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Hundreds of San Diego residents receive assistance through Pilipino Workers Center

PWC culminates Team and Changes special outreach project with a free-check up for caregivers
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SAN DIEGO — Pilipino
Workers Center (PWC) San Diego culminated their Team and Changes special outreach project with a community presentation outreach last May 27 at the National Public Library in National City, CA. The event was the final leg of a 3-month long outreach program, which collectively has reached more than 700 residents of San Diego.
Previous outreach events occurred on March 31 at Parkwood Villa Apartments and on April 8 at the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA in San Diego.
Through the Team and Changes program, Pilipino Workers Center (PWC) provides assistance to communities with limited English proficiency, lowincome individuals and families, and the elderly population who are often technologically challenged and vulnerable to scams. Close to 500 people attended PWC’s April 8 outreach event, majority of whom were from the elderly population and who were in dire need of assistance.
“My heart bled seeing so many people with oxygen tanks lined up before we started setting up at 8:30 a.m., and come to find out they had been there since 6:30 a.m. The event wasn’t set to start until 10 a.m.,” said PWC SD organizer, Nicanora Montenegro.
In the series of outreach events, Pilipino Workers Center, in partnership with various allies in the community such as Grandparents Connection, Mabuhay Foundation and National Federation of Filipino Associations (NAFAA), organized workshops to educate the community about understanding the charges on their telephone, internet and utility bills. As hundreds of people showed up seeking relief from inflated debt and rate hikes, the organizers offered assistance through education and resources for billrelated issues.
“There were people here who couldn’t write their names, and most didn’t understand the breakdown of the charges on their bills. This program was designed to assign them a caseworker to help them understand that,” said Montenegro.
Although Pilipino Workers Center explained that the organization cannot pay the