Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
Nearly 11 months into the VID-19 epidemic, the Latino community has become the most affected by the health, economic and social havoc left in its wake by the virus that continues to affect many across the country.
This is what Judith Guerrero, executive director of the non-profit organization "Coastside Hope" said and which, between 2019 and 2020 has supported 3,934 people in 1,576 homes in the San Mateo community with safety net services.
A large part of the assistance provided by the organization located at 99 Alhambra Avenue, El Granada, is for Latino families, a large part of which are Mexicans who face daily adversities, especially due to the pandemic.
Coastside Hope's assistance ranges from financial to food assistance, immigration, tax preparation and help with consulate appointments, document translation, or even support with online paperwork.
"We offer help in the form of financial assistance, it can be rented to pay for utilities or during the pandemic we have been a little bit more open and creative in the way that families can be helped," Judith said during the program We Vote that is broadcast every Saturday on Peninsula 360 Press.
"What we are seeing a lot is that Latino families have been the most affected in our community, who are the ones who serve and work in places like restaurants, hotels and in agriculture, and - they live - with the uncertainty of one month we are open and the next we have to be closed. It's difficult for them financially," he added.
In that sense, he stressed that when those families approach the organization, they usually already need help to cover more than one month's rent.
"They have been the most affected especially because some of them don't qualify for unemployment because of their immigration status in this country, or maybe those who qualify for unemployment don't realize they could apply," he said.
Judith Guerrero said she has heard of cases of Latino employees who have not been paid for their work for weeks, a situation, she said, that is not the first time that has happened, however, and because their employers issued them a letter, the association was able to find out what was going on and was able to help four families pay their rent.
"We have helped four families with rent because apart from being a victim of this problem, many of our families live in non-ideal situations, what I mean is they live in a house with four other families, and there are regulations and rules so you can't be kicked out of your house, but many times the people you are sharing with don't care and many of these families can become homeless without notification," she said. "The pandemic has forced us to be creative with everyone," he said. "During this time we are looking at ways to help them with what we can.
Judith added that they are already looking for ways to ensure that situations such as the lack of payment for Latino workers do not happen in other industries.
"The intention is not to have that happen to another worker, it's hard not to get paid when we're going through a pandemic. I've heard of people who may not know about our services and borrow money, and sometimes not from the people with the best intentions, but from those who are abusing - the situation.
In view of this, he called on all those who are going through a difficult situation due to the pandemic, not to have resources to pay their rent and especially to get food, to approach the organization whose website is www.coastsidehope.org.
Likewise, he made a and loved for all those people who want to serve their community, to be part of the organization's volunteering or to donate, since in these moments the support of everyone is needed to get the help to those who need it the most.
