in alignment with the Mayor’s Recovery Plan.

Read More

Ana Avilez-Blog

Housecleaner Ana Avilez initially learned of MEDA’s Mission Techies program while watching Univision with her family one evening. Then Ana was introduced to MPN at a 7 Tepees resource fair, so she decided to make an schedule time to come to MEDA’s Plaza Adelante. As Ana headed upstairs to her appointment, she saw a Mission Techies flier by the door of the Digital Opportunity Center. Her attention was piqued.

Ana headed into the tech center and was greeted by Technology Training Coordinator Leo Sosa, who explained the free program and asked Ana if she could commit to the time required. After discussing this opportunity with her mother, husband and employers, Ana diligently stuck to the three-month commitment and graduated from the Mission Techies program. “The interesting thing is that ‘Ana’ means perseverance,” states Sosa.

Ana-InsideAs a Mission Techie, Ana (pictured) took the first step into the MPN community. She was referred to Early Learning Family Success Coach Ada Alvarado, who helped Ana enroll one of her daughters in a bilingual preschool in Potrero Hill. Ada noticed that Ana was always prepared and on time to every meeting with Children’s Council and Potrero Kids. As MEDA staff worked with Ana, they recognized the community member’s leadership abilities, eventually referring her to the Mission Promise Neighborhood Community Advisory Council. Ana and other parents now advise the community about Mission Promise Neighborhood’s work and share opportunities to support their children. “I’m fortunate to have been introduced to and work with such a driven person, now on the path to achieve her dreams of academic and economic success for herself and children,” says Alvarado.

When MPN was asked to partner with SFUSD to lead Making Connections—a digital literacy course for parents that teaches how to use myON, an online reading platform for students — Mission Promise Neighborhood Director Raquel Donoso turned to Sosa for a promising, bilingual instructor. With her experience as a mother of two young learners, complemented by her technology background, Ana was chosen for the opportunity. She is now working with MPN Education Manager Laura Andersen to build these courses for parents, closing the digital divide and providing access to supplementary tools at home so that all students can continue building their literary skills. “Ana’s example of accessing the supports she needed, which turned into new personal and career opportunities, has been inspiring. Ana seeks to replicate the strong community she has found, at MEDA and her pre-school, with all of the parents in Making Connections,” explains Andersen.

Welcome to the MPN team, Ana! Keep an eye out for Ana in the community.

Watch a video of Ana’s inspiring story.

Read More

1644-08192015_FTP-Lauri Chin and Maged Nabawy_Blog_640x295px

After just five years, MEDA, the lead agency of the Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN), now runs the largest free tax preparation program in San Francisco. While things are super busy during the first part of the year, with everyone trying to meet the April 15th filing deadline, there are still plenty of clients coming through the doors of Plaza Adelante, the Mission neighborhood center, throughout the rest of the year. 

The client need
The numbers, based on neighborhood surveys, tell the story: the majority of MPN families are defined as low- to moderate-income.

MEDA Tax Program Manager Max Moy-Borgen explains, “We have often seen that the paid tax preparers that our families seek out are focused on higher-earning individuals. This means preparers may not have known about certain credits or may have not correctly filed the taxes. Knowing the IRS laws, specifically as they meet the needs for our families, from tax credits to allowable deductions, is what allows our team to maximize refunds for our community. Some clients get 25 percent of their yearly income back as a refund. This money is vital for these families.”

Most refunds come from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable tax credit for low- to moderate-income working individuals and couples. The amount of EITC benefit depends on a recipient’s income and number of children. The MEDA tax team is well versed in the EITC, plus all of the tax credits available to the low-income community. 

One perk of taxes being done at MEDA is that every tax return is checked by two preparers, as mandated by the VITA program.

“It is always good to have a second set of eyes to look at the numbers. This doesn’t happen at some tax services. We correct a number of returns that were incorrectly prepared elsewhere,” states Moy-Borgen. 

MPN’s multi-generation approach to services
MEDA Bilingual Bank Teller program graduate Angelica Colon-Chin, now starting a successful career as an employee of Wells Fargo at its downtown San Francisco branch, needed to do her taxes last winter. That’s when the organization’s Technology Training Manager Leo Sosa advised Angelica to head over to the “Taxes Plus: Go Further With MEDA!” room at Plaza Adelante, where her taxes could be prepared at no cost.

The young adult then told her aunt to do the same. So, Laurie Chin and Maged Nabawy headed over from their nearby Mission District residence to Plaza Adelante. While calculating their current year’s taxes, the astute preparer realized that the prior two years’ returns should be amended: it turns out that the prior tax preparer did not take into account the IRS’s “Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident” rule. This rule states that if, at the end of your tax year, you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien (even if you were not for the whole year) and married to a nonresident alien, you can choose to treat your nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident for U.S. Federal Individual Income Tax purposes.

This is an especially smart move if the overseas spouse did not have much income. Such was the case with Maged, who had been working in his native Egypt since 2011. When Maged’s income was added to Laurie’s earnings, they then got two times the standard deduction and personal exemptions on federal and state returns. The result? A $2,585 refund!

In this couple’s case, MEDA also worked with the nonprofit Bay Area Communication Access, as Laurie and Maged are both deaf and needed an interpreter for their tax sessions.

Laurie speaks of her experience at MEDA as follows: “Everyone was so nice. They set up an interpreter service for us, which was great. I was surprised at how easy the tax preparation was and it was amazing that it was free.”

It’s interesting to note that Laurie’s mother, Florence, later came to one of MEDA’s monthly Housing Opportunities sessions, this one a free workshop for first-time homebuyers.

This story showcases the service-integration model at MEDA’s SparkPoint center and with the partners of MPN, who often come together to provide multiple services to one family. It also exemplifies how a community of support can better lives, as it did for this family from the Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN) footprint. MPN works on a two-generation approach, helping families succeed so students achieve.

In the case of this family, that became a three-generation approach.

 

 

Read More

Alfaro-BlogSingle mother Ana Alfaro made the difficult decision to leave her native Guatemala with her son, Jose, with the hope of a better life for her small family. The transition proved traumatic for Jose; this was coupled with a speech impediment that led to the monolingual Spanish-speaking adolescent having a hard time fitting in with fellow students at the eighth-grader’s new place of learning, San Francisco’s Everett Middle School.

These issues led to a referral from the Special Education Department to Mission Promise Neighborhood’s Roberto Aparicio, one of a quartet of highly trained family success coaches, whose job it is to help families succeed so that students can achieve.

“My role is to connect families to needed services in the community, at MEDA’s Plaza Adelante and 26 partners in the Mission,” explains Aparicio.

That is exactly what Aparico did for the Alfaro family, leading to important referrals to services.

“Being able to speak their language and to relate culturally helped Ana and Jose relate to me,” continues Aparicio.

Jose was connected to an after-school program for accelerated academic support.

Ana accessed MPN partner Support for Families of Children with Disabilities, where she learned to advocate for Jose at Independent Education Plan (IEP) meetings, plus she was connected with a caseworker. Aparicio also counseled Ana to go to Taxes Plus: Go Further with MEDA, where free tax preparation was available. This was Ana’s initial foray into doing taxes—and a big step forward on the path to financial health.

The good news: Jose is now fitting in more during his second year of schooling in the U.S. Aparicio continues to work with the young man, with the ultimate goal of ensuring the latter eventually graduates from a four-year college. That would be a dream come true for Ana, who sacrificed so much so that Jose could have a better life.

Ana remains an ardent advocate for her son’s education. She is now transferring her experience into disseminating information in the Mission as a promotora for MPN, under the guidance of Community Engagement Manager Teresa Morales.

Sums up Morales: “Ana was instrumental in reaching families for MPN’s neighborhood survey last spring. She also participated at last August’s “Backpack Giveaway,” where over 2,000 Mission families received items to start the school year off right. Ana is succeeding, and now she is definitely paying it forward!”

 

 

Read More

MONTHLY ARCHIVE

Contact

Email
info@missionpromise.org
 
Phone
(415) 569-2699
 
Address
2301 Mission Street, Suite 304
San Francisco, CA 94110

Newsletter
Get the latest news and information on
what’s happening in your neighborhood.

SIGN UP