Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania became an imperative choice for expansion due to its rapidly growing and diverse Hispanic population. Because of Pennsylvania’s wealth of diversity, Democracia USA (D-USA) opened two strategically located offices in the Keystone State; the first to serve the Southeastern population of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the second centrally located in Reading. D-USA provides a distinctive opportunity in Pennsylvania to more than 394,000 Hispanics that live here, and the thousands that are moving into the state every year. In 2006, D-USA saw great civic engagement potential in the state and continues its successful operations in Philadelphia and Reading under the local expert leadership of Pennsylvania State Director Miguel Concepcion Thomas. Below is a brief report of Democracia USA’s work in Pennsylvania.
2008-2009 Democracia USA Pennsylvania Statewide Report
- Registered over 34,000 new Latino voters in 2008 and mobilized over 90% of them to vote in the 2008 General Election
- Registered new Hispanic voters through volunteer voter registration drives in 2009
- Worked with nationally-recognized environmental groups and local organizations to organize an Action Day which educated the local Latino community about green jobs and environmental issues.
- The Action Day put Philadelphia in second place nationally with signed petitions for the Green Jobs Now Campaign
- Organized the Reading School Districts Parent Teacher Association to address the differences between the Latino students and African-American students
- Educated Latinos on the importance of being counted in the 2010 Census
- Educated the Latino Community about the digital television transition and provided technical support to the elderly by connecting their digital boxes and setting them to the correct frequencies
- Trained and graduated 24 Latino leaders in the Pennsylvania premier of the Democracia USA Leadership Academy in partnership with I-Lead in 2009
Democracia U.S.A Pennsylvania Southeast
2702 North 5th St
Philadelphia, PA 19133
Phone: 215-425-7540
Fax: 215-425-5715
Contact: Gloria Garcia
E mail: GGarcia@democraciausa.org
Democracia U.S.A partners for Pennsylvania
Democracia U.S.A. Pennsylvania Central
502 Walnut Street
Reading, PA 19601
Phone: 610 373-7890
Fax: 610 373-7894
Contact: Gabrielina Polanco
E mail: gpolanco@democraciausa.org
I Lead
115 Petrie Avenue
Rosemont, PA 19010
877.470.1474
www.i-lead.org
Pennsylvania Association of Latino Organizations, Inc. (PALO)
(717) 920-4727
www.paloweb.org
ASPIRA, Inc. of Pennsylvania
4322 North 5th Street, 3rd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19140
www.aspirapa.org
Congreso de Latinos Unidos
216 West Somerset Street
Philadelphia, PA 19133
Phone: (215) 763-8870
www.congreso.net
The Lighthouse
152 W. Lehigh Ave.
Philadelphia, Pa 19133
Phone: 215.425.7800 fax 215.425.6091
www.lighthousephilly.org
Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition
PSLC MAILING ADDRESS
PO Box 40929
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone: 267-259-2103
www.pslconline.org
The Committee of Seventy
Eight Penn Center
1628 JFK Boulevard
Suite 1002
Philadelphia, PA 19103
p. 215-557-3600
www.seventy.org
National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights
NCPRR MAILING ADDRESS
P.O. Box 5094
Hialeah, Fl 33014
www.NCPRR.US
