Today we’d like to introduce you to Mayra Molina.
Hi Mayra, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I came to this country, from Venezuela, almost 23 years ago. I went through a divorce, with a baby girl, alone. I ended up living in a shelter for almost 3 months with my daughter who was almost 2 years old at the time.
I found a job, and I was able to see opportunities to help the families with low income, and the ones that were having issues with the language barrier, Utah is a blessed state, having the great resources and power to offer this type of help, it wasn’t getting to the right people or people don’t know where to go for it. I started advising/guiding people to these resources, and they keep growing. I have families coming from Salt Lake City, Ogden to talk to me in Provo.
Until I created Venezuelans in Utah County. Created social media and started doing my job more accessible. Then we united efforts with 2 more leaders and created The Venezuelan Alliance of Utah. With more than 15k Venezuelans living in Utah, our organization had been able to help them and guide them in the most important aspects: Education, health, driver’s licenses, humanitarian help, etc.
We are nonprofit and due to the success that we have, now we are helping the Latino Community in general. We are also meeting with the state authorities to pass on our most important needs and find possible solutions to the most urgent concerns. It is an amazing journey to see these families creating a stronger and safe future here in Utah.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like any project, this one has its own struggles. In the beginning, we were almost invisible. We had to earn the respect and trust from both sides. From the people who need it the help and the authorities to give us the resources.
We worked really hard, and our main focus in anything that we do is to show our compromise on these people’s needs first. We also started to know the team that was working with us at the moment, allowing us to keep the. flexibility on people that work with us to help us and made this possible.
As you know, we’re big fans of the Venezuelan Alliance of Utah. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Our mission is to help the Latino people to connect with the right resources available to help their specific areas (Education, health, legal help, humanitarian help, etc). We are the voice of the ” invisible” people.
We are known for being the most respected and committed organization in the state, allowing us to meet with the leaders and authorities to understand the priorities in our communities. Our team works ad honorem. We don’t charge or receive any type of “reward ” for what we do. This is a nonprofit organization and we work with the donations that our sponsors provide us with.
Our most proud moment was when the State of Utah, called us to be Federal Partners in the 2020 Census for the Multicultural Committee and worked together with federal agencies. It was the moment that make us realize how important and how impactful our job had been.
We will maintain our level of professionalism, respect, and honor to keep doing our job is to make our state a better place for all of us.
What matters most to you?
For me, the most important matter is honesty and respect. These people are coming here, most of them under the asylum figure, and just with the clothes that they are wearing. So we need to start from the food to the toothbrush, deodorant, to find a place to stay, and they get here without speaking any English.
They need to learn the system, once they obtain their legal documents, to open a bank account, to apply for a job, to get their kids to school, to do taxes, etc. Most of these people are experiencing trauma. Leaving behind everything that they know life as it is to start in a completely different environment.
Making them feel human, showing them and treating them with respect, makes a complete difference in their lives. Honesty is hard as it sounds, they are really vulnerable, and some people will take advantage of them. It is important that they can learn on their own how to apply and look for these trustable resources.
And as we offer the help, they know that we are doing it right and they don’t have to pay anything for it.
Contact Info:
- Email: alianzavenezolanautah@gmail.com
- Instagram: @alianzavenezolanautah
- Facebook: Alianza Venezolana Utah
- Twitter: Alianza Venezolana Utah
Image Credits
@Mayra Molina and @Alianzavenezolanautah
