Just one year ago this month, NAHF launched its effort to strengthen Hispanic families during a Washington, DC summit attended by individuals representing government, academic and community interests from across the country. During the summit, national leaders incuding Henry Cisneros and Congressman Raul Grijalva challenged NAHF to harness public and private resources to address issues facing Latinos.  One year later, we are 300 members strong and growing daily.

Our accomplishments over the past year are many. Through town hall meetings in San Antonio, Houston, New York, Miami, Puerto Rico, Chicago, and Las Vegas, we learned of the needs and dreams of your communities.  These meetings brought together elected officials, community, business, and faith-based leaders, as well as parents and students.

In many areas, small groups were formed from these town hall meetings to move forward the NAHF agenda.  In Puerto Rico, for example, a group of 40 individuals gathered to talk about challenges within the Latino community there.  This group set priorities and mapped out an approach to address these issues and recently applied for a federal teen pregnancy grant.

We now communicate with thousands of interested readers through this new website and blog, and our short video on families has been shown at several conferences across the country. Leaders of NAHF spoke at the Latino Leaders Summit at the University of Texas in  Austin, and have been invited to participate in White House and administration discussions about Hispanics and their needs and growing role in this country.  This week NAHF researchers participated  in the 13^th annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference sponsored by  the Administration for Children and Families to improve the effectiveness of the programs it sponsors.

And along with all this work, NAHF was recently awarded a Kellogg Racial Healing Grant aimed at promoting racial equity, and the group’s director, Dr. Lorena Gonzalez, received the prestigious Angel Award from the Red Dress Society for her work with NAHF and the Latino community.

Overall, our first year has been a success. We thank you for your support and constant feedback, and look forward to the next twelve months of even greater achievement in helping Hispanic families reach their potential. We invite you to join the Alliance and become part of this exciting work.

PHOTOS ABOVE: 

Joe Hernandez, Family Wellness Associates, leads an interactive discussion on families at the NAHF Summit, held June 2, 2009 in Washington, DC.

Small group meeting in Puerto Rico to develop strategy for strengthening Hispanic families.