Press Release - September 18, 2008
Bienestar Receives Top Award
from United Way

At the United Way’s Annual Community Partners Breakfast this morning, Bienestar was named the 2008 Community Partner Agency of the Year. United Way of the Columbia-Willamette honored Bienestar’s Promotores Program with this award which was accepted by Executive Director Karen Shawcross.  Bienestar’s Promotores program is one of 74 programs funded by United Way of the Columbia-Willamette in the four-county Portland/Vancouver metro area.

Pictured Above L-R:  Bienestar staff & Promotores with United Way Community Agency of the Year Award:  Maria Moreno, Guillermina Alonso, Enrique Contreras, Karen Shawcross, Gracie Garcia and Alejandro Ortega.

“Bienestar continues to thrive in its collaborative relationships and professional development of staff and Promotores,” says United Way Community Investment Manager Roserria Roberts; “Your organization mirrors what United Way is about…education, income and health; people working across sectors for the betterment of all to LIVING UNITED.”

Bienestar is a nonprofit community development corporation based in Hillsboro providing affordable housing and resident services for farmworkers and low-income working families in Washington and Columbia counties.  For 27 years, Bienestar (formerly Housing Development Corporation) has been working to unleash the potential of people to improve the quality of life for themselves, their children, their families and the community. Visit www.bienestar-or.org for more information.

The Promotores program at Bienestar is in the third year of grant funding from United Way.  Promotores, or “community connectors” are peer leaders selected from Bienestar’s apartments.  They receive special training in leadership, community resources and then go back into their communities, each making 40 home visits annually to determine the needs of resident families and help connect them with community resources.

The Promotores Program builds upon the “popular education” model developed by Brazilian educator Paolo Freire, and applied by international development rural health programs using lay community health workers to teach basic health education and self-help.  Bienestar’s program expands upon this model using data gathered through regular resident surveys to address any barriers, including, but not limited to health, using our resident Promotores as “connectors.”  Our Promotores are trained to provide information and access to resources to resident families about health, housing, food, parenting, employment, financial literacy, immigration, legal issues, and more.  The program was initiated by Bienestar’s former co-director Linda Netherton in 2005 when the name of the organization was Housing Development Corporation of NW Oregon.

Attending the awards celebration were Bienestar Promotores Guillermina Alonso, Enrique Contreras and Alejandro Ortega, who looked on with pride as Shawcross accepted the award.

Bienestar Program Services Manager Gracie Garcia says:  “When I see the Promotores grow into strong community leaders and witness the many ways in which they are able to help our working poor families as they face the challenges of daily life, I feel proud of Bienestar and United Way for offering this program”.  Promotores coordinators Yolanda Valenzuela, Maria Moreno and Juan Carlos Aguilera work closely with the promotores to help them develop leadership, communications and counseling skills to work effectively with the families.

This year Bienestar expanded its program this year to 15 Promotores who serve their 458 neighbors in nine properties in Washington County.  “What I realized quickly after becoming executive director”, says Karen Shawcross, “is that Promotores is not just a program for Bienestar – it is a critical part of the infrastructure that achieves our mission of building housing, hope and futures for the well-being of working families.  The Promotores are our eyes, ears, arms and legs into our communities, building trust and credibility so that we can truly serve our residents with programs, resources and tools that will help them move toward self-sufficiency.”

United Way of the Columbia-Willamette is working to advance the common good by focusing on the basics we all need for success:  education, income, and health.  We all win when children succeed in school, families are financially stable and independent, and people have good health.  Our goal is to create long-lasting changes that prevent problems from happening in the first place.  By working together we can create opportunities for a better life and create a stronger community.  That’s what it means to LIVE UNITED.  Visit www.unitedway-pdx.org.

For more information, contact Karen Shawcross at Bienestar at 503.693.2937, Ext. 104 or kshawcross@hdcnwo.org or Roserria Roberts at United Way at 503.226.9357 or RoserriaR@Unitedway-pdx.org.

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