“People are really listening.”

“We’ve led five trainings already,” Natividad said last week.

When Unidos was asked to bring the Homelessness 101 training to Spanish-speaking residents, we didn’t just translate it, we asked the people who know the issue best to teach it. Carmen and Natividad rewrote the language and made it their own. Carmen has led homeless outreach, while Natividad brings housing instability experience.

Now, every few weeks, they open the doors and welcome neighbors in. Single moms, elders, renters one paycheck from losing housing, others who thought they had the answers.

Carmen walks them through rising rents. Natividad explains what happens when someone can’t get mental health care. Together, they name the policies that broke the system and the resilience it takes to survive it.

By the end, someone always says it. “I didn’t know this could happen to anyone.”

And that’s where things begin to shift. People didn't rush out. They stay behind. They talk. They ask. They wonder aloud what they can do, right here, in their own neighborhood.

Miriam Zuniga
Adult Program Director