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Listos Mountain View apoya y aboga por las necesidades de los niños de familias inmigrantes en la ciudad, con el fin de crear una comunidad fuerte, segura y feliz.

1. APOYO A LA SALUD EMOCIONAL Y MENTAL PARA LOS NIÑOS MÁS AFECTADOS

Debido a la situación política y social en Estados Unidos nuestros niños más vulnerables de la comunidad van directamente a la casa después de la escuela para permanecer en ella porque los padres están trabajando o tienen miedo de su seguridad fuera de su hogar. Queremos crear lugares seguros para que los niños estén en la escuela o en la comunidad y evitar este aislamiento.

Los niños están hablando con amigos en la escuela sobre lo que escuchan en casa y en los medios de comunicación. Los niños deben compartir adecuademente lo que sienten, así como los padres y otras personas deben aprender a hablar sobre los problemas de manera segura pero sin generar miedo.

Listos  Mountain View aboga en la ciudad para que se implementen programas adecuados de cuidado de niños después de la escuela. Nuestra comunidad immigrante hispana tiene necesidades especiales para cuidado de después de la escuela. Muchos de los padres hispanos son gente muy trabajadora pero con limitada educación escolarizada, por ello necesitan trabajar varios turnos y tienen poco tiempo para dedicarle a sus hijos así como reducidos recursos pagar por el cuidado de sus niños. Por estos motivos, es importante que el cuidado de niños tenga ayuda especializada para tareas, además de actividades deportivas, artísticas, recreativas y debido a las circunstancias políticas y sociales también se necesita apoyo emocional.

2. EDUCACIÓN Y PREPARACIÓN PARA PADRES Y LA COMUNIDAD EN GENERAL

Las familias quieren saber lo que hacer para estar preparadas para cualquier situación. Estamos trabajando con el Condado de Santa Clara y organizaciones sin fines de lucro legales para identificar exactamente lo que las familias necesitan saber para  proteger a sus niños y a todos los miembros de la familia. 

En Listos Mountain View ponemos en contacto a las familias con proveedores que puedan ayudarlos a redactar planes de emergencia, redactar poderes notariales y buscar alivio migratorio.

3. PASAPORTES

Ayuda para tramitar pasaportes. Listos Mountain View ayuda a llenar la documentación necesaria para obtener el pasaporte de identidad de Estados Unidos de América para los miembros de la familia que son ciudadanos.

About Listos-MV

Mission, Vision, Values

To maintain and strengthen our community by supporting our families so they feel safe and empowered.

1. Emotional and mental health support for the children most affected

Our most vulnerable children go directly home after school to remain indoors because parents are working or are fearful about their safety outside their home. We want to create safe places for kids to be at school or in the community to prevent this isolation.

Children are talking to friends at school about what they hear at home. Children need to share appropriately what they are feeling and parents and others need to learn how to talk about the issues safely but without building fear.

2. Education and preparedness for parents and the community at large

Families want to know what they need to do to feel empowered and prepared for any situation. We are working with the County and legal non-profits to identify exactly what our parents need to know so we can match them with providers who can help them write emergency plans, draft Powers of Attorney, and pursue affirmative immigration relief.

3. Assistance with and funding for acquiring needed paperwork and documentation

Our families need help with obtaining documents for themselves and their children, such as picture IDs for identification purposes, US passports for native-born children, and dual citizenship with their home country. We plan to help with every step of the process and by identifying methods for attaining picture IDs that do not identify one’s immigration status.

 

Goals for the Coming Year

  • Affordable and universal after-school care in Mountain View. We would like to partner with the school district, city, the YMCA, and other relevant stakeholders to develop a city-wide, non-segregated after-school program in Mountain View that provides consistent, affordable, and enriching activities to elementary school-age children.
  • Drop-in, free legal consultations for the community. We are advocating for funding a legal fellow to work under CLSEPA to provide affirmative immigration relief assessments and general legal triage. Our immigrant community has layered legal needs, as often immigration, housing, employment, family law, and domestic violence issues overlap.
  • Continue assisting the community with legal support through workshops. We plan to continue partnering with our local school PTAs and districts to raise awareness about Know-Your-Rights and provide legal support.
  • Increase Whatsapp group. We will continue to add members to our Whatsapp group so we communicate directly and efficiently with members of the communicate about important news and resources.
  • Raise awareness with our ally community. We will build a website and develop and grow relationships with key stakeholders.
  • Strengthen Listos MV. We hope to attract more volunteers to help lighten the load and increase our longevity as an organization.

 

Our Story

When the impact of the governmental executive orders left many in our community feeling unsafe and helpless, a small group of concerned parents came together to build a safety net. Spurred by a heavily-attended Know Your Rights seminar at our school, we began meeting to identify what we as a community could do.

STAFF

Maria Dinard has been involved for four years in the Castro and Mistral’s PTA in various roles, including VP of Communications and PR and Room Parent Coordinator, ensuring the community receives information in both Spanish and English. She has enjoyed volunteering with the school’s Spanish reading programs. She has led several PTA sponsored community events. In a past life, Maria was a Montessori preschool teacher, managed the PR for a small local museum and for a marketing non-profit organization.

 

Makenzie Gallego is a Registered Associate Clinical Social Worker, with a specialization in school-based social work and mental health services. She has held positions with several school districts and non-profits, including the Redwood City Police Department, Sunnyvale Elementary School District, Rebekah Children’s Services, Ableworks, and, currently, Cupertino Union School District. She founded and chairs the Missions Board at Palo Alto Vineyard Church, which oversees all financial giving and volunteer efforts for the church. She also serves as a program consultant to Ableworks, volunteers with Project Cornerstone at Mistral School, sits on the regional planning committee for the California Society of Clinical Social Work, and serves with a leadership team coordinating an expansion into Palo Alto of a homelessness outreach program called Street Life Ministries.

 

Sarah Livnat served as president of Castro and Mistral Elementary Schools for two years and as the president of the Dual Immersion Advisory Board for one year. She has participated on two MVWSD task forces: the Castro Restructuring Task Force and the recent Student Attendance Areas Advisory Task Force. Sarah also has extensive experience working with policy makers, legislators, and regulators on topics of financial services for underserved communities with a focus on Latino low-income communities with her work in Government and Community Relations at Oportun, a provider of affordable, credit building loans for the underserved.

 

Tania O’Connell has served on the MVPNS board of directors, on the Gabriela Mistral Elementary School PTA, and on the Orchard Townhome Association board. She is a bilingual volunteer recruiter and organizer at the Castro and Mistral Elementary Schools and has chaired fundraising and cultural events in the MV-LA area.

 

Jill Rakestraw, our newly-appointed executive director, has served on several local nonprofit boards and currently serves on the Mountain View Educational Foundation board and as the President of the Monta Loma Neighborhood Association.

 

Katharine Rosenberry is a lawyer and was a law professor for 30 years. She has served on a variety of nonprofit boards such as the San Diego Bar Association Foundation, the charitable arm of the Bar Association, and as President of the Community Associations Institute, a nonprofit that creates best practices for homeowner associations. In addition to numerous other publications, she wrote a course for homeowners to assist them in running homeowners associations and a facilitator’s’ guide for the course. The course is offered throughout the U.S. She has taught classes in England and China, has made presentations in seven countries, and has assisted both the California legislature and the English legislature in drafting laws.

 

 

Diana Wegbreit is a Marriage and Family Therapist and has spent her career at local mental health nonprofits, namely, EMQ Children and Family Services, Teen and Family Counseling Center, and Community Health Awareness Council, where she provided mental health assessment, case management, and therapy for children, adults, and families. She has volunteered regularly for the past five years on the Mistral/Castro campus as room parent, tour guide, and for school events.