LSNA Zero-K
When the COVID-19 Stay-At-Home order initially took place in March, LSNA hit the ground running to assist those in our community who were not eligible to receive government assistance with our Comuntiy Solidarity Fund. With the help of our donors, our community, and our partners, LSNA connected 426 families who weren’t able to receive government assistance to over $300,000 in stimulus checks, rental support, and housing assistance.
NOW, WE ARE ASKING FOR YOUR HELP TO SUPPORT OUR STAFF TO CONTINUE RUNNING THE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES AT THE HEART OF LSNA’s MISSION.
We invite you to support our Zero-K Fundraising teams and their work during our September virtual event. During the Zero-K, you can support your favorite LSNA fundraising team--immigration, housing, youth, or education--and learn more about our work.
This is a crucial moment for LSNA in many ways. For the first time in over 30 years, LSNA has welcomed new leadership through our remarkable Executive Director Juliet De Jesus Alejandre. After almost four months of struggle under the pandemic, we are making major noise at the city, state, and national levels to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.
Our theory of change is getting more community members doing, talking, and thinking more and taking collective actions to improve our individual and communal lives. While each of our teams is excited to partake in a healthy, competitive fundraiser, LSNA’s work is deeply interconnected. Our teams work collectively to create more opportunities and to improve the lives of our constituents. Visit our teams pages to see what each of them do in our community, learn more, and get involved TODAY!
Meet Our Teams
LSNA Housing Organizer and Parent Mentor Coordinator for Monroe, Gabriela Barajas
Education
Our commitment to developing tools so our community members can become leaders in their own stories is at the heart of our mission. That’s what our Parent Mentor Program does: annually trains 125 parents--mostly Latinx and African American mothers--to work daily in 10 local community schools. This program impacts the community in two main ways: it gives families the tools and support they need to determine their future, and it impacts over 2,500 students annually. Students with Parent Mentors in the classroom maintain better grades, receive individualized help with homework and tutoring, and have more opportunities to move on to great things.
In the fall of 2020, we are taking the show on the road: LSNA will recruit 120 Parent Mentors (primarily Latinx and Black mothers) and 120 teachers who will work in parent-teacher teams. Teachers will identify 3-5 students, and Parent Mentors will set up outdoor, physically distant home visits with each student’s family (weather permitting). Even with remote learning, our team remains committed to supporting our most vulnerable students and protecting our Parent Mentors and school communities’ health and safety.
Support Education Team
Team Members
Gabriela Barajas
I started my journey with Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) in 2015 when I joined the Parent Mentor Program at Monroe School where my kids attend. Thanks to the Parent Mentor Program and the leaders at LSNA I found the leader in me.When I joined the PM program I was going through severe depression, being a single mom not working and with 4 children and one with disabilities was really hard. Now I'm able to motivate other women to become the best of themselves and to believe that they can be more than “JUST A MOM”
That's the reason i joined this team.
Jess LeMaster
Jess joined the education team because she wants to support the Parent Mentors’ work. During the pandemic, our Parent Mentors are working harder than ever to make sure our kids stay safe and have everything they need to begin remote learning in the fall. Please help her raise funds for LSNA's staff on behalf of the Education Department today!
Housing
Unstable housing means our entire community suffers. It leads to low enrollment rates and less funding in community schools, less economic opportunities for our neighbors--especially our neighbors of color--and unwelcoming communities for immigrants. Equitable housing justice is at the heart of LSNA’s fight to make our neighborhoods strong.
Support the Housing Team
Immigration
Immigrant stories and their experiences make our community stronger. However, they face an ever-growing number of unique challenges that make them vulnerable. To mount the most robust response to the ever-increasing attacks on immigrant justice, LSNA works with the community and our partners to protect the rights of immigrants in our community and creates and participates in actions and programs that decrease people’s sense of isolation. Additionally, LSNA brings awareness of immigration issues to the greater public.
Along with fighting to change the negative narrative regarding immigration through public policy and community organizing, LSNA provides a host of legal services to help neighbors apply for citizenship, renew green cards, and help Dreamers apply or renew their DACA status.
Support the Immigration Team
Team Members
Susan Yanun
I have accompanied families when their loved one is deported by ICE. I have attended court hearings and seen people’s fates being determined on a video monitor in a language they can’t understand while they sit locked up in a detention center hundreds of miles away. These situations hurt a lot. They remind me of my privilege and push me to continually try to act on my beliefs about social justice.
But I’ve also helped people apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Even better, I’ve identified more permanent solutions for these young people, helping turn a tragedy they’ve suffered -- like a violent crime -- into an opportunity to live in the US permanently and without fear. LSNA works on all these things in a way that always centralizes people’s individuality and humanity.
Norma Rios Sierra
As an LSNA Parent Mentor for Monroe Elementary School, Norma saw how the 2016 election spread palpable fear into her community and she wanted to do something about it. With LSNA, she led the Sanctuary Schools initiative which put pressure on CPS to publicly say they would not work with ICE and as a result, made schools safer for undocumented students and their families. Now, as LSNA's Board President, she is still making great change. Most recently she organized the COMIDA, CULTURA, Y SOLIDARIDAD which is getting free meals and art supplies to families in need, all while supporting local restaurants and artists. Donate on her behalf to support the Immigration Team!
Marcelo Ferrer
As LSNA's Director of Immigration, providing services to immigrants and protecting their rights is near and dear to Marcelo's heart: As a refugee from Chile, he knows first hand that immigrants need assistance. Marcelo has dedicated his career to help the most vulnerable of his neighbors understand their rights, navigate the legal system, receive and renew their DACA statuses, and much more. Most recently, due to renewed ICE activity in our neighborhood, Marcelo organized "Know Your Rights" trainings for Spanish and English speakers. LSNA is grateful for all the work Marcelo does and we hope you will support the Immigration Team on his behalf!
Youth
Most recently, LSNA youth organizers stopped the development of an unwanted concert venue in Hermosa and helped enact a moratorium on development near the 606. They continue to fight to remove police from our community schools and to lead conversations and circles around what safety and wellness means in our community during these times of COVID-19 and Uprisings.
Support the Youth Team
Team Members
Arely Barrera
Arely is an After School Matters instructor at LSNA, and one of our mentors to the youth we work with in our community. She teaches youth how to be leaders in their community through social and restorative justice lenses. Even during the COVID-19 crisis, she is continuing her mentorship by connecting virtually with LSNA youth to hear their concerns and to help them stay active over the summer. Arely has been integral in our youth’s participation in #PoliceFreeSchools.
Melissa Texcahua
Melissa is LSNA's Quality of Life Organizer and After School Matters Youth coordinator. She helped LSNA youth organize an action to stop an unwanted concert venue in Hermosa. Most recently she has been working with youth to organize around #PoliceFreeSchools. Support Melissa's goal to raise funds on behalf of the Youth Team!
Huu Nguyen
In 2014, we held our first capoeira workshop and roda with youth and young folx working with LSNA. Our workshop was a part of a peace movement/rally that they were organizing at the monument to raise awareness around the gun violence in our city. Our relationship has deepened in these past 6 years as our commitment to mutual liberation continue to build strong bonds. Being a board member and community partner for the past 2 years gave me even more insight and admiration to the transformative work that young people have and continue to contribute to LSNA's infrastructure. This is why I've joined this team.