Latino Community Center

ROOTS OF IMPACT

Raíces de Impacto

Strengthening the roots that grow our impact.

Our annual campaign to strengthen the foundation that supports LCC’s programs

Why This Moment Matters

Every day, families across our region turn to the Latino Community Center for support, opportunity, and a sense of belonging.

In times of uncertainty, that support becomes even more important.

This year has been especially intense for our community. In a year when uncertainty hit Latino families especially hard, the need for our programs grew. Our team showed up — navigating more cases, more urgency, more need than ever. This campaign makes sure we can keep doing that.

“I have been in this state for more than 15 years and I have never felt supported the way I have with the Latino Community Center — especially in these complicated times.”

A mother who has called Pittsburgh home for 15 years

 

Our tree of Impact

The work of the Latino Community Center can be imagined like a tree.

Our programs are the branches reaching into the community.

The children and families we serve are the fruit that grows from those branches.

Like a tree, our programs are the branches reaching into the community, and the success of the children and families we serve is the fruit that grows from that work. But every thriving tree depends on strong roots.

The Roots of Impact

At LCC, the roots are the systems and infrastructure that make our programs possible.

These roots include:

  • the staff who support families every day

  • the technology and systems that allow our programs to run

  •  the financial management and compliance that ensure accountability

  • the operational backbone that keeps everything moving forward

These essential pieces are often the hardest to fund, yet they make every program possible.

The Campaign

The Raíces de Impacto / Roots of Impact Campaign is the Latino Community Center’s annual effort to strengthen the foundation that supports our programs and allows our impact to continue growing.

Each year, this campaign ensures that LCC has the infrastructure needed to serve families consistently, responsibly, and with care.

Our goal is to raise $500,000 by June 30, 2026.

Campaign Goal: $500,000

$125,000 raised
$375,000 to go • June 30, 2026

Join 1 founding donor who has already committed $125,000 to launch this campaign.

How You Can Help

You can help strengthen the roots of LCC by:

  • Making a meaningful one-time gift

  • Becoming a monthly donor

Both forms of support help sustain the infrastructure that allows our programs to grow and thrive

What Your Support Makes Possible

Every program at LCC is built on a foundation of trust, consistency, and care. Here is what that looks like for the families we serve.

TUTORING PROGRAM

From struggling to confident

Maythe came to LCC’s tutoring program needing extra support with her schoolwork. After months of working with her volunteer tutor, something shifted. She started completing all her assignments at school on her own. She began helping her classmates. Eventually, she was so confident that she asked LCC to give her tutoring spot to another student who needed it more. Her mother wrote:

“Maythe showed more confidence and participation in class. She completes all her work at school. She feels proud to share what she learns and help her classmates. Not only did she improve academically — her confidence and motivation to learn grew too.”

Carla, Maythe’s mother

TUTORING PROGRAM

Learning to read, one page at a time

When a student named Alex first came to LCC, he could not read or write in English or Spanish. LCC matched him with a volunteer tutor and advocated for him to receive a dedicated 1-on-1 tutor at school. He used to panic when asked to read out loud in class. Recently, he sat down and read several pages from a book on his own. One of the other parents in the program shared this:

“I am very happy with the tutor — he is very responsible and very patient. The computer that LCC helped us get works very well at home. My children do their homework and take their online classes on it. We are very happy with the tutoring and with the progress my child has made.”

Yesenia, mother of a student in LCC’s tutoring program

AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS

The homework gap no one else was filling

For many families at LCC, the language barrier doesn’t just affect the children — it affects the parents too. Parents who want to help with homework but can’t because they don’t yet speak English. LCC’s afterschool program is the bridge between home and school for families navigating a new language, a new city, everything new at once.

“The teachers at LCC are a light for our children and for us — the parents who can’t help with homework because we don’t speak English.”

Parent of a student in LCC’s afterschool program

HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE MENTORING

The first in the family to apply to college

LCC’s ALAS program works with Latino high school students on college applications, scholarships, and life after graduation. One student — bright, talented, and the first in his family to navigate the college application process — was guided through every essay and every deadline. When he was accepted to every school he applied to, he sent his ALAS counselor a text:

“No hubiera hecho ninguna sin tu ayuda, muchas gracias. — “I wouldn’t have done any of them without your help. Thank you so much.”

A student in LCC’s ALAS high school mentoring program

SERVICE NAVIGATION

You don’t have to figure it out alone

A family needed to complete an important application — one that required appearing in person, preparing specific documents, and communicating in English at every step. LCC accompanied them, made sure every form was complete, and stayed with them through the entire process. The application was approved. For the family, it wasn’t just a form that got filed — it was the first time a system worked for them instead of against them.

TUTORING PROGRAM

New to Pittsburgh, new to everything

When Jorge’s family moved to Pittsburgh, he was overwhelmed — new school, new city, a mountain of homework, and pressure from every direction. LCC matched him with a tutor who quickly discovered that Jorge thrives on creative, real-world assignments. He’s now showing problem-solving skills and confidence that surprised everyone, including himself.

HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE MENTORING

From campus visit to enrollment

As a junior in high school, a student named Sofia visited a university campus and fell in love with the idea of studying criminal justice. LCC’s ALAS program supported her through the entire application process — campus tours, applications, essays, housing forms, scholarship research. This January, Mayte submitted her enrollment to IUP. When she came in to get help navigating her student portal, she stayed to say thank you.

SERVICE NAVIGATION

When the language barrier is the obstacle

A family had been trying for months to resolve a paperwork issue with a large institution. Every phone call ended without resolution — not because the problem wasn’t real, but because navigating a complex administrative process in English was a wall they couldn’t get through alone. LCC’s bilingual staff joined the call, served as interpreter, and stayed on the line — persistent and clear — until the issue was fully resolved. That’s what it means to navigate systems alongside a family.