Organizing Strategies

Padres Unidos most directly involves educators and leaders in the community, who work to organize and mobilize volunteers in the community to together uplift Santa Ana students and their family as a whole, both inside and outside of the classroom, though it can be argued that experiences outside the classroom undoubtedly inform in-class learning.  Mass incarceration, familial structures, and immigrant miseducation or lack of access to education all inform urban education in the Santa Ana area and the work of Padres Unidos in working to combat and mediate such struggles.  Padres Unidos approached the needs of their community by formulating programs to specifically address areas in need of support, including: “Parent as Teachers/Early Education” program focused classroom readiness for young children entering the schooling system and how parents can support their students, the comprehensive “Strong Families” program, a “Community Engagement” program for “commited parent volunteers” to potentially receive certification to further support those in their community, as well as “Services for Families of Incarcerated Youth” which work to directly address the gaps in community and increased need that incarceration can create in families and students.  Their direction of creating distinct programs for needs rather than trying to address the wide range of circumstances affecting the community members of Santa Ana have resulted in a stronger, more supported, and empowered community.  Through their programs, over 50% of parents report “the ability to identify when they needed help and actively sought out this help” and “an increase in viewing themselves as valuable and able to contribute to their communities.”  In the classroom, “99% of the child participants of the Early Education Programs demonstrated an increase in their scores. On average, they scored a statistically significant 58 points higher after their participation suggesting a 48.3% increase in overall scores,” highlighting the community impact Padres Unidos has accomplished through their well-adapted organization and programs for Santa Ana.  Suspected obstacles the organization faces–as many community-based organizations do–include funding, consistency in available volunteers, and expanding to further support their community, including in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Despite such looming challenges, the long-time support and work of the organization spanning over two decades suggests the resiliency of Padres Unidos.