Loading

Representation Matters

My meetings with members this week were not particularly eventful. Instead, I will discuss my translation work so far in order to expand CEF’s capacity for Latinx member services. I have come to realize how difficult it is to translate. Not because I’m not familiar with or uncomfortable writing in Spanish, but because of the nuances of the services and advocacy that our organization does. I am not necessarily putting pressure on myself to have a translation, but rather a translation that preserves the integrity of CEF’s mission and message. I have learned from people in the start-up community that many companies and organizations at-large have growing pains not solely because of logistics or capital, etc, but rather because it can be difficult to expound a company’s mission to a larger audience – be it employees, clients, socioeconomic and racial demographics, or geography.

Effectively having only one member to test out our weaknesses in Latinx member services, it has been a continuous learning process about what is truly important to convey to our members. For example, even though I had translated membership orientation documents at my disposal, it wasn’t until after my meeting that I realized we didn’t have a translated copy of our member surveys. Little things like that add up. They can either greatly improve or ruin a member’s impression and experience of our organization. This is why I believe in having an inclusive community, not only at CEF, but at many other organizations, partnerships, and companies as well. We need to embrace the Latinx community so that they can be part of – and want to be part of – the greater dialogue that is shaping government policy, urban growth, and be able to have access to valuable resources.

This is why I am looking forward to a meeting one of my colleagues set up a couple of weeks from now with the Tilde Language Justice Cooperative in order to learn about tools that could make it easier and more efficient for us to communicate our mission to the Latinx community. Trust cannot be established without efficient communication. When I first started in May, I asked one of CEF’s co-Directors why member recruitment from the Latinx community has been so low. The most important factor she mentioned was trust, and our limited capacity of translated services has impeded that process. This is why I believe my work with CEF is imperative and consequently hope to help establish the foundation and momentum necessary to better serve a growing demographic in our community, because representation matters.

Cristian; Portfolio; Bio

Cristian Santiago is a rising senior economics major from Tampa, Florida. Cristian is committed to helping vulnerable populations, work he sees as abundant. He will be working to better understand and address urban planning and gentrification issues with Community Empowerment Fund in Durham, NC, a nonprofit organization that focuses on interrelated issues of housing, employment, and financial independence for low-income residents.

On the Homefront for Housing

It is so easy to take things for granted, and a few member meetings this week reinforced that. I worked with at least three members either seeking housing or financial assistance to maintain housing. While we do offer programs through our partners to help members pay for utilities, rent, etc, these cases showed me the reality that is increasingly affecting people in the Durham community. Renovated properties, properties bought up from people unable to afford their new tax bills, and evictions have been on a rise all year – and it shows in our member community. However, our hands are tied by limited alternatives and stigma.

Chapel Hill’s housing voucher waitlist has been closed since November 2015. Durham is currently not accepting applications for their waitlist, further discouraging by the reality that people on the waitlist typically spend 24 months waiting for a unit. Thus leaving disadvantaged people to fend for themselves any way they can. However, ‘housing voucher’ and ‘Section 8’ and any other name you can think of for these programs helping low-income individuals and families find affordable housing is a dirty word/phrase. I found that out when I called six different property management companies and apartment complexes refusing to accept my member’s housing vouchers. All she wants is a safe neighborhood to live in with her grandson, but the program she relies on to help can only do so much.

I am hopeful the conversation is changing, however. This week, we took part in the Mayor’s Landlord Roundtable, hoping to talk to, inform, and change the minds of local property owners and landlords about denying residents who rely on housing vouchers. We had an awesome turnout and I really appreciate Mayor Schewel carrying on Mayor Bell’s legacy to have open discussions that involve the city, private owners, and at-risk residents in order to anticipate and stymie the housing crisis taking hold in Durham. My experiences and meetings with my members this past week embodied and personified this issue. While emotionally and mentally exhausting due to current frustrations with the system, I was happy and hopeful that our work at CEF would help realize a better vision and reality for all members in our community so that they remain part of the community.

Cristian; Portfolio; Bio

Cristian Santiago is a rising senior economics major from Tampa, Florida. Cristian is committed to helping vulnerable populations, work he sees as abundant. He will be working to better understand and address urban planning and gentrification issues with Community Empowerment Fund in Durham, NC, a nonprofit organization that focuses on interrelated issues of housing, employment, and financial independence for low-income residents.

The Value of Following Up

This week was mainly about following up on last week’s work. I was able to secure a follow-up meeting with Made in Durham where our organizations learned some valuable ways to help each other. The organization seems to do incredible work, but something that came up on my end was our limited capacity in terms of our Latinx services and how to possibly address that. The biggest obstacle at the moment it seems is our lack of translated documents preventing us from actually being able to communicate how we can help to the community itself. In turn, I started doing more translation work, and boy is that tedious. I started with translating our organization overview and general services, but then my conversations with my colleague transitioned to the best plan of action in determining our priorities and how best to move forward. 

The interim solution? Translating our website. This has proved tedious as the smallest details that one may not think of have proven to be imperative and/or valuable to creating a sustainable model within the organization. However, this sustainability isn’t simply addressed through translated documents, but also with a consistent staff/advocate body that is able to speak Spanish and effectively communicate with our members. Consequently, this is something for us to think about moving forward before we can truly follow-through with our partnerships. 

Considering how limited staffing is during the summer compared to the spring and fall made me think about the demographics of our advocates throughout the year. Currently, CEF does a house course, which I took part of, but we did not have many Latinx students involved. In turn, I am hoping to target Latinx groups at Duke University like Mi Gente and LTA, a sorority, in order to create a sustainable resource for Spanish-speaking advocates who can carry out our goals past the short-term. As such, this is something I cannot quite get done at this point in the summer due to students being on vacation, but as the Fall semester approaches, this is an idea I hope bears meaningful, tangible results. 

On the advocacy side, I was excited when one of our members won money in a game we offer our members to play whenever they make a deposit with us. This truly incentivizes members to follow-through on their goals, and it makes me appreciate what a difference any amount of money can make in people’s lives, no matter how small. Finally, after a rocky start to our relationship last week, I was able to complete three goals with my member, which made them really happy and hopeful as we move forward to improve their circumstances. I have to credit one of my colleagues who was there to support me as well and help us make a good action plan moving forward.

Cristian; Portfolio; Bio

Cristian Santiago is a rising senior economics major from Tampa, Florida. Cristian is committed to helping vulnerable populations, work he sees as abundant. He will be working to better understand and address urban planning and gentrification issues with Community Empowerment Fund in Durham, NC, a nonprofit organization that focuses on interrelated issues of housing, employment, and financial independence for low-income residents.

Learning on the Job

My first week of doing member-advocate meetings on my own went well, but you can’t win them all. In my time with the organization since January, I never had a truly frustrating experience. In this instance, however, I realized that my frustration stemmed from my member’s own frustrations. This week, I was tasked with getting going over the credit history of a member who I’d never met with. Going over someone’s credit can be tedious, especially if you cannot track where and when debts were bought by collection agencies, why charges seem hyper-inflated, etc. When we finished, I thought we had a decent grasp of the issues, but there’s only so much one can do in an hour.

To put some perspective, this member’s car had just broken down the week before, and they were frustrated by the timeline it would take to save for a new car. Consequently, any ‘goal’ or task that could be completed in one session was their priority in order to feel like they were moving along and not stuck. Even though we went through their credit history, this was not necessarily a goal we could mark completed. This resulted in some frustration, but we were able to talk through some possible short-term resolutions that could be done over the next week before our next meeting. This experience, while stressful, taught me to take a step back and put things into perspective in order to effectively empathize and communicate with my member.

While I did have a stressful interaction, every meeting I had this week was with members who were new to the organization or people who I’d never interacted with before. I really appreciated getting to know them and realizing just how diverse each person’s experience and needs are, no matter how similar their circumstances might sound. Consequently, I look forward to building my own skill set in order to help them and future members.

As for Latinx services, I had a great preliminary meeting regarding a potential partnership with Made in Durham, a non-profit that works toward providing teens an educational path that leads to a career in the Triangle by the time they are 24. I am excited to see what opportunities this may create for our organizations, especially as I am to meet with another in a couple weeks and hope to develop a great network our Latinx members can rely on.

Cristian; Portfolio; Bio

Cristian Santiago is a rising senior economics major from Tampa, Florida. Cristian is committed to helping vulnerable populations, work he sees as abundant. He will be working to better understand and address urban planning and gentrification issues with Community Empowerment Fund in Durham, NC, a nonprofit organization that focuses on interrelated issues of housing, employment, and financial independence for low-income residents.

Settling in

A transplant from Tampa, Florida, I have adopted Durham as my new home since I came to Duke in 2013. Every summer, I have found reasons to stay in Durham, be it for summer classes, working at the Institute for Minority Economic Development, and now the Community Empowerment Fund. At the Community Empowerment Fund, I will serve as an advocate providing critical services to our members who are struggling with poverty and/or homelessness. 

While I am excited and motivated to make a difference, I recognize the emotional and psychological toll this could have on staff members. Our team training demonstrates how cognizant staff members are of not only our member’s needs, but also our own and each other’s. While our mission of helping members with housing, employment, and finances helps our members, it may not necessarily be immediate. Consequently, this is something I am going to have to keep in mind in order to have realistic expectations. However, this frustration stems from the very systems and obstacles we try to protect our members from. In turn, perspective is key, and I am hopeful of making a big long-term difference in my member’s lives even if it seems inconsequential in the short-term.

As a member of the Latinx community and realizing its increasing presence in the Triangle, I hope to make our organization’s services more accessible. I am looking forward to the opportunity to interact with and help a community that is part of my identity, further inspiring me because of Durham’s tremendous growth and CEF’s commitment to allowing everyone in the community to participate. As a Duke student, I recognize how easy it can be to become insulated from the community within the ‘bubble,’ but I believe I have a responsibility to identify and address its problems, especially if I am an ‘outsider’ whose presence contributes to a higher cost of living and gentrification in the area.

CEF is thus a stepping stone towards identifying how best to advocate for community members and gaining insight into smart urban planning solutions that include efficient transit options, affordable housing, and access to jobs for people in all income brackets. I hope to carry on my lessons at CEF to establish a career in Durham where I can keep advocating for and working on behalf of vulnerable members. Durham has given so much to me in the past, and I will continually strive to serve on its behalf for a future that is inclusive of everyone.

Cristian; Portfolio; Bio

Cristian Santiago is a rising senior economics major from Tampa, Florida. Cristian is committed to helping vulnerable populations, work he sees as abundant. He will be working to better understand and address urban planning and gentrification issues with Community Empowerment Fund in Durham, NC, a nonprofit organization that focuses on interrelated issues of housing, employment, and financial independence for low-income residents.