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Farmworkers Outreach
CATA staff assists workers in building their leadership capacity, analyzing the issues, and organizing actions for improvements at their job or in their communities. Over the years, workers have realized many victories, some big, some small, but always moving towards justice. Yet, despite the progress made, much more work is still left to be done.
Community Garden
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CATA's Bridgeton Organic Community Garden grew this year by incorporating four new youth as Food Justice Interns – teaching them practical farming skills, building their food system analysis, and developing leadership skills. We also welcomed two former food Justice Interns to our staff, Rigoberto Siva Mendez and Xitlalic Flores, now food justice leaders at CATA.
In addition, the garden committee hosted weekly market days – distributed low-cost, organic produce in the community, and hosted cultural events. Around 165 members of the community visited us this year. Finally, we donated 50 pounds of food to St. Teresa's Good Shepherd Soup Kitchen.
RadioCATA
CATA's community radio station, RadioCATA, has become an essential source of information for the Latino working community, sharing information on COVID-19, social supports and resources, state and federal assistance available, worker health and safety, and worker's rights.
We have a fantastic team of seven Latinx volunteer DJs who host live radio shows. We also broadcast two podcasts from partner organizations.
Now, our signature radio show "Si Se Puede" goes live on Facebook (@radiocata) to reach a larger audience.
In addition, through a generous grant, we upgraded some of the equipment and rebuilt the studio space, strengthening our capacity as a community radio station.
Advocacy
During the May 1st Celebration, we were in Philly and Washington, DC, Demanding Immigration reform and justice for our communities.
We engaged our membership to continue the critical work of advocating for new laws and policies that will benefit all immigrant communities.
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This year, we’ve worked closely with the Let’s Drive New Jersey Coalition as access to drivers’ licenses has rolled out in New Jersey.
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We’ve been active with the Driving Pennsylvania Forward Coalition to fight for drivers’ licenses for all in Pennsylvania. This year we recruited 18 businesses to enforce the PA Driver's License Campaign.
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We’ve worked with the Marylanders for Food and Farm Workers in Maryland to advocate for additional health and safety protections for farmworkers and poultry workers.
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We have been working with partner organizations to generate awareness about the need to protect workers rights by demanding our legislators to:
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Vote yes on the Temp Workers' Bill of Rights legislation
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Oppose The Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA)
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Support the Protecting Meatpacking Workers Act
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Shut down the detention & deportation machine by defunding ICE + CBP and updating the registry.
Working in Coalitions has been essential during this year, and we are grateful for the partnerships we’ve developed not only for furthering advocacy efforts but also for coordinating the immigrant community’s access to direct services. We’ve worked closely with the Lower Shore Vulnerable Populations Taskforce and El Centro de Derechos Migrantes in Maryland, coordinating access to COVID-19 vaccines and social services on the Delmarva Peninsula. We’ve also worked with the Recovery for All Coalition in New Jersey, advocating for economic assistance for the immigrant community and WON the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund to provide financial aid to families deeply impacted by COVID-19.