LatinaLista — While more Latinas are going to college and getting their degrees, it’s also true that young Latinas are still the largest group who are getting pregnant in high school, not finishing their education and perpetuating a cycle of poverty and low-wage jobs in their communities.

In North Carolina, young Latinas, starting in the seventh grade, have the opportunity to change this type of destiny with the help of a nonprofit called Circle de Luz.

Not content to just be a mentoring organization or an extra-curricular activity, the founders of Circle de Luz describe what they do as “radically empowering” young Latinas. This includes an extensive mentoring program with mentor-advocates known as “Mijas,” introducing the girls to empowering activities ranging from the arts to team building exercises and supplying a financial resource to fund their college dreams.

Circle de Luz was founded in 2008 after its founder, Rosie Molinary, author of Hijas Americanas: Beauty, Body Image, and Growing Up Latina, found herself repeatedly fielding questions on a book tour from concerned readers who wanted to know how they could help young Latinas.

The organization believes the young girls advance better when they know someone is taking a personal interest in how they do in school. The Mija giving circle attempts to fill that void with the Circle de Luz girls by having Mijas commit to a class of girls and donating a minimum of $100 for each of the six years (7-12 grades) that their class of girls is in the program.

Their donations are then used to award each program graduate with a $5,000 college scholarship.

For every girl in the program, 10 Mijas are needed to make her college dreams come true.

According to the Circle de Luz organizers:

We need at least 50 mijas to provide this life changing opportunity to at least 5 new hijas. Mijas can have any background and can live anywhere. Will you consider joining this powerful group of women making a difference?

You do not need to make your donation for the 2013-2014 school year at this time. To join the circle, please complete this Letter of Commitment.

Girls with long-term plans or educational aspirations have more hope for the future, are less likely to get pregnant, and become more engaged in school and related activities—all factors making it more likely that they will graduate from high school and make it to college.

Research has shown that a relationship with a caring adult helps students stay in school and graduate.

LatinaLista — It didn’t take long for the joyous discovery in a poor Cleveland neighborhood, that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were still alive after ten years, to turn into disgust and disbelief over all the abuse and mistreatment they suffered at the hands of their captor Ariel Castro.

Yet, to Castro’s children, his behavior was totally in character. His children had witnessed him repeatedly abuse their mother, sending her to the hospital on more than one occasion and living in fear of her life on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, more women suffer from domestic violence than anyone realizes.

According to domestic violence statistics:

• Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten.
• Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime. Most often, the abuser is a member of her own family.
• Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women — more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.

As is often the case with abuse victims, it’s difficult to resume a ‘normal life.’ Yet, one woman has made it her mission in life to get abuse victims to see that they do have a future, and it can be successful.

Looking at Dawn Diaz today no one would imagine that this Puerto Rican entrepreneur, motivational speaker, book author, documentarian and career coach grew up witnessing her mother being brutally abused or that she too was involved in abusive relationships. Though Dawn was able to go on and succeed in her life, she never forgot what happened to herself or her mother, and what was happening to other women she knew were out there.

To honor her mother, Carmen Milagros Lugo, Diaz created Milagros Day Worldwide in 2009. Milagros, which means miracles in Spanish, strives to instill a sense of self-worth into women who leave abusive relationships. Diaz had discovered a personal growth class gave her the understanding and confidence she needed to break a pattern of choosing abusive partners, and the same could be done for other women.

Offering opportunities and classes for personal growth and professional development, Diaz conducts bilingual coaching programs that last anywhere from a few hours to several months. She wants to see abused women leave the victim mentality behind and seize “living their life’s purpose.”

She also wants communities to take a stand against domestic violence by celebrating women.

Last year, Diaz inaugurated the Brooklyn Bridge Mother’s Day Walk in New York City. Almost 300 people showed up to walk across the bridge to honor all women, remember those who had died and those who had been able to overcome living in abuse. This year, the walk takes place on Mother’s Day, May 12.

The Brooklyn Bridge Mother’s Day Walk’s registration begins at 9 a.m. in Manhattan with the walk across the Brooklyn Bridge taking place at 11 a.m. followed by an outdoor concert.

LatinaLista — Long before schools decided art wasn’t enough of a worthwhile class that students could learn something from and axed it from their curriculums, one off-campus art nonprofit has been showing that art is not only relevant to students’ lives but can be profitable in a variety of ways.

Minneapolis-based Juxtaposition Arts has been empowering urban children, ages 8-12, through after-school art lessons in northern Minneapolis since 1995. Yet, it’s not just about learning how to create art that sets this non-profit apart from the rest.

“It’s a pretty unique program that doesn’t really exist elsewhere in Minneapolis or nationally,” said instructor Nate Young in an interview with a local CBS station. “One of the things we strive for is to show students that art isn’t just a hobby, it’s a way that you can make money and have a job.”

Students are required to master a 72-hour Visual Arts Literacy Training (VALT) program that is free. Once they do that, they can apply for a paid position as an artist apprentice, choosing from among four different specialties: Contemporary Arts, Environmental Design, Graphic Design and Textile Design.

Professional working artists who teach at the school mentor students under them as they work on real-life projects ranging from creating logos and brochures to landscape design and public artwork. The students also earn money when they sell their works that are exhibited and in a small gallery within the school’s building.

The program has been a ‘picture’ of success with students pursuing careers in the creative arts field and receiving college degrees in the arts.

We believe the integrative problem-solving abilities learned through the hands on creative process of moving from idea, to production, to market are exactly the skills young people need to succeed in school, in work, and in life. ~ Juxtaposition Arts

LatinaLista — In the late 1980s, two teachers from Plano, Texas noticed that some of their students were carrying large trash bags with them to school every day. The students would stuff the bags in their lockers and collect them at the end of the day. When the teachers asked the students what was so important that they would bring the bags every day to school, they got the shock of their lives.

The students had all their earthly belongings in the trash bags — because they were homeless.

Immediately wanting to help the students, the two teachers got another shock — there was no place for these children to go in the Dallas suburb. That’s when the two gathered friends and churches to create what eventually would become CITY House.

CITY House serves a dual purpose with two distinct services. One is an emergency shelter, known as My Friend’s House, for homeless children and the other is a transitional living program for young adults not ready to live independently.

Boys and girls, ages newborn to 17, who are homeless are sheltered and cared for at one of two homes in the My Friend’s House program — the Boyd House for boys and the Goodman House for girls. When asked by their friends where they are staying, the homeless children can reply comfortably and truthfully at My Friend’s House.

For young adults, ages 16-21, who don’t have a home or feel they can’t live with their families, there is the Transitional Living Program. After an arduous application process, young adults accepted into the program are offered a range of services that include: residential care (up to 18 months), tutoring, school enrollment, college application assistance, individual life coaching, enrichment workshops and college scholarship aid.

Over the years, CITY House has grown in the number of beds and young people it serves. It’s also grown in the number of success stories too.

LatinaLista — Sometimes it’s the most heart-wrenching sight that inspires great ideas to not only be born but put into action. That was what happened to Mary K. Hoodhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2003. She saw several children dumpster diving behind a school. She asked them what they were doing and they replied with three words: looking for food.

The more she asked, the more she heard a story that she couldn’t believe existed in the United States — children going hungry. It wasn’t long before she started a program called Kids’ Food Basket where Hoodhood put together nutritious meals in paper sacks and delivered 125 sack suppers to children at three sites.

2013 marks the ten-year anniversary of Hoodhood’s idea. In that time, she and her team have gone from delivering 125 sack suppers to feeding over 5,000 children at 36 schools in the greater Grand Rapids area.

Sack suppers give children from low-income families the comfort of knowing that lunch at school won’t be their last meal of the day. Packed away in the sacks, children find: One serving each of fresh fruit and vegetables; meat/cheese sandwich; 100% fruit juice box; granola bar; a healthy snack and a snack pack (on Fridays, for weekend nutrition).

The food for the sack suppers come from an area food bank and donations to the organization.

Since July 1, 2012, Kids’ Food Basket has delivered 495,060 sack suppers.

Childhood hunger denies dignity, robs kids of their energy, and undermines our community’s stability.

LatinaLista — The days of taking drinking water for granted is quickly coming to an end. With extreme drought predicted to only worsen in the United States in 2013 and climate change playing havoc with water supplies, communities are taking a hard look at how to preserve their water reserves.

Unfortunately, this issue is not new in many parts of the developing world and in underserved areas of our own nation. In honor of World Water Day and because we like to spotlight those nonprofits making a difference in their communities, we decided to dedicate today’s Spotlight Nonprofit to several organizations working to bring communities safe, drinkable water.

Water Without Borders

Nearly 1 billion people don’t have clean drinking water

Water Without Borders was created from the understanding that lack of safe drinking water is the leading cause of disease, civil strife, hunger, and birth defects in the world. Water Without Borders is a nonprofit organization with international reach, dedicated to providing sustainable sources of safe drinking water. So far, our efforts have taken us to South Dakota, Africa, Haiti, and Honduras.

charity: water

Most of us have never really been thirsty. We’ve never had to leave our houses and walk five miles to fetch water. We simply turn on the tap, and water comes out. Clean. Yet there are 800 million people on the planet who don’t have clean water.

We’re not offering grand solutions and billion dollar schemes, but instead, simple things that work. Things like freshwater wells, rainwater catchments and sand filters. For about $20 a person, we know how to help millions.

Generosity Water

Solving the water crisis looks different in every country. We’re committed to working with organizations that embrace innovation and creativity in the way they work on the ground.

Just a Drop

EVERY 20 SECONDS, A CHILD DIES FROM A WATER RELATED DISEASE

Moved by this plight, Just a Drop was launched in 1998 as an international water aid charity. Fiona Jeffery, the charity’s founder, learnt that just £1 can deliver clean water to a child for up to 10 years. Just a Drop was born, based on the premise that if people can be encouraged to give a little then collectively we can make a huge difference.

Water.org

Water.org believes everyone in the world should have sustainable and affordable access to safe water and sanitation. To get there, we must fundamentally change the system. And this change must be driven by the intrinsic power of the poor as customers and citizens.

To accelerate the pace of progress, Water.org has launched its New Ventures Initiative and Fund. This is a philanthropic pool of capital generated by venture-minded philanthropists and problem solvers eager to team with Water.org to search for and launch the next round of big ideas that will change the face of this crisis for those that live it every day.

While continuing to drive our programs forward across the globe, investments in the Fund will catalyze an “Idea Lab” at Water.org. The Idea Lab will support Water.org teams and partners to generate new ideas, develop hypothesis, and to pilot, monitor, and take solutions to scale. It will support a portfolio of innovations experimental in nature creating things like mobile apps, financing mechanisms, citizen engagement tools, and things we haven’t thought of yet.

We invite you to join us. Together, we can bring forth the capital, tools, and partnerships needed to channel the intrinsic power of those in need and solve the water crisis.

LatinaLista — Giving birth and taking that new bundle of love home is supposed to be the most joyous event in any mother’s life, and it usually is, but when that mother doesn’t have enough money or family or friends to help her prepare for that little one’s arrival then a joyous event turns into a serious problem.

Nurses at Pocono Medical Center in Pennsylvania noticed that some of their mothers were taking their newborns home without even the most basic clothes or accessories. They told one local resident, who had just given birth herself, how the nurses would pool their money together to buy layette items for these moms in need.

The resident, Julie Rubino, couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky she was and how hard life must be for those women who didn’t have baby blankets, onesies, socks and other items that all babies need to have a healthy start in life. Rubino was so moved by the plight of these mothers that in 2001 she got six friends together at her house to sort, wash and assemble baby layette bundles for their new organization — The Angel’s Closet.

Since that time, the organization has grown, along with, the stack of items each new baby gets to take home. Rubino and a staff of volunteers assemble layette bundles that include: hooded towels, washcloths, socks and booties, onesies, receiving blankets, outfits, sleepers, sweater/hat/bootie sets, bibs, burp cloths, snowsuits, board books, stuffed animal and a heavy blanket — each bundle is worth about $300.00

With the tagline “we clothe babies,” The Angel’s Closet not only distributes the layettes at that original hospital but to fourteen area social service agencies, doctor’s offices and church outreach programs.

LatinaLista — Trying to convince children who are homeless, victims of child abuse, domestic violence or facing a myriad of ‘adult’ challenges most kids their ages don’t have to worry about that they have a reason to survive can be an uphill battle.

It’s a battle that one San Diego nonprofit though is winning through ARTS. ARTS is the acronym for A Reason to Survive founded by a guy named Matt D’Arrigo who when facing his own personal family crisis found relief creating artwork. If it helped him, he knew it would help others too.

Nowadays, D’Arrigo and his staff are helping San Diego-area children find hope in their lives by helping them learn to imagine and dream, and in the process, create art while preparing for a successful future.

ARTS believes all children deserve to access the educational and transformative benefits of the arts, especially those facing the greatest barriers to healthy development. Research shows that the arts engage multiple skills and abilities that nurture the development of cognitive, social, and personal competencies. Other clinical studies reveal that art expression enhances coping abilities, assists in pain management and the healing process, and enhances self-esteem.

One of D’Arrigo’s students, Inocente Izucar, is well on her way to a successful future after a documentary made about her life won an Oscar at the recent awards show for short documentary.

ARTS founder Matt D’Arrigo and Inocente pause on the red carpet at the 2013 Oscars award show.

D’Arrigo had suggested Inocente to the husband-wife filmmakers who wanted to create a film featuring a homeless teen. Since the Oscar win, D’Arrigo has found himself in a strange situation. On the one hand, he says, ARTS is on the radar of more people than it ever has been by virtue of the documentary. On the other hand, because of all the exposure people think D’Arrigo already has enough cash to keep his 12-year-old nonprofit going.

It’s a situation that stirs mixed feelings of gratitude and exasperation in the ARTS founder. Yet, he’s trying to take advantage of the organization’s newfound community awareness to achieve an ambitious fundraising campaign.

Last fall, he started a three-year fundraising campaign to bring in $4.68 million. He’s only been able to garner around $400,000 but he’s not giving up — because he’s on a mission to show more children that “Art is the only way to run away without leaving home” — Twyla Tharp.

LatinaLista — The term ‘human trafficking’ doesn’t begin to relay the true cost of emotional and physical damage done to the women, girls and children victimized by what is a barbaric international business.

It is reported by mental health officials that many of the victims who have been sexually exploited see their lives and themselves as being worthless and feel that society doesn’t care about them. One woman, Rachel Lloyd, a survivor of sexual exploitation who had turned her life around and was working as a missionary counseling women exiting from the commercial sex industry, was alarmed when she saw too many girls at-risk for sexual exploitation being ignored by traditional social service agencies.

She knew she had to do something before those girls ended up at the mercy of pimps. In 1998, Lloyd formed GEMS – Girls Educational & Mentoring Services, “one of the largest providers of services to commercially sexually exploited and domestically trafficked youth in the US.”

GEMS offers an array of services to at-risk girls. From prevention and outreach to staging interventions and promoting educational initiatives to court advocacy,providing an alternative to incarceration and empowering survivors, GEMS’ vision is to end the commercial exploitation and trafficking of children.

The New York City-based group only serves women and girls in New York state but works with organizations from around the country offering training and their research to help spread the method of unlocking the potential success buried in every sexually exploited girl who thinks her life has no value.

LatinaLista — Though the economy is showing signs of improving, it’s still slow-going with prices rising faster than peoples’ salaries. No other segment of the economy hits closer to home than food prices.

Shrinking wages and extreme weather events have put the squeeze on families in more than one way causing 1 in 5 Americans to go hungry. Yet, restaurants, supermarkets, bakeries, and even families are throwing away tons of edible food.

The Environmental Protection Agency says that about 35 million tons of food waste were generated in the United States in 2010, with over 96 billion pounds of edible food going into landfills each year. Rather than making sure the food finds its way to local food banks or the hungry, it’s more convenient for many businesses to just toss it.

In San Diego, two high school-age sisters saw the extreme food waste and the men, women and children in their community going hungry and decided to do something about it. Sisters Camille and Gabrielle Posard created Donate Don’t Dump.org in 2011.

Since then, the teen-run organization has distributed over 10,000 pounds of donated food a month. The organization partners with food banks and other charitable agencies to raise awareness, donate funds, increase excess food donations, divert edible food, advocate, organize food drives, coin drives, as well as, distribute food.

The mission of Donate Don’t Dump is to encourage grocery stores and restaurants to donate their surplus food. Since food waste is a global problem, the sisters provide training and support for people who want to start new chapters of the organization. Currently, there are 15 chapters at high schools and churches in four states, with people from Spain looking to start a chapter.

The ultimate goal of the organization is to be in all 50 states.

So far, the girls have been the recipients of several awards and both have been named among “top 30 leaders in San Diego County under 30 years old.”