Executive Summary

Esperanza is a renowned social justice organization based in South Central Los Angeles that grew out of a successful community organizing campaign to prevent the displacement of low-income residents in 1989. We have since developed 9 mission-based properties of affordable multi-family housing, and one vibrant culinary and cultural hub, the Mercado la Paloma.

Responding to residents’ need to improve health equity in our community, Esperanza pioneered the nationally-recognized Promotora model of addressing community health in 1996 to train and employ residents as community health leaders. The training program has created a cadre of 730+ Promotores, who have been instrumental in elevating access to care in hard-to-reach immigrant communities through culturally inclusive outreach and bilingual education, effectively preventing unnecessary emergency room visits, home-borne illnesses, and connecting residents with essential resources. Many Promotores have ascended to leadership positions within Esperanza, reinforcing that leadership of our team is truly comprised of community experts.

Esperanza’s programs, all focused on uplifting human rights, cover a spectrum from preserving affordable housing to producing culturally relevant arts programs. Our most significant impacts are born out of the synergy of these programs: Esperanza successfully engaged local residents in advocacy to end neighborhood fossil fuel drilling in Los Angeles, initiated by our Promotores de Salud. Mobilizing and organizing against harmful health impacts from illegal fossil fuel extraction, this advocacy campaign over almost a decade resulted in an LA City Council ordinance that banned fossil fuel drilling in Los Angeles, a milestone hailed as a significant step towards environmental justice.

Organizations may provide budget and employee data based on this proposal or the organization as a whole. For more information on this proposal or organization, please email us.