LYNWOOD — A group of women this week formally filed for nonprofit status to form a new Lynwood Women’s Association.

The group says is goal is meeting the needs of families in Lynwood — from putting food on the table, to finding assistance for families with disabled children, to filling out official forms, to helping local senior citizens clean their homes.

The group of women, led by Carmen Colin and Maria Luisa Viera as president and vice president, respectively, includes Lucy Avalos, Gloria Jaimes and Zeferina Velar. Kevin Colin, Carmen’s youngest son, will serve as the non-profit’s secretary.

The need for the group, Jaimes said, developed two years ago when hundreds of residents on the east side of the city were on the brink of losing their homes to a developer looking to build a super shopping center and a football stadium on their land.
“Many of us needed a group like this to turn to for support, for advice or for the facts,” Jaimes said. “But there was no one, other than ourselves to turn to.”

Two years later, the women, who are encouraging others to join, are stronger than ever and decided it was time to form a nonprofit to help others in the community who find themselves feeling lost, alone, without a voice or simply in need of a bag of groceries. The women have even talked about raising funds to send a family that finds itself struggling every month to simply pay the rent to a place like Disneyland.

“It could be little things that families need help with, or it could be bigger things,” Avalos said. “I’m ecstatic to be a part of a group that wants to do things for others and not for themselves. You can’t imagine how hungry a community like Lynwood is for a nonprofit like this. There were groups like this in the past, but they failed and disappeared. But when they existed, people supported them because there was a need, and I know that need is greater today.”

The group also aims to talk to families about different concerns they may have, even if it is to help them find resources they may need to deal with health care issues or immigration questions.

“Maybe we can’t help them directly, because that sort of stuff is much different then helping them fill out forms or translate a utility bill for them, but at least we would do what we can to find someone who can help them,” Colin said.

The Lynwood Women’s Association also wants to place a big emphasis on helping families with children with autism, or other special education needs.

“There are a lot of needs out there,” Jaimes said. “There are families who don’t have the funds to purchase certain medical equipment, there are families who have lost their jobs, or simply can’t get up to cook for themselves. That’s what we want to do for people. Maybe we won’t be able to help them financially, yet, but we can help them find people who can.”

The group also intends to conduct workshops for families on issues such as domestic violence, childhood obesity or legal concerns.

“There are different reasons families today struggle,” Viera said. “The biggest one is because they lack information or don’t know where to turn. We’re not the experts, but we are willing to be a voice for people in the community and speak up for them to find the help they need.”

Avalos belonged to a group that called itself Familias Unidas de Lynwood, which lasted about 10 years, she said. It was a great not-for-profit organization, she added, that helped families in so many ways, even as far as helping families out with funeral arrangements.

“Fundraising for that organization was extraordinary,” she said. “People gave a lot, not only financially, but of their time. … The organization painted houses for people, and it was based on pay what you can. … People would give so much to that group, because they knew there was a need out there. It started off with good intentions, but then after a few years, it went downhill and the trust went with it.”

That group also held several contracts with the city of Lynwood, recalls Avalos, and at times received about $1,600 a month from the city.

“If you ask me, this city needs a new group that will be honest and sincere and really go out there and help people,” she said. “As a community, we came together to fight against a big developer who wanted to take our homes. If we can do that, then we can come together to end hunger and homelessness, and meet the needs of our fellow neighbors.”

Ana Maria Barraza, a block watch captain, was invited to the association’s first official meeting. Immediately, she said, she loved the idea.

“There’s no doubt about it,” she said. “I don’t even have to think twice. I want to be a part of this group. I don’t need to think about it. Just hearing the things they want to do to help people in the community, it’s unheard of, and I know it’s needed.”

The needs are there, Barraza said, but so is people’s fear to speak up, or ask questions, or seek help.

Victor Ibarra, who was also invited to the association’s first meeting, is a representative of the Federacion Zacatecas of Southern California. He said he was honored that women in Lynwood, a city where he once owned a business, are standing up for such an important cause that affects other families, not just their own.

Viera’s vision for the new Lynwood Women’s Association is for the community to come together and support each other like communities throughout the country do.

“We always see people coming together to help each other, but we don’t see that a lot here in Lynwood,” she said. “We have a history of coming together to support each other, and we did it with a lot of heart. I think forming this group can be an extension of that unity. At least that’s what we’re striving for.”

The new association is going to be good for the city, Ibarra said. One suggestion he made to the women’s group is to reach out to other nonprofits in the community to work together.

The association has the word ‘women’ in its title, but it doesn’t mean that it is restricted to women only, Viera said. “This group is to support each other, people of all races in this community because if we don’t do it, who is going to do it for us?”

Carmen Colin, a 22-year resident of the city, believes that information empowers people, whether it’s about having information on nutrition or about the school district or about their rights.

“Everyone has rights,” she said. “If we are always afraid to speak up, then as a community, as a people, we can never succeed or move forward. This is about reaching out to the entire community, it’s not about staying in our own little world. We want to branch out and we want to invite others to come join us. The more there are of us, the more people we can help with their needs.”

Forming the group is the first step, Colin said. “We are really looking forward to the community’s support with this group because we are ready to work,” she said. “When you’re helping each other, you’re helping your community rise up.”

Avalos said she doesn’t know what happened to previous community groups, but said the Lynwood Women’s Association is going to be entirely different.

“This group is being formed with a lot of heart,” she said. “All of these women you see here, we’re here because we love our community and we want to see it move forward.”

Information: (310) 213-2752.