Statements
Mission
Our mission is to build a welcoming community and create opportunities where Latino families can belong, contribute and succeed.
Background
The need Conexion Americas is addressing in our community is best understood in the context of the remarkable demographic changes taking place in Nashville. The 2000 Census showed a 446 percent growth of the Hispanic population in Nashville from 1990. By 2000, public agencies and nonprofit organizations were dramatically challenged by this wave of newcomers. Although a few programs in large nonprofit organizations were addressing particular and isolated areas of these newcomers' needs by 2000, no organization was fully focused on Latino families in a comprehensive way. Furthermore, no organization had full cultural competence to work effectively with our community's newest neighbors coming from Mexico and other Latin American countries. The founders of Conexion Americas understood that void and its challenges. In 2002, they teamed up with an existing small nonprofit group, the Hispanic Family Resource Center (HFRC), that was exclusively dedicated to providing information-and-referral services on health-related matters. The merger allowed for the implementation of a broader approach to helping Latino families. Since then, the original information-and-referral service of the HFRC has evolved into the Spanish Help Line for Middle Tennessee and Conexion Americas' programs serve over 2,500 families per year. Today Conexion Americas is recognized as a leading Latino nonprofit in Middle Tennessee and in the state. Probably the most significant contribution Conexion Americas is making to Hispanic families and to the community at large is our approach of the complex process of immigrant integration from its multiple dimensions (socio-cultural, civic, economic) and as a two-way process, where both Latino newcomers and the host community are learning, adapting, contributing, negotiating.
Impact
Conexion Americas was founded in 2002 to address some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities created by recent demographic changes in Tennessee as Latino families come to this region searching for a better quality of life.UNDERSTANDING INTEGRATION AS A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PROCESS We believe that successful efforts to promote the integration of immigrant families into their new community recognize that, as any human experience, integration is a multidimensional process. Therefore, we focus on advocating for and supporting their integration in three interdependent areas of human development: social, economic and civic integration. PROMOTING INTEGRATION AS A TWO-WAY STREET: We also believe that true integration of immigrant families is achieved when the process is understood as a two-way learning experience that engages both the newcomers and the host community in reciprocal understanding, respect, and adaptation. Therefore, we deliberately employ a dual strategy to achieve our mission: 1) We help low- and moderate-income Latino families realize their aspirations for a better quality of life by providing comprehensive services: from information and referrals (social integration); to assistance in buying a home (economic integration); and opportunities for developing leadership skills (civic integration)2) We help our host community (long-time residents, non-profit groups, government agencies, businesses) understand the presence, contributions and challenges of Latino families in Tennessee, primarily through our advocacy and public awareness efforts.In 2018-2019, we look forward to the grand opening of Azafran Park, to working with artists on creative placemaking projects and to continuing to advocate for inclusive development through our Envision Nolensville Pike effort.
Needs
In the face of so many fundamental, pressing needs of the Latino community, our greatest challenge is the fight against forces that pull us to take on more than we can execute well, or to engage in matters that are important but peripheral to our core mission. Another great challenge are the xenophobic sentiments in certain segments of the Middle Tennessee population awakened by the debate on immigration. Our efforts to build bridges across communities have gained even greater relevance.
CEO Statement
Every year, over 10,000 families turn to Conexion Americas for support to realize their own American Dream. Latino families come to us for help to address an immediate need --like translating a document, connecting with a bilingual lawyer, or filing a tax return. Other families come to us for help to realize a dream --like improving their English skills, buying a home or starting a family business. Each of these families represent the immigrant spirit that has built this country. Their determination to provide a better future for their children and their endurance in the face of adversity are our daily inspiration.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Human Services - Ethnic/Immigrant Services |
| Secondary Category: | Community Improvement, Capacity Building - Economic Development |
| Tertiary Category: | Education - Adult Education |
Areas Served
Tennessee
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
