Education Without Borders / Educacion sin fronteras

Immigrant and Refugee Support

San Fernando Valley

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

We are seeking to address the educational gap among Latinx/e immigrants and empower the community at large. We are currently experiencing a high demand for adult basic education classes such as Spanish Literacy, English as a Second Language, Citizenship Preparation, and Digital Literacy. Our goal is to meet community needs while creating educational and career advancement pathways to encourage folks to pursue higher education, enter a new career path, and/or attain naturalization.

The project will expand the current Spanish Literacy and ESL program to include multiple levels and cohorts to meet the various needs of English Language Learners (ELL). The project will also implement new programs in Citizenship and Digital Literacy that will provide immigrants with the knowledge and skills to navigate the N-400 online application, attain naturalization and to achieve economic mobility in the United States. The project will also implement a series of workshops that offer a holistic approach in addressing topics in mental health, financial literacy, and job readiness. The workshops aim to encourage help-seeking behaviors while providing the skills to address their mental health, manage finances and apply to higher paying jobs.

We aim to make an impact on Los Angeles County by providing access to a nontraditional learning environment that encourages immigrants to empower themselves through education. We envision a successful project that can serve up to 300 participants in one year and plan to continue this work beyond the life of the project. We believe that by expanding our direct impact on the immigrant community, we can connect immigrants to services and resources that meet their priorities, needs, and values.

The proposed project will define success by the number of participants who complete any one of the core programs and participate in a student graduation. We will also measure the success of the project through surveys, strategies for student retention, and providing case-managed wrap around services. We plan to keep record of everyone who completes and passes the N-400 application.