Ursinus College
(COLLEGEVILLE, PA)
Purpose of the project
Ursinus College is located outside Philadelphia near Collegeville and Norristown, two areas in which the Latinx population has grown tremendously. With initiative from student leader, Jenni Berrios, the Ursinus team partnered with Centro de Cultura, Arte Trabajo y Educación (CCATE), a long-term community partner who addresses hunger issues and serves families in Norristown.
CCATE’s mission, according to their website ccate.org, is “to ignite social transformation by developing and empowering the Latinx community through culture, art, training, and education.” With approximately 30% of the population identifying as Latinx in Norristown, and often experiencing anti-immigrant sentiments, Obed Arango recognized the untapped potential within the community. Arango founded CCATE in 2011 to realize that potential. With only one full-time and two part-time staff, CCATE depends on a large volunteer base, which, in the last year-and-a-half, has included over 15 student interns and volunteers from Ursinus.
The team leveraged their skills to create appealing educational resources for families, including pamphlets (like this one) in food baskets.
Jenni Berrios was one of those volunteers, who worked as a Bonner Leader at CCATE since her freshman year. Jenni recruited a team to address food insecurity for the Latinx immigrant community through a collaboration with CCATE. In 2020-2021, they expanded CCATE’s program to ensure that Latinx residents of the area, some of whom may be undocumented, had access to food and resources, especially given the shortages during the pandemic). Additionally, they took a harder look at the issue through dialogue, interviews, and research, in order to inform and create a sustained program at CCATE.
MEET THE TEAM LEADERSHIP
Jenni Berrios is a rising senior at Ursinus College. She studies Spanish and Photojournalism, with a minor in Peace and Social Justice. She is Salvadoran American and was born in Dallas, Texas. Her connection to CCATE was introduced through her Bonner Coordinator, Katie Turek. From there, she formed a relationship between CCATE and Ursinus. She still serves as an intern at CCATE and helps with the afterschool program and college prep program. Her role is to oversee the connection between leaders and managers at CCATE, and Ursinus volunteers.
Maia Peele is an undergraduate student (Class of ‘23) at Ursinus College originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is majoring in Anthropology and Sociology. Maia serves as Rotaract Club President and on the executive board of Sankofa Umoja Nia (S.U.N.) as the Activities Coordinator. Maia joined the Bonner Program as a sophomore. Through it, she was introduced to CCATE where she was provided the opportunity to become a Fundraiser Leader with CCATE. They also involved Jadidsa Perez, Class of ‘21, in the project, as well as roughly eight other students and staff. Katie Turek and Christian Rice, Bonner Director and a faculty member, provided guidance.
MEETING DIRECT NEEDS WHILE UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE
The project built on, documented, promoted, and expanded a food distribution program that CCATE began shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. In March of 2020, based on families’ evolving needs due to the pandemic, and with the support of local organizations and small Mexican businesses, CCATE began a weekly food distribution program in Norristown.
The program began as a partnership with Greener Partners, which began weekly donations of fresh produce for the community. Since then it has grown to include the collaboration of local Mexican businesses, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and a team of 10+ community leaders and volunteers who meet weekly to gather, organize, distribute, and deliver weekly food baskets to families who are experiencing food insecurity.
With support from the Racial Justice Community Fund and the broader Ursinus team, the program expanded. CCATE was able to deliver thousands of meals through May 31, 2021. The team’s work on program development, which included surveys, interviews, and research, was critical in that process. Listening to the needs and realities of the families was a big part of that work. “We changed and adapted our plans as we saw what did not work and what did. We are happy to have been able to have provided 2,850 baskets within the community,” Jenni said.
The team’s work was critical in supporting CCATE to develop and sustain weekly food distribution. As more workers lost their jobs, more families found themselves in need and CCATE realized that the program must continue. The team utilized funds to create a solid foundation for the program, allowing both families and the agency to use their resources for other costs.
ADDRESSING NUTRITION THROUGH PROGRAM AND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
“Something we really pride ourselves on is the fact that our baskets did not have processed foods and that was a goal since the start of the program,” Jenni said. The team also supported workshops and programming on gardening and healthy eating. CCATE provides a public community garden where families can grow and pick vegetables and crops.
The team conducted conversations with family members, documenting and analyzing the food needs of the community. They designed and implemented surveys to help CCATE address their clients’ needs more effectively. To address language challenges, the team made a video in Spanish and English to encourage families to complete surveys. This increased responses and allowed the team to identify what food items families most wanted in food baskets. The video was significant to the community, demonstrating a willingness to cross-cultural and language barriers.
The team’s video was effective at reaching Spanish speaking families – as well as encouraging other non-Spanish speaking volunteers that they could participate too.
INNOVATIVE ADAPTATIONS
Originally envisioning the development of a culturally rich cookbook filled with recipes from community members, the team encountered a challenge. Most families were busy working and unable to spend the time on recipe writing. Still, three people participated. The team adapted its plans for selling the community cookbook to raise funds to a simple raffle for Ursinus merchandise to the Ursinus community. The team was able to get $230 in donations. They also landed press and more recognition for the project, including coverage on Ursinus’ website. They foresee picking up with the cookbook’s creation in the coming year.
Ursinus College ran a story about the team’s work in March, 2021. The article recognized the leadership of three Bonner leaders working on the project—Jenni Berrios ’22, Jadidsa Perez ’21 and Maia Peele ’23.
LONG TERM EDUCATION AND SUSTAINABILITY
As the program became more established, the team was able to write material and interviews to share through an online blog and website for Ursinus and CCATE. These publications increased visibility and support for the program. In spring, they developed resources and information for families about racial justice and equity, with a particular focus on food justice. They outlined topics and issues related to include in pamphlets in the weekly food distribution baskets.
The also conducted focus groups where individuals talked about their health journey with nutritional food. These activities helped the team and CCATE to examine the relationship of food justice and ethnicity and race. The team hopes to continue its work in 2021-2022, linking it both to their ongoing Bonner Leader placements and capstones.
Read aN ADDITIONAL profile about
student LEADER Jennifer Berrios here
to learn more
To learn more about the organization CCATE and its program (or to offer financial support), visit their website here.
Ursinus College News covered the Bonner Leader students work on the project in this article.