This year, IFR turned 45 – a pretty significant milestone in the life of any community-based nonprofit. Over the course of four and a half decades, there have been lots of changes in IFR’s interventions, programming, staff, board, interns, and partnerships. Even within one very busy year, there have been incredible new challenges, solutions, and innovations.
What has always remained constant are the authentic stories of our clients – our participants – the true reason why IFR exists.
That’s why IFR wanted to unveil an Annual Report for FY2022-23 that reflected our reason for 45 years of existence. This year, we deliberately focused less on the numbers and more on the people. Or rather, IFR’s impact on our participants.
We hope it is as moving and heartwarming for you as it has been for all of us to hear some of the stories from parents like Maria Segovia about how IFR shaped their caregiving and continues to be a home away from home.
After reading how Gladys Aguilar has learned to spend quality time with her child, you can’t help but recognize the great work that Casa Corazón is doing to ensure our parents have the tools they need to support their children’s healthy development.
We also wanted to share the diversity of our participants. In an age where Latinos are perpetually stereotyped, the truth is that we come from everywhere, experience everything, all at once. We wanted our Annual Report to reflect the diversity of our participants.
That’s why we featured two very unique transgender participants. The talented Elly Maldonado is a transgender woman who won Miss TG Safe Latina 2023 in this year’s Miss & Mr. Safe Latino event. Quickly becoming a spokesperson for transgender rights, we are so proud that Elly found support at Sí a la Vida to further her leadership and community-building skills.
It’s hard to imagine the incredible hurdles that Hector Gutiérrez, a transgender immigrant man, faced as he worked to support and protect his chosen family. Yet, with Si a la Vida’s help, Hector and his family found validation and welcoming support. Today, they are beginning to realize their dreams.
Of course, IFR’s efforts to positively impact the lives of young Latinx youth are always part of our work, and 2023 was no different. It isn’t often that we’re able to track the fruits of IFR’s labor over time. However, you can read about how IFR’s work had a lasting impact on one Roadmap to Peace (RTP) participant, Richard Ramirez. We are all so proud of Richard’s ability to rise above the many challenges he faced. What we’re ecstatic about is that he now is working to help other young people facing the same ones he did.
For IFR, the stories of Gladys, Maria, Elly, Hector, and Richard represent some of IFR’s greatest highlights of 2023. We hope you’ll find them as inspirational as we have. Click on the button below to read and/or download IFR’s 2023 Annual Report in English and Spanish.
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