LATINA MAMI ANNOUNCES NEW LOCATION IN AUSTIN TO SUPPORT LATINA MOTHERS
AUSTIN, TX, AUGUST 10, 2017 – Latina Mami, a celebrated grassroots organization created for and by Latina mothers, announces a new office in South Austin to better support Latina mothers and children in Austin. At its new location, Latina Mami will have a weekly drop-in clinic at its new location and will be offering platicas, or chats, as well as ongoing support groups for Latina mothers. The group is also hosting an informational breakfast meeting and an opportunity for local mamis to meet its lead organizers on Saturday morning, August 12th from 9am to 11 am.
Latina Mami’s new location is made possible through a partnership with The Harmony Project, a nonprofit devoted to the needs of persons with developmental disabilities.
“As a longtime disability advocate, I’m very excited that Latina Mami Austin is able to incorporate the needs of people with disabilities into some of our projects,” states Gloria Perez-Stewart, Latina Mami executive director. “Latina Mami’s calendar already incorporates racial justice topics as they pertain to students with disabilities, as the two are intertwined and not many groups address the needs of both. Working at our new location–across from Crockett High School, and directly beside two groups focused on people with disabilities–is an excellent opportunity for us in Austin,” says Perez-Stewart.
Latina Mami offers a unique combination of culturally relevant services of capacity-building tools for Latina mothers of children around advocacy and organizing. In addition to education and disability advocacy, platica topics range from mental health, anti-violence, and organizing, and also self-care for mamis as well as topics for new Latina mothers.
The peer-led group has been working on child advocacy, racial justice, and equity concerns for Latinas and their children since 2000. Latina Mami previously offered everything from babysitting collectives to ESL classes to informal birth classes to their “Mamis of Color” radio show that ran for eight years on KOOP 91.7. The nonprofit has been recognized by progressive foundations, Latina Magazine, and Univision, and has been highlighted as a model for grassroots organizing in published, peer-reviewed academic articles.
Latina Mami is receiving a grant for its Mamis Ayudando a Mamis project. The organization will be announcing a new location in South Austin in August 2017. Latina Mami Austin projects will be run collectively by Perez-Stewart and Latina Mami lead organizers Jessica Ochoa Zamarripa, Diana Anzaldua and Liz Cruz.
Latina Mami’s new location is at 1806 W. Stassney Lane, and will be open weekly beginning in September as well as monthly for larger community meetings. To register for the breakfast information meeting, please email info@latinamami.org. To learn more about how Latina Mami organizes working-class Latina mothers to move past inaction and traditional barriers, please visit www.latinamami.org.
Contact: Diana Anzaldua
Latina Mami Austin
(512) 956-8512 or diana@latinamami.org
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WORKING-CLASS LATINA MOTHERS STRENGTHEN AUSTIN THROUGH CULTURALLY-RELEVANT SERVICES AND GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUSTIN, TX, AUGUST 4, 2017 – Latina Mami, a celebrated grassroots organization created for and by Latina mothers, has relaunched with a new fiscal partnership with the Austin Community Foundation. Latina Mami is once again offering the unique combination of culturally relevant services with organizing and advocacy capacity-building tools for Latina mothers of children–including those who have children with disabilities or behavior/social needs that are not being addressed by the school and provider systems.
Latina Mami was originally founded in 2000 by community organizer Gloria Perez-Stewart, at the time an overwhelmed 23-year old first-time mother. Perez-Stewart found traditional social services for working-class Latina women like herself sorely lacking.
From the beginning, Latina Mami embodied the premise that working-class Latina mothers were not only capable of organizing themselves, but also of becoming leaders and advocates for the issues facing their community. Perez-Stewart and the organization gradually developed a focus on training the parents of children with disabilities to secure adequate educational resources and an unbiased learning environment for their children.
Since recently receiving her Juris Doctor from the historic activist and social-justice People’s College of Law in Los Angeles, Gloria is combining legal advocacy, a disability and racial justice framework, and community organizing to benefit Latina mamis in Texas, California, and beyond. According to Perez-Stewart, who today is the mother of an 18-year old with autism and splits her time between Austin and Los Angeles, “Our organizers are excited about working with mamis in Austin and helping them create a peer support network and build community–all while working on child, family, and education advocacy concerns unique to Chicanas and Latinas.”
Latina Mami’s previous iteration offered everything from babysitting collectives to ESL classes to informal birth classes, to their “Mamis of Color” radio show that ran for eight years on KOOP 91.7 FM. The nonprofit has been recognized by progressive foundations, LatinaMagazine, and Univision, and has been highlighted as a model for grassroots organizing in published, peer-reviewed academic articles.
Latina Mami’s return to the scene this year is off to an enviable start, with the organization receiving a grant for its Mamis Ayudando a Mamis project. The organization will be announcing a new location in South Austin in August 2017. Latina Mami Austin projects will be run collectively by Perez-Stewart and Latina Mami lead organizers Jessica Ochoa Zamarripa, Diana Anzaldua and Liz Cruz.
To register for Latina Mami’s informational meeting on Saturday, August 12th in South Austin, please email info@latinamami.org. To learn more about how Latina Mami organizes working-class Latina mothers to move past inaction and traditional barriers please visitwww.latinamami.org.
Contact : Diana Anzaldua
Latina Mami Austin
(512) 956-8512 or diana@latinamami.org
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Latina Mami 