Spotlight Non-profit: Con Mi MADRE partners mothers and daughters in preparing for college

LatinaLista — The special relationship that most Latinas have with their mothers is one that isn’t duplicated among other ethnicities. For that reason, a group of Junior League women in 1992 in Austin, Texas knew that when it came to creating a program to encourage young Latinas to apply for college, they were going to have to include their mothers too.

Con Mi MADRE is a special college preparatory program targeting 6th-12th grade girls, with girls actively recruited in the 5th grade as well, if recommended by their elementary school counselors and teachers.
The goal of Con Mi MADRE is to get more Latinas to finish high school and go to college. To achieve that objective, the staff knows that girls have to be reached out to, mentored and tutored beginning in middle school.
Yet, the savvy creators of this program also knew that unless the mothers of the girls accepted into Con Mi MADRE were involved too, the likelihood of the girls finishing the program and staying in school/applying for college were not good.
So, both mother and daughter have to commit to Con Mi MADRE.
The obvious benefits to the girls are that they receive tutoring, mentoring, classes on self-esteem, learning how to develop study habits and constantly encouraged, through meeting role models, visiting campuses, etc., to apply and attend college.
The mothers get the satisfaction of learning how to help their daughters do well in school and learning what academic and financial resources are available for their daughters — and themselves.
Mothers who have not finished their own education are given the same services as their daughters and encouraged to ultimately join their daughters in going after that college degree.
The tutoring, mentoring, field trips and materials that the girls and their mothers are given throughout the course of belonging to Con Mi MADRE are all supplied free to the women, as a result of financial donations.
As Con Mi MADRE staff meets with our seniors at their schools, we are learning about their admissions into different universities and colleges, their scholarships awarded, financial aid packages, and prom plans. It is a very exciting time for this group of students and their families. Con Mi MADRE staff is glowing with orgullo because all of our seniors’ accomplishments over the years.