 | Happy Holidays From the Congreso Familia | |  | Congreso Familia, we invite you to enjoy some behind the scenes footage of our socially distanced holiday events this year! From everyone here at Congreso, Happy Holidays and Felices Fiestas! | | | | | | Congreso receives $5 million dollar grant from Bezos Day 1 Fund | | Congreso was honored to receive a $5 million dollar grant from the Jeff Bezos Day 1 Families Fund! Launched in 2018 by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the Day 1 Families Fund issues annual leadership awards to organizations and civic groups doing compassionate work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families. Congreso was one of 42 nonprofits across the U.S. to receive this grant. This year alone, Congreso has provided 565 families with housing counseling and rental assistance since the pandemic began, and the awarded funds will help support this work and more to address family homelessness in Philadelphia. “We are absolutely thrilled to be a recipient of this award. At Congreso, we know the power of a safe and stable home – a space where families can come together and can focus on building a bright future of economic self-sufficiency and well-being. We are grateful to the Day 1 families fund for selecting us so we may continue serving and supporting families to ensure that this basic right becomes reality,” said Carolina DiGiorgio, President & CEO of Congreso. Felicidades to the other organizations across the country who also received this award! | | | | | | Congreso’s Director of Primary Care Named Finalist for 2021 PHL Innovation Award | |  | Congreso is proud to announce Judy Emmons, Director of Primary Care at our Health Center, was nominated as a finalist for a 2021 Philadelphia Innovation Award by the Social Innovations Journal for her work in the COVID-19 Innovations Category! These awards honor our region’s most passionate Social Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Changemakers whose work and social impact too often goes unacknowledged. Public voting was open from December 7th – 13th and the winners will be announced in January. Regardless of the result, felicidades to Judy for her outstanding work during COVID-19! “These past couple of months have been really challenging, but they’ve also showed us how strong and resilient our team here at the Health Center is, and the dedication we have to serving the Northeast Philadelphia community. We’ve had many highs and lows, but through it all, we came together to serve on the frontlines of this pandemic,” said Judy. | | | | Congreso and Philadelphia Pharmacy host Annual Toy Drive | |  | With the help of Philadelphia Pharmacy, and our amazing leadership and staff, we were still able to host our Annual Congreso Toy Drive! Dozens of wrapped toys were dropped off at Congreso HQ (where they were also greeted by a Congreso reindeer), with families later scheduled to pick up their gifts for a safe and socially distanced holiday experience. “It gives us great pleasure to participate in this toy drive,” said Richard Ost of Philadelphia Pharmacy. He continued, “every child deserves to get a gift on Christmas, and we’re happy to play our small part.” Way to go, Congreso Familia, and a special gracias to the Philadelphia Pharmacy! | | | | Congreso partners with SEPTA and local family to donate 1,000th bike | | | | On December 4th, Congreso welcomed SEPTA and Chris Guinan for a donation of new and refurbished bikes for our families! Chris is a recently retired SEPTA employee who, with the help of his children (also SEPTA employees) and grandchildren, work to provide bike to families across Philadelphia. Over the course of the last 8 years, the Guinan Family has donated hundreds of bikes, and we were thrilled to accept and celebrate the 1,000th bike! In addition to bikes, our friends at TD Bank generously donated over 30 helmets to families. Gracias to SEPTA, the Guinan family, and TD bank for making this holiday season extra special for our families! | | | | | | | | Due to COVID-19, our annual prevention community dinner transformed into a Turkey Tote Giveaway! On December 9th, staff from Children & Youth Services welcomed 20 families to receive a frozen turkey and a tote bag filled with canned goods and community resources! “This year everything looked different, so that meant we had to get creative. We decided to target our families associated with our programs instead of the community to try to stay as safe as possible, said Paola Lopez, Student and Family Engagement Specialist. 9 families also walked away with donated bikes thanks to Chris Guinan and his family! Thanks again, Mr. Guinan! | | | | | | About Us Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc. is a nonprofit organization founded in 1977 with a mission to enable individuals and families in predominantly Latino neighborhoods to achieve economic self-sufficiency and well-being. To learn more about our programs, check out our impact, or read about our leadership and advisory councils, click below! | | | | | | | | Congreso relies on the support of generous individuals, foundations and corporate partners who support our mission. Your contribution helps us continue to provide innovative programming while growing our influence as an outcomes measurement thought leader. | | | | | | 216 W. Somerset St. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19133
215-763-8870 | info@congreso.net | | | | | | | |
