Immigrant Services Program launched
Recognizing the growing demand for support of immigrants and asylum seekers in the Northeast, in May 2023, CDI launched its first program designed to service immigrant communities.
We understand that supporting diverse immigrant communities requires an intimate understanding of each community’s situation, of external forces affecting their access to economic opportunities, and their culture and language to make the largest impact.
CDI’s deep expertise in co-op development, worker ownership transitions, housing, and cooperative food distribution networks translates to increased revenue and economic power for immigrants, and in turn, the US economy.
Immigrants are at the core of the U.S. Economy*
Currently, Immigrants account for 17 percent of the U.S. economic output (GDP), even higher than their share of the population. They hold about $1.3 trillion in purchasing power, create around 1 in 4 new businesses, and employ close to 8 million American workers, according to a 2022 congressional report co-released by the Joint Economic Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Immigrants are essential to the economic health and growth of our region and the broader US, and they played a significant role in the economic recovery after COVID-19 despite being disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
However, immigrants struggle to access consistent financing and cultural support to build resilience and economic growth in the communities where they live.
Empowering immigrants with the ability to develop cooperative enterprises allows them to become economically independent and continue to be powerful contributors to our economy.
Leadership
CDI’s Immigrant Services is led by Pável Uranga, a former community journalist and community organizer with more than 20 years of experience working with unions, students, campesinos, and human rights organizations in several Latin American Countries and the US.
His experience has allowed him to carry out individual and collective social justice initiatives, including immigrants’ rights, community radio, qualitative and participatory research processes, case studies, and training for leadership development and collaborative labor and grassroots movements.
We need your help
In its early stages, CDI’s Immigrant Services Program aims to accomplish the following:
- Support the deeper and more intentional development of an immigrant cooperative services business alliance, focusing on networking opportunities and mutual benefit support networks specifically for co-ops led by immigrants.
- Increase local ownership of businesses, housing, land, and other assets and food sovereignty for immigrant groups.
- Spread our knowledge of co-op development among culturally / linguistically appropriate and supportive partnering organizations.
- Fundraise and partner with financial institutions to invest more general resources into the Immigrant Services Program and its beneficiaries.
- Serve more culturally and linguistically diverse BIPOC and low-income cooperators with a concentrated program to serve the immigrant communities of the Northeast.
- Support the knowledge development and research into the possibilities of Worker-led Ownership Transitions.
Contact Us
To reach our goals, we need your continued support! There are many ways you can help. If any of the following applies to you, please reach out to: puranga@cdi.coop.
- You are an immigrant who needs our support or services
- You are interested in partnering with CDI to make an impact in your community
- You are a legislator or an advocate who wishes to partner with us for research or other initiatives
- If you are interested in making a donation, please visit our donation page, here.
