HAITIAN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER SANT LA INC

Sant La works to increase awareness of and access to services by community members, especially the most vulnerable. Our organizational goals include: 1)increasing access to services and supports by connecting clients to safety-net benefits; 2)promoting physical, mental and environmental well-being, healthy habits, access to healthcare through health insurance enrollment; 3)promoting the full integration of Haitian immigrants through naturalization application support and citizenship test preparation; 4)advancing financial security through tax preparation, job training, job placement, workforce development and financial literacy; 5)developing civic knowledge, skills and grassroots leadership for sustained engagement on quality of life issues; 6)promoting positive youth development through effective parenting and systems advocacy for youth; 7)access to specialized services that represent a life-line for this population; 8) mental health and family counseling; 9) case management for newly arrived migrants; 10) community information and education through our flagship weekly Creole-language television program, “Teleskopi”; 11) advancing equity and opportunity for community residents through public policies and investments; 10) collaborating with the social justice community to advance opportunity, inclusion, equity, public participation, and policy options that improve the lives of under resourced communities.

Our strategies include:
• Promoting deeper collaborative relationships among providers who serve the Haitian community;
• Assessing the needs/issues affecting the Haitian community;
• Advocating for policy recommendations that address community needs;
• Removal/reduction of barriers to access services;
• Encouraging increased coordination among neighborhood-based providers as well as decreased competition and fragmentation;
• Promoting sustained community civic engagement
• Advising on culturally responsive enhancements to our systems of care for Haitian children, their families and caregivers;
• Working to create a provider community that respects and values the community’s cultural background and heritage;
• Disseminating best practices approaches;
• Promoting accountability of providers for their increased cultural competency in serving language-minority populations as well as providing quality services

Sant La's capabilities to meet our stated goals include:
committed board
visionary leadership
dedicated, skilled and tenured team
programs and initiatives that respond to documented community needs
diversified funding stream
successful fundraising events
increased agency reserves to ensure our ability to test new programs/services and that ensure our long term sustainability

Sant La’s key accomplishments include being a 19-year strong, award-winning community-based resource center that operates with excellence, accountability and transparency

• We serve as a lifeline for community residents and have increased access to services for over 3,000 new, unduplicated clients per year and provide more than 8,000 units of service per year.
• We exemplify trust and credibility in articulating Haitian community issues, needs, challenges and aspirations.
• We continue to successfully advocate for policies and investments that benefit the Haitian community.
• Our active collaborative partners total more than 60 agencies and we continue to forge partnerships with local, state and national institutions to jointly support community well-being and to create programs that advance positive outcomes in health, education, and prosperity.
• We continue to increase the body of research about the Haitian community of South Florida. To date, we’ve published 10 White Papers about the local Haitian community issues. We've commissioned two demographic reports about the Haitian community of Miami-Dade County from major local and national research institutions.
• We've initiated a successful weekly television talk-show, Teleskopi, that has aired for the past thirteen years, serves to educate and engage viewers and has become a flagship program.
• We've established a Scholarship Fund to support the post-secondary pursuits of deserving Haitian students.
• We've created an organizational endowment at The Miami Foundation to safeguard our future.
• We've created a fellowship program to identify, recruit and groom emerging leaders in the Haitian community, to guarantee a community leadership pipeline.
• We've launched a campaign to encourage sustained Haitian community philanthropy.
• We have received multiple honors and awards for our leadership, community impact and service excellence.