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2016 Acomplishments
December 31, 2016
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December 8, 2016
Dear LULAC Members, Community Partners and Friends:
2016 has been another exciting year for LULAC Cincinnati. As we get closer to a new year, we want to share with you our goals, accomplishments and our vision for the future. Every day, through the work of our Board of Directors, our membership, our sponsors and in partnership with community organizations, we are able to strengthen our existing programs and continue to develop new ways in which we can achieve our mission.
Our main priority this year was to advocate for civic engagement and political influence, specifically with efforts on voters registration as well as advocating for people to get out and vote. We reached out to the community through social media and we were visible and engaged at every public Hispanic event in the Cincinnati area to spread out the word. We successfully facilitated a Candidates’ Night providing a forum for candidates at various levels to promote their platform with the Hispanic Community. We were able to broadcast live through social media channels for those unable to attend.
In our efforts to continue promoting civic participation and fostering youth engagement, we sponsored a High School Senior student to attend the LULAC Washington Leadership Seminar, a leadership and advocacy training program which included visits to the White House and Capitol Hill. We received a thank you letter from the student who attended, expressing his appreciation and the difference this experience had in his life.
Our partnership with local organizations continues to grow and we strive to maintain and leverage our strong position as a resource in the area of civil rights and race relations within the Hispanic community to better serve our purpose. We will continue to work and strengthen our relations with the League of Women’s Voters, CAIR, IJPC, the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission and other organizations who are aligned with our mission.
We continue to be highly engaged at the citywide initiative “Childhood Poverty Collaborative.” As part of the steering committee, we represent our underserved Hispanic children in the area.
Our LULAC 11th Annual Awards Gala, held at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, was a tremendous success. We honored five outstanding community leaders and recognized the contribution the Young Readers’ teachers are making at both AMIS and Roberts Academy. We are proud to report that in 2016 we doubled the number of Young Readers programs. We now have a total of 4 programs in Cincinnati. At this event we also awarded 30 LULAC scholarships to talented Hispanic students from the tri-state area. We increased the amount from last year from 28 to 30. The scholarships ranged from $500 to $2000 each, and represented 8 different colleges and universities.
One of our biggest accomplishments this year has been obtaining our Non-Profit designation for Educational purposes. This will allow us to grow the opportunities for scholarships through grant applications and to expand and improve our educational programs. I personally thank my LULAC Educational Fund team for making this possible.
In the area of Health, we organized the fifth annual Latino Health Summit in August at Metro Health, Cleveland in partnership with OCHLA. The summit offered simultaneous presentations/discussions on different topics related to health disparities faced by Latinos in Ohio.
In the area of Women’s issues, we achieved National representation in the Women’s Commission and are currently planning the 2017 National Women’s Conference. In addition, we organized the first Women’s lunch to foster new partnerships with women leaders in Cincinnati and to identify potential synergistic work.
On behalf of the LULAC Cincinnati team, we thank you for your time, partnership, and commitment to improving the lives of our Hispanic Community. We wish you and your families a peaceful holiday season and all the best in 2017.
Sincerely,
Karla Boldery
President – LULAC Cincinnati
