(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Chicanos Por La Causa.)
By Katya Mendoza | Arizona Daily Star
Chicanos Por La Causa will host a virtual event in celebration of its 52nd anniversary.
‘Visions for Tomorrow’ will be an interactive livestream beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20. It will include speeches from organizational leaders, special guests such as Tejano music band Little Joe Y La Familia and state legislator Robert Meza and members of the community as a way to recognize the social and economic achievements they have accomplished over the past year.
Originally founded in 1969 by a group of young Mexican-American activists, Chicanos Por La Causa is one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the country, serving approximately 625,000 people of all backgrounds across its partnering states.
The organization whose mission is to drive economic and political empowerment for the Latino community, served over 2.1 million people during the pandemic, offering assistance in areas such as economic development, housing, education and health care. Over 30% of those people were non-Latinos said David Adame, president and CEO of CPLC.
Through their program, CPLC Prestamos, the organization was able to make payroll protection program loans (PPP) to the small businesses during the pandemic.
“During the 2021 round of that program, we ended up being the third largest lender in the country, only behind Chase and Bank of America,” Adame said. “The organization was able to loan $7.6 billion in assistance, helping out half a million small businesses.”
CPLC’s community development financial institution was also awarded $5 million from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott last Decemeber.
Over the past year, the annual budget of CPLC has quadrupled from $100 million to $400 million according to Tony Moya, the chair of CPLC’s board of directors and manager of Latino relations at the Salt River Project.
