Empowering Latina Leadership & Action
Empowering Latina Leadership & Action
ELLA hosted a community forum for Sunnyside residents on November 30th to inform them of the proposed biomethane plant supported and developed by the City of Sunnyside, Port of Sunnyside and Pacific Ag of Oregon. The city, port and Pacific Ag did little to communicate with residents about the project or any environmental impact as a result of the project. No effort was put forth to inform our Spanish-speaking community. This has us and residents very concerned. Residents have a right to understand all of the environmental and economic implications of living next to a biomethane plant. After canvassing the neighborhoods closest to the proposed biomethane plant, we asked residents who are concerned about the project to attend a community forum to address their concerns directly to representatives from the city, port and Pacific Ag. The city chose not to attend or respond to residents. The executive director, Jay Hester, attended but chose to listen only, not respond. Harrison Pettit of Pacific Ag provided an overview of the project. Residents had many questions for Mr.
JASPER KENZO SUNDEEN Yakima Herald-Republic * Oct 15, 202 [caption id="attachment_1724" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Sunnyside candidates for school board and city council and organizers from ELLA attend their weekly meeting to share information and resources on Oct.4, 2023. Photo by Jasper Kenzo Sundeen/Yakima Herald Republic[/caption] "Sunnyside candidates for school board and city council and organizers from ELLA attend their weekly meeting to share information and resources on Oct.4, 2023." Photo by Jasper Kenzo Sundeen/Yakima Herald Republic Almost 70 people gathered in the gym at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on a July evening in Sunnyside. Grandparents, parents and children sat on folding chairs in front of a panel of six candidates for school board and City Council in the second-largest city in Yakima County. It wasn’t the traditional fall election season, but with the primary looming in early August, candidates and get-out-the vote nonprofits had come together to connect with an oft-underrepresented group of Yakima Valley voters: Spanish-speaking residents. “Estamos aqui para escuchar a sus voces,” said Keren Vazquez, a candidate for Sunnyside City Council’s Position
MABTON — A line of cars snaked through Mabton, around corners and under the looming water towers near the city’s center, until it arrived at the Mabton Food Bank on the corner of Fern Street and Main Street. People in dozens and dozens of cars waited patiently Tuesday at a free water distribution event. Drivers shuffled forward, checking in with staff from nonprofit Empower Latina Leadership and Action, or ELLA, which donated the water. “Acá, acá,” a volunteer said in Spanish, pointing a few feet up the sidewalk. Pull up here. Volunteers swarmed around a pallet piled high with cases of water, moving the bottles into back seats, trunks and truck beds. They worked as the evening wore on, until the line of cars became a line of headlights in the gathering dark in the city of around 1,000. ELLA donated almost 700 cases of water. More than 230 families received water on Tuesday. Trouble at the taps Mabton residents have been frustrated by foul-smelling water for years and said this summer has been worse.
Publicado 25 noviembre 202 La violencia doméstica no es nueva en el valle de Yakima, tampoco en la comunidad latina, y esto lo saben organizaciones locales que trabajan en el tema. “Desde que terminó la pandemia hemos tenido un aumento de 30 por ciento en las llamadas de personas que buscan nuestros servicios y piden protección. Cada mes tenemos 17 peticiones de órdenes de restricción emitidas por la corte y sabemos que estos números están subiendo”, mencionó Dani Aguilar, coordinadora de alcance comunitario de la Asociación de Mujeres Jóvenes Cristianas de Yakima (Young Women Christian Association, YWCA). Actualmente, la YWCA en Yakima administra un refugio de emergencia que tiene 14 habitaciones y 44 camas para las víctimas de la violencia doméstica y sus hijos, así como 16 unidades de vivienda de transición que van de una a tres habitaciones. “Nuestros refugios están al límite de su capacidad y mantenemos una lista de espera", mencionó Aguilar. La YWCA además cuenta con asesores legales y consejeros que guían a las víctimas para denunciar su situación ante las
Published March 15, 2023 On a Friday evening in downtown Sunnyside, 20 or so women, most of them mothers and grandmothers and all Hispanic, sat inside a narrow classroom. Notepads, binders and writing utensils rested on their desks. The women were discussing topics that are as taboo as they are a part of their daily life — sexism and machismo. Their heads turned toward the back of the room to Teodora Martinez, who is part of ELLA, a group that organized the class. “How many of you have been in an airplane,” she asked in Spanish, “when you’re sitting there about to take off and they start going through safety guidelines, whose mask do they tell you to put on first, especially when you have kids with you? Maria Magaña, one of the women in attendance, responded: “In our church, they taught us to put the mask on our husbands first. … We were told they’re our second half. We can have more kids, but we are bonded to our husbands, we are taught to
ELLA’s mission is to help increase Latina representation as key decision-makers across all sectors of our community. As it stands now, what we see in most businesses, organizations and institutions is Latinas as front-line service providers. We run storefronts and front offices. Upon entering most establishments, we are the first point of contact for customers or clients. But the higher up the chain of command or hierarchy, the less likely we are to be seen. Why? Because Latinas are rarely represented in management and executive roles. Without Latinas, most workplaces would not function properly. We are covering every minute detail to ensure customers and clients are served well, we guarantee businesses and organizations are managed efficiently, and we make sure that managers and executives have what they need to “lead”. Latinas are in the trenches, laboring from the belly of the beast, but rarely directing from the ivory towers. Most Latinas are quite capable of leading based on work experience alone, but we are also earning college degrees at a faster rate than many other
We don't have to wander too far from home before encountering tremendously talented Chicanas, whom are sharing their gift of voice and art with the rest of us. ELLA had the privilege of attending a Chola Vida poetry night several weeks ago and we were blown away with the level of artistry presented to us. Their honest and open portrayal of them as women, mothers, cholas, Chicanas, artists, and as activists was so moving that we had to connect with them to see how we could work together. Chola Vida, led by our community's own Madeline Alviso Ramirez, is a group of chingona cholas with the goal of educating the community about chola life and chola art. They are working against the grain in what the mainstream art community considers "art", challenging the notion that cholas aren't legitimate artists, poets and writers. In just one encounter with these dynamic, highly innovative, highly creative Chicanas, it's hard to believe that anyone would question their legitimacy, but these ladies do encounter pushback from those gatekeepers that insist
"CHINGONA" By Melanie Vigil-Gutierrez aka Chicana 702 with Chicano Poet Society “Ok so you fell on your face! You’re just going to sit there and bleed? Cry and analyze your steps Is that really what you need? Get up! Stop crying! Dust yourself off Speak no word about How you fell! Why you fell! Just dust yourself off! Don’t be mad there is no one to blame! You may have tripped over your pride Just watch your next steps So you don’t ever repeat the same! No one is going help you up But that’s because God believes you’re strong enough to do it alone. No need to call for help You’re a Chicana Woman full grown! It’s ok that you’re hurt That only means you have a heart But that’s a temporary pain It only feels ripped apart But if you stop crying and take a deep breath You will hear it’s still beating strong and in rhythm deep in your chest! In fact you are ok Ten more steps and that fall will be
Yakima Herald Republic - Guest Editorial Guest Opinion: Ninfa R. Gutierrez The high rate of Covid-19 infections among the Latino population in Yakima County didn't take me by surprise! Knowing well that poor dissemination of news in Spanish still exists, it was just a matter of time before we would see the adverse effects on our community. KDNA 91.9 FM Public Radio is a Spanish language station where I've worked as a volunteer for 40 years. My work consists of producing community programs and sharing information of interest for the advancement of our farmworker community. I have interviewed politicians and representatives of state agencies covering different issues on healthcare, employment, unemployment, education, housing, citizenship, etc. In late January, those of us that are bilingual Spanish/English began hearing about the Coronavirus and how rapidly the virus was spreading. Since then, there has not been a single day that we don't learn something new about COVID-19. However, when compared to the rate of speed the English-speaking communities receive information, monolingual Spanish communities are still lagging in getting this
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