Several programs at Madison House strive to service the large Hispanic community in Charlottesville, a community of around 13,000 residents. Volunteers with programs through Latinx and Migrant Aid (LAMA), Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Creating Assets, Savings & Hope (CASH), UVA Health, and the Charlottesville Free Clinic specifically provide Spanish language services. Programs like Multilingual Learning and Thomas Jefferson Adult Career Education provide English language instruction for speakers of Spanish, as well as many other languages.
Sin Barreras Breaks Down Barriers in the Charlottesville Community
“The time we give is so little, but it has such a big impact,” says Sin Barreras Program Director Lily Clausen on her volunteer experience through Madison House. Sin Barreras is a nonprofit organization devoted to helping immigrants and native Spanish speakers in the broader Charlottesville community. The organization provides a variety of services, including advocacy work, social and legal help, and GED classes. Read more to learn about the opportunities Madison House volunteers have with Sin Barreras.
Hoos Serving: Loganbay Campbell
Loganbay Campbell (she/her) is a fourth-year in the College of Arts & Sciences pursuing a double-major in biology and Spanish. Loganbay started volunteering for the Latin and Migrant Aid program at Madison House during her second year at UVA. This semester, she is involved with Sin Barreras, a program that teaches English to Spanish speakers. Loganbay is in the process of applying to medical school and will be taking a gap year to work as a medical assistant in Charlottesville.
Latinx Migrant Aid is dedicated to serving Virginia’s Latinx migrant community
Popular Madison House program helps both adult and child Latinx migrants gain academic, applicable skills
For University students, it can be easy to get lost in the UVa bubble. Latinx & Migrant Aid (LAMA), a Madison House program, encourages students to involve themselves within the larger Charlottesville community by engaging with the region’s migrant workers.
With six volunteering sites, eight program coordinators, four community partners and 74 student volunteers, LAMA is a Madison House program dedicated to helping Latinx migrant workers and their children in Charlottesville improve their English speaking and general academic skills.
‘Woman of La Mancha’ Finds Her Calling Through Indigenous Literature, Service
Dodds has been working with Madison House’s Latinx and Migrant Aid Program, LAMA, at its Cherry Avenue site. Each week, volunteers work on homework one-on-one with children, in a pair that is sustained throughout the semester to facilitate close bonds between tutor and student. […]
“That is the best and most accurate way to learn about the U.S.’s Latinx community,” she said. “It contextualizes our studies in a way that makes them even more real; having met immigrants who have gone through the struggles we are learning about in class with guest speakers and articles about immigration and xenophobia makes the issues so much more real to use and helps us humanize the statistics we read about in articles.”
Outgoing Student Council president reflects on initiatives to support marginalized communities
Fourth-year College student Alex Cintron is the first Latinx Student Council president in the University’s history.
As the first Latinx Student Council president in the University’s history Cintron said that, while he felt uncomfortable in some environments which the position required him to engage with, his perspective empowered him to act differently than previous Student Council presidents.
“This is my form of resisting what has been the normal narrative for Student Council president,” Cintron said.