Latinos Unidos for Community Inclusion launches to support Cedar Rapids area Latinos

CEDAR RAPIDS — A dream to help Latino families prosper in Iowa is coming to life as Linn County residents have come together to form a nonprofit that aims to help Latinos succeed.

A volunteer group of Eastern Iowa leaders, led by Cedar Rapids resident Monica Vallejo, has launched Latinos Unidos for Community Inclusion, or LUCI, to help see Iowa Latinos reach their full potential in all areas of life in their communities and across the state.

LUCI seeks to enhance the lives of Latino families in Iowa by providing advocacy, educational services, development and social responsibility awareness. According to the 2020 census, there are nearly 216,000 Latinos in Iowa — about 6.8 percent of the state’s population.

Last year, Vallejo said numerous community members approached her and urged her to launch “something big” to support Latinos. She brought people to the table and, together, they came up with LUCI.

“Everybody brought their opinions, the need in the community and the ideas for how we can work together for better for Latinos,” said Vallejo, the president of LUCI. “... We start with a dream, and I hope the dream comes true and gets big because we have wonderful people on the board. We can see a lot of people are going to help us and support our ideas and support our organization.”

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Vallejo has lived in Cedar Rapids since arriving in the United States from Ecuador in 1999. She faced a language barrier and it took time to adjust to American social norms and customs, but she found support in the community. Now, Vallejo and others are looking to give back to Latinos experiencing those same hurdles.

In addition to increasing visibility of the Latino population in the Corridor, LUCI also will work to foster civic engagement, education and social responsibility for all Latinos. LUCI members also plan to continue working with city and county officials in the area to advance diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

The broader mission fueling LUCI is new, but the organization will house Cedar Rapids’ annual Festival Latino, now in its 12th year. This year’s event will take place Sept. 16 at the McGrath Amphitheatre, 475 First St. SW. The festival is a free event with live Latin music acts, ethnic foods and kids’ activities.

Vallejo said education will be key in this new nonprofit to ensure Latinos have sufficient knowledge and qualifications — whether that’s a degree, certification or other training — to achieve their dreams. This will build on the efforts to award scholarships to local Latino youth through Festival Latino each year.

“We are Latinos, but nobody can stop us to dream high and go to college or make their own business,” Vallejo said. “But you have some kind of education because we don't want nobody to take away the dream later.”

The organization will offer different programs throughout the year to engage Latinos in addition to Festival Latino, Vallejo said, and ultimately work with community partners to raise money to invest back into the local Latino community.

Vallejo said she hopes to see Latinos feel supported in the Cedar Rapids area with this nonprofit — an organization uniquely tailored to the needs of local Latinos. When people don’t know where to turn but they need support, she said the volunteer board running LUCI can help connect them with other community resources.

“We have the opportunity to see the need in Cedar Rapids and we can start working together to see the need and to see things start working,” Vallejo said.

LUCI plans to provide an open house for community leaders in early September. To learn more about LUCI, including sponsor, donor and involvement options, contact Vallejo at (319) 431-9674 or by email at crluci2023@gmail.com. The board is working on starting a website for the organization.

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com