by Diana Pando
For the last 25 years, The Resurrection Projects (TRP) has been working with community residents on issues ranging from housing and health to immigration and safety. On June 10, 2015, TRP honored some of its most prominent community leaders and volunteers at its Celebraciόn de Liderazgo, an event hosted at the National Museum of Mexican Art.
The majority of the volunteers honored were moms who decided to take an active role in their communities. For most of them, it was the first time being recognized as leaders for their contributions to the community. As excited families gathered and children played, the awards presentation was preceded with a delicious feast served by TRP staff.
The celebration was kicked off with a welcome from Esperanza Villalobos. She thanked volunteers who are dedicating a lot of their time to build healthy communities.
Other presenters spoke on the importance of community leadership and recapped the accomplishments of each group. Then parent mentors, ELLAS leaders, immigration leaders, and parish leaders were asked to come onstage to receive their awards.
The event also honored Mrs. Hoskins, Principal at Daley Elementary, with an award. Her commitment to the Parent Mentor program has resulted in a fourth cohort at the school. Raul Raymundo, CEO of TRP, said, “Mrs. Hoskins has always been supportive of the work TRP does and is an arduous advocate of parent engagement. She has always pushed us to do more and to recruit more parent mentors each year. We thank her whole heartedly.”
Throughout the year, TRP provides leadership development courses in Spanish with our partner parishes and schools. The program begins with strengthening a leader’s understanding of culture, self-esteem, and communication skills. The leaders also focus on understanding the local community and how to use collective power for change around issues like immigration.
Providing leadership skills to residents is important because it creates a sense of community ownership. TRP encourages everyone to get involved and take the lead in making their communities stronger. As part of TRP’s 25^th Anniversary, the goal is to continue to do more in the next five years than in the last 25. This means continuing to provide more resources and leadership trainings to community residents to help us continue to address complex issues and build healthy communities.
Learn more about TRP’s community leadership program and participate…

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Return to Nueva Vida July 2015 here.