SOUTHSHORE LIFE MAGAZINE
From Fields to Fields of Dreams
Custom Cakes by Carmen
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nterprising Latinas knows that we are realizing our mission when we see our members articulating their own vision of success and taking real steps to accomplish them. We recognize that Carmen Galarza is truly the ultimate example! Carmen’s parents migrated to the U.S. from Mexico to work in the fields of Wimauma and followed the harvest around the country along with their children. The family’s home base was Wimauma, where Carmen has lived all of her life. She grew up to be a farmworker too, working, playing, building community, and expecting Padre Chencho from the Guadalupe Mission to share lollipops with the farmworkers’ children under the orange grove trees. Like many of her peers, she served as a bridge between her parents and the rest of the world—serving as a translator, filling paperwork, and running family errands. As she became a mother of three, Carmen began to have dreams of her own. But those dreams kept getting thwarted by too many circumstances in her life. But Carmen didn’t give up. Eighteen years ago, while working her way up from school (Continued on next page)
Thank you Liz Gutierrez Enterprising Latinas enables women to overcome barriers and step confidently into the world of business and leadership. As Liz often emphasized, "Talent is everywhere— Opportunities are too." Barriers are made to be overcome, and Enterprising Latinas serves as a vehicle for women to gain the awareness, skills and resources they need to use the talent and tenacity they already have.
From its humble beginnings, Enterprising Latinas grew to become a driving force for economic development and social change in Wimauma. From its humble beginnings, Enterprising Latinas grew to become a driving force for economic development and social change in Wimauma. The organization's home base became a hub of collaboration through its Wimauma Opportunity Center, a place where all residents of Wimauma and surrounding communities can access resources and the support they need to imagine the possibilities and realize their dreams. Over the past six years, since the launch of the Wimauma Opportunity Center, thousands of residents have benefited from the organization’s services, over 600 women and men have completed the workforce training programs that paved the way for better and higher wage employment opportunities, 200 have
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graduated from their entrepreneurship training and 80+ have started their own business. This year, the organization launched its zero-interest microloan program capitalized at $50,000 because of the generosity of donors from the South Shore and already three women entrepreneurs have been the first recipients of the loan program. Beyond women’s individual empowerment, through the organization’s community development efforts, the ripple effect of Enterprising Latinas' work is felt throughout the entire community. As a result of its work, Wimauma has an updated neighborhood plan that seeks to mitigate the gentrification of its farm working community and revitalize its downtown commercial district. The plan established new rules for development and imposes certain community benefits that will ensure that development in Wimauma improves the quality of life for all residents. To address the health crisis during the pandemic, Enterprising Latinas led the way to create a collective community response to the Covid-19 pandemic by bringing together over 30+ nonprofit and government agencies that collaborated to address the pressing needs of the Wimauma’s most