EN ESPAÑOL: Preguntas y Respuestas: Mes del Patrimonio Latino con Asa Zuccaro
In celebration of Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month, Program Officer Chakara Wheeler sits down with Asa Ascencio Zuccaro, Executive Director of the Latinx Technology & Community Center. This nonprofit organization plays a pivotal role in improving the dignity and quality of life for the Latinx community in Flint and Genesee County, while also embracing and supporting other cultures.
In this Q&A, Asa shares insights into his heritage, the center’s community impact, and ways to get involved.
Chakara Wheeler: Asa, welcome. Can you share a bit about the Center’s mission and the services it provides to the community?
Asa Zuccaro: When I started, the Center was still a part of that collective action to respond to the Flint Water Crisis. When we took a look at readdressing our mission statement, we had having a healthy community in mind. We wanted to reframe the mission to focus on building a healthy, prosperous, and culturally vibrant community. It's important for people to express their identity and feel connected to their culture, so we made that a core part of our mission.
CW: How did you incorporate that cultural vibrancy at the Latinx Technology & Community Center?
AZ: My own experiences growing up here and living in Mexico for over a year really shaped that. It was upon that return to Flint, after having lived abroad in Mexico, that really ignited my spirit to want to be involved and share so much that I learned while I was in Mexico with the greater community. It was out of that experience that we started some programs to address some of those experiences that I had that I wish would have been different when I was growing up. We created programs, like one for elementary kids, that teach them about the greatness of their cultural identity, something I wish I had when I was young.
CW: I love the walk and the path that it took you and how you ended up landing here at the Technology Center. What strengths and opportunities do you see emerging within the Hispanic and Latinx communities?
AZ: There is a strong history, especially from our cultural community that exists in Flint and Genesee County. My great grandparents came straight to Flint straight from Mexico in 1920, over 100 years ago. When I was growing up, that was always so perplexing or so confusing to me. It's like—y'all could've went anywhere in the United States. Y'all came to Flint. Why? That was definitely taken at a different time and in a different lens, and I just didn’t know that Flint was the place to be. But with that, there's so much history that Flint has with the Hispanic community, and there's so many contributions that this cultural community has had in Flint and Genesee County.
CW: What do you see emerging from the community today?
AZ: That’s interesting, because so much has happened in the past 100 years with migration patterns, immigration patterns and people coming to live in Flint and Genesee County. What we see today is economic and governmental turmoil happening in different Latin American countries. We see that people are seeking refuge, seeking asylum, and are really looking for a safe place to raise a family, to start a business, to get a job and to live.
What we see today in Flint, Genesee County and even throughout the state of Michigan, is this increase in Latin immigrants coming to live in our local neighborhoods. With this increase, we see so many homes right from the land bank that are being purchased and that are being renovated. We see more home occupations, which increases our population in the city and increases our tax base. And what we've been able to do to help people at the Center. Just this year alone, we've helped 75 people get employed. We've increased the number of people that are employed in our local community, and we’ve also helped 34 people register their LLC and create businesses. We have people getting hired, people contributing to our workforce and really occupying these homes and renovating these homes.
CW: That’s amazing, because it’s generating revenue within the community. What other ways is the Latinx Technology & Community Center supporting families coming to Flint?
AZ: At the center, we talk about our principal location being a resource center for the community. We've been operating out of this building since 2001, and it's really been like just a pillar for the east side. Anybody in Flint, Genesee County, or across the state of Michigan can come to our resource center and get the support that they need. But what we see is we have a bilingual staff and a staff that understands the experiences of recent arrivals, of our immigrants or people with cultural differences, and we're able to support them just with that understanding.
We’re able to help support families when they get here, help them enroll into Flint Public Schools, enrolling their kids into education, or helping them apply for benefits so their babies can go to Pre-K. Additionally, we have English as a second language courses at the Center that we're able to support those families with. In addition, we're able to support those service providers with our Spanish as a second language course. I think one of the biggest things that our community leans on are our language services. We're able to provide an interpreter, or a translator to really help with communication.
CW: What is next for your organization?
AZ: You know, thank you for asking that question, because I'm so excited to share with the community. One project that we have coming up that we're really excited about is creating a bilingual Early Childhood Education Center right on Flint’s east side, right there on Lewis Street. This two-story building on the first floor will have capacity for 65 students in early learning, which is a game changer for the east side. Currently, the east side is labeled as one of these early childhood deserts. There's just not enough opportunities or enough seats available for the number of children that exist in the community. We're excited to have this game-changing, state-of-the-art facility.
CW: I love this! What message do you have for listeners about the importance or embracing and supporting Hispanic and Latinx culture in Flint and Genesee County?
AZ: I think about a lot of things, just at the organizational level, like how many people we've served here on Flint’s east side since 1966. Hispanic individuals have held leadership roles in Flint and Genesee County for years, especially during Flint’s heyday, with more representation from our community on boards, in organizations, and institutions. There is a great leadership legacy from our culture community for Flint and Genesee County, and I think it brings that other perspective into the fold. I think the great thing about embracing the culture for Flint and Genesee County is that beautiful piece that makes the community feel fuller and feel complete.
CW: How can people get involved with your organization, whether through volunteering, attending events, or even contributing to your causes?
AZ: There are so many ways to get involved, and a lot of them are fun! You can attend one of our events, like the Cinco de Mayo celebration downtown, where we have authentic food vendors. Or join us at our Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta luncheon to learn more about Flint's history and the United Farm Workers.
If you haven’t experienced Dia de Muertos, head to the Flint Institute of Arts for one of my favorite cultural events. We always need volunteers, especially for big events like Trick or Treat on Lewis Street. One of the favorite things our immigrant community or new arrivals always hear about is Halloween, but they never got to celebrate it. We're so excited when we get to invite them out to celebrate with us. In 2023, we had candy for over 2000 kids.
CW: Anything else you want to add?
AZ: I want to say thank you to the Community Foundation for providing the platform and the support over the years and helping support financially with our programs. But being a nonprofit in Flint and Genesee County, one of the most important things that we can do is being philanthropic and make those donations. Our organization cannot run without the support of volunteers and without those monetary donations that come from everyday community members. So please, reach out to us if you want to get involved. You can find our information at latinxflint.org. We are right on Flint's east side, but if you can't make it out, please help us by making a donation, and support the mission.
Philanthropy Speaks Podcast
This Q&A is an excerpt from an episode of Philanthropy Speaks. Tune in to the full podcast here.
