La Esperanza announces merger with La Colectiva

GEORGETOWN, Del. – Two resource groups for the Latino community in Delaware, La Esperanza and La Colectiva, are joining together to increase the scope of services and streamline delivery and funding for programs to help the Latino community in Delaware.

“This initiative is really designed to promote collaboration to find opportunities for solutions to issues that the community faces that are not being met,” said La Esperanza Director Jen Fuqua.

Latino family resource center La Esperanzas and fundraising and networking group La Colectiva already work together to help run and fund programs for immigrant families in Delaware. These include English Second Language classes, College readiness, and young immigrant family services.

By combining the two, Fuqua tells us they can do even more.

“By giving it a home permanently at La Esperanza we can hire a coordinator and backbone support for the initiative to help support these volunteer organizations coming together through the network,” she said.

That Coordinator would help manage and fund existing programs as well as pilot new programs. La Colectiva’s Co-Founder and Funder Dr. Christine Cannon, who works with the Arsht-Cannon fund to help non-profit Latino resource groups in Delaware tells us, the new position will also make sure the non-profit groups they work with, aren’t competing against themselves for the bilingual staff or grant money.

“It means the money that I give through the Arsht-Cannon fund will make a bigger difference we can give a larger grant to 3 non-profits that work together on a program rather than divide it into smaller chunks,” she said.

She says the foundations raise nearly $600,000 a year for programs to help Latino immigrants, and she believes the new partnership will make that money go even further.

“We are going to see more of our students hopefully get ready for college and be admitted and come back to the community and build the pipeline for Latino talent in our state,” she said.

Both say the Latino population is growing in Delaware, and the network of resources to help those families must grow with them.

“This community has grown exponentially in schools in Sussex county the total population of Latino students is over 50 percent and so these families and kids need those supports,” Fuqua said.