Lxs Esenciales
Stregthening community based and worker networks through mutual aid: The relief fund work Lxs Esenciales where we have supported over 1000 households,
Strengthen el Centro’s base through our cultural and social networks: el centro’s strength comes from our own community based networks that are built on years of trust and solidarity. Only through these networks can we support and build the communities we want and deserve.
Inter-Racial and Inter-Organization and Worker Solidarity: has provided us the opportunity to build in solidarity with VietRise and the Orange County Justice Fund where we are coordinating efforts in both building our bases, but also supporting each others efforts around worker, housing, and immigrant justice at the local and county scale.
From this work, el Centro has the following goals to strengthen our capacity of essential workers network:
El Centro, through its classes and services and in collaboration with local organizations that have decades of relationship-building with day laborers in Orange County, is increasing membership in Nuestras Manos, our domestic workers organization as well as outreaching to day labor sites. These projects involve training and workshops that grow the capacity of members and leaders to carry out further outreach, education, and action around wage theft. This includes strengthening our ability to enforce wage laws and promote dignified employment practices: In collaboration with local organizations, CADWC networks, and NDLON el Centro is supporting workers who face a violation of their rights as workers, through education and organizing. Further, we want to strengthen our existing networks with essential workers who come to the space and connect them to organizing efforts.
We are working to establish and strengthen el Centro’s worker justice campaigns and education and increase Centro participation. El Centro is reaching out to workers, students, families and other community members already in our Centro community with accessible, relevant, bilingual educational and outreach materials about worker rights and campaigns, and activating their participation in support of worker rights initiatives. This includes more radio programming created for and by immigrant women who are also domestic workers.
Finally, we are developing leadership and development training our organizers to be leaders in the community that can be trusted through a) conflict resolution and transformative justice; b) worker counselors and other resources such as housing counseling, c) Strengthen our membership through participatory democracy practices.