LULAC Opens New Regional Office in California
October 12, 2011
Contact: Paloma Zuleta, pzuleta@lulac.org, (202) 812-4477
First California Office for LULAC
Sacramento, CA – LULAC is pleased to announce the expansion of the national organization with the opening of a new regional office in California. In order to manage the national expanding programs in the region and help LULAC better serve its members in the California area as it has served the Latino community for the past 83 years, the regional office will enable LULAC to achieve a long-standing objective to establish a regional office in the Farwest. The opening of new LULAC regional office was in large part due to the support from Yum! Brands, a member of LULAC’s Corporate Alliance.
For the past 83 years, LULAC has been committed to advancing the economic empowerment, educational attainment, civic engagement, health and civil rights of Latinos through community-based programs operating at more than 900 LULAC councils nationwide. With over 135,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC continues to fight tirelessly for the betterment of Hispanic Americans in issues that impact our community the most.
“California will allow us to continue our work seeing as the Golden State has and will continue to play a pivotal role in the struggle for Latino civil rights,” said National LULAC President, Margaret Moran. It was here 66 years ago that a California LULAC Council successfully sued to integrate the Orange County School System, which was segregated based on the notion that Mexican children were “more poorly clothed and mentally inferior to white children”. This groundbreaking decision, Mendez v. Westminster School District, formed the basis for the better-known Brown v Board of Education Supreme Court decision which summarily outlawed racial segregation in U.S. education.
California is an ideal place for LULAC’s expansion. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 38% of the Golden State’s 37 million residents are Hispanic. Nearly half of the State’s children are Latino, many of which are underserved and live below the poverty threshold. LULAC’s presence in California will undoubtedly be a decisive force for change in not only addressing discrimination, debilitating poverty, educational inequalities and immigration issues but also helping to provide sound solutions for remedying them.
About the League of United Latin American Citizens: The League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest and oldest Hispanic membership organization in the country, advances the economic conditions, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating through 880 LULAC councils nationwide. For more information, visit www.lulac.org
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