by Rachel Showstack<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Alce su Voz<\/em> team is excited to announce two grants to support our projects! In this post, we present the purpose of the projects and we invite you to collaborate with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first project has to do with civic engagement<\/strong> among Spanish speakers in Kansas. What is civic engagement? On one hand, it includes efforts to get out the vote and get involved in the electoral process; on the other hand, it also includes different ways to speak out (like the name of our organization!): share your testimony with elected officials, either out loud or in a letter or a social media post, participate in local government meetings, and many other ways to connect with the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Kansas Health Foundation<\/strong><\/a> has granted 75 thousand dollars to Wichita State University<\/strong><\/a> in the name of Alce su voz<\/em> for support of civic engagement in Spanish-speaking communities in Kansas. We are going to start the project with a community education workshop at the Centro Comunitario & Biblioteca Evergreen<\/u><\/strong><\/a> on October 8 (a Saturday). Food will be served at 10:30am, and the workshop will be from 11 to 12:30. Registered participants who stay for the whole workshop will receive a gift card! You can register here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second project is about COVID-19 vaccines<\/strong> for people in Kansas from Guatemala who speak indigenous languages<\/strong> (like, for example, Ki\u2019che\u2019, a Mayan language). This demographic group has had a low vaccination rate because it faces many barriers, including language barriers. We are going to start with trainings with Comunidades Ind\u00edgenas en Liderazgo<\/strong><\/a> (CIELO)<\/strong>, a women-led organization that brings visibility and resources to migrant indigenous communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alce su voz<\/em> is also going to receive a 250 thousand dollar grant from the Increase the Reach<\/strong><\/a> program for its vaccine equity project for indigenous communities from Guatemala in Kansas. The funds are from a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>which was given to the state of Kansas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you would like to learn more about these projects and how you can get involved, you can meet up with the Alce su voz<\/em> team in an informal meeting next Saturday, September 10 at Connie\u2019s Mexico Caf\u00e9<\/strong><\/a>. It\u2019s free and everyone is invited. There will be pan dulce<\/em> from Juarez Bakery<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>and coffee from Scooters. Go to this page<\/strong><\/a> to RSVP.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"