2024 in Review
In both our collective and personal memories, 2024 will always be remembered for the devastation brought to Western North Carolina by Hurricane Helene, and also for the strength and love shown in the community response to the disaster.
It is with inspiration and gratitude that we share about our response to Hurricane Helene, as well as highlights of the work of Colaborativa La Milpa’s incredible member organizations over the past year. La Milpa is proud to provide capacity building support to CIMA, PODER Emma, Raices Emma-Erwin, Ma hñäkihu Language Preservation Project, and El Telar: Shared Resources for Home Childcare. We also are excited to tell you about El Porvenir, a new cooperatively-owned community building located at 17 Westside Drive.
Compañeros Inmigrantes en las Montañas en Acción (CIMA)
Consulta Tu Compa (CTC):
Supported 89 new clients with resources, referrals, and accompaniment for legal, employment, housing, education, and health concerns.
Answered 1072 calls from the community seeking support.
Defensa Comunitaria:
Led four “Know your Rights” workshops, including one for children at Emma Elementary.
Prioritized new voter registration at community markets, resulting in over 72 new voters.
Fought the passage of HB10 with education and action, hosting Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller for a community conversation, coordinating a protest, and taking a group to visit legislators in Raleigh with Alianza por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes de Carolina del Norte.
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El Telar: Shared Resources for Home Childcare
Supported a network of 47 community-based educators and parents with workshops on CPR, emotional and wellness tools, literacy, and more.
Gathered this network monthly to share resources and peer support.
PODER Emma
Cultivated a neighborhood-based cooperative economy, providing technical assistance and lending to affordable housing, worker and real estate cooperatives. Within this program, we launched our new Workforce Development Initiative.
Conducted a Participatory Action Research project, engaging 165 Emma Community members, to identify desired recreational and cultural programming for our community and launched the initial programming, which included free exercise programs like zumba, and aerobics.
The Emma Neighborhood Council continued to meet monthly to create strategies and capacity to stop displacement and gentrification. As part of this work, over 100 community members participated in advocating for an equitable short-term rental policy. The Council also continued work on the implementation of our Emma Community Plan.
Raices Emma-Erwin
12 instructors, including 10 youth, were trained to lead the annual Summer Camp.
49 children and 13 new families were engaged in arts and culture activities, field trips, and an end of the year ceremony attended by 250 community members.
Ballet Folklorico Raices performed twice at Folkmoot in Waynesville.
Ma hñäkihu Language Preservation Project
We taught the Hñähnñu language and culture through music classes with the children at the La Bugambilia cooperative and community workshops for children, youth, and adults.
We organized the fourth "Celebrating Our Cultures" festival with the participation of almost 400 people, including the visit of the Ma Hai cultural group, a group of elderly culture bearers who traveled from Hidalgo, Mexico to share their wisdom with our community.
We initiated a Census of Hñähnñu Speakers in Western North Carolina, reaching nearly 100 speakers. This project continues to weave networks in our community.
The hurricane marked a before and after for our work. In the days following the storm, community leaders went out to assess the damage and needs in Emma, which resulted in the decision to set up a supply distribution center at El Porvenir. The intention was to move critical goods and supplies into our community and to other under-resourced areas in WNC, but we never imagined the scale that it would take. Staff from all member organizations met, teams were created, and everyone dedicated their time to collective emergency response. With the support and collaboration of so many individuals, the following months became a daily, multi-pronged, creative, adaptive, and community-focused effort.
It’s important to lift up the behind-the-scenes support from our coordinating staff and hundreds of volunteers. With schools and care centers closed, members created a warm and loving space for children at El Porvenir. There was warm food and snacks every single day, all organized by community members. We even had massage, chiropractic, and acupuncture services to address the physical challenges of the response, creating a peaceful and restorative space. It is challenging to explain what these days were like, so here are some pictures and numbers that can speak more than words.
375
volunteers generously worked long days unloading, organizing, and re-loading for delivery of innumerable amounts of supplies donated from around the country.
40,000
community members in Emma and other low-income communities in Buncombe and surrounding counties received supplies, food, and water through our efforts.
126,000
gallons of water were distributed from wells powered by solar generators, an Aquablock system, donations of water, and potable water tanks.
300
people attended our November 2nd Dia de Los Muertos event to collectively grieve and begin a healing process as we all ate traditional molé and danced.
12,000
individuals visited our 3-afternoons-a-week outdoor mercaditos for free food, supplies, over-the-counter drugs, hot meals, and water. These will continue at Estacion Emma in the new year.
30
volunteers from Siembra NC and Chispas Cooperative with chainsaws and trucks removed trees from damaged homes and properties that had blocked entrances, ensuring food and water could get into the hands of those most affected.
We are so grateful to the countless individuals and organizations from WNC, North Carolina, and across the nation who showed up with expertise, supplies, and to work with us to make this massive undertaking possible.
El Porvenir, a 20,000-square-foot facility, was purchased by La Esperanza LLC, an Emma-based real estate cooperative, in 2023 with financing from PODER Emma via Seed Commons. It is now home to the offices of worker-owned cooperatives Power in Numbers Bookkeeping, Cenzontle Language Justice Cooperative, Quetzal Property Management, as well as PODER Emma.
Additionally, this building has a large cultural space outfitted for cultural events, programs of La Milpa member organizations, workshops, community exercise classes, rentals for parties such as quinceaneras and weddings, and so much more.
We can’t talk about El Porvenir without mentioning that it also served as our receiving and distribution center after Hurricane Helene. With an oversized garage door and parking access for tractor trailers, trucks, and vans, it became an important location for safety and resource distribution to approximately 40,000 people.
As we begin the new year, each of our member organizations are looking ahead to offering more impactful programming, cultural organizing, and community care. We are proud of our collective model that creates a responsive ecosystem of support for our community.
In light of increased community needs in the wake of the hurricane, in 2025 La Milpa will host the “Mercadito” three times a week in Estación Emma, the cooperatively-owned building at 528 Emma Road. The Mercadito provides free food, clothing, and other essentials. Estación Emma also holds the offices of Consulta Tu Compa, a bilingual resource and referral program which provides a critical service for vulnerable neighbors.
None of this work is possible without your ongoing support, and for this we thank you.
If you’d like to make a donation to help our collective continue to meet the challenges ahead, click the donation button below, or mail a check to 528 Emma Road, Asheville, NC 28806.
