Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs and La Casita Center are committed to supporting Louisville’s Hispanic Community
The AT&T Foundation has granted $10,000 to Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs and $15,000 to La Casita Center to support programs focused on Louisville’s Hispanic community.
At AT&T, we always strive towards building a better tomorrow and do this by investing, uplifting, and giving back to the communities we serve. This Hispanic Heritage Month we celebrate the Hispanic community by reaffirming our commitment to support Latinos across our nation and create opportunities for all.
“The Hispanic community is a vital part of the AT&T workforce, customer base and the communities we serve,” said Carlos E. Sanchez, President, AT&T Kentucky. “We are dedicated to listening, understanding and taking action that advocates for and empowers this community, and the programs offered by Backside Learning and La Casita Center fit that description, serving as vital resources for local families.”
The La Casita Center offers language and literacy-accessible online programming with content related to financial literacy, resources for survivors of domestic violence, civil rights, school enrollment and other topics relevant to the Latino community. The platform serves as a space for sharing knowledge and education about local programs that provide assistance with the digital divide.
“We are excited for the support of AT&T in addressing digital literacy in the Latinx community,” said Karina Barillas, Executive Director, La Casita Center. “We are grateful that AT&T Foundation recognizes the importance of culturally- and linguistically relevant access to resources and information. This grant will help us provide youth and adults with content that is designed by members of the community, for members of the community, with a recognition of the diversity of experiences that each person brings. Our goal is to empower our youth with the tools they need to fully participate in their education, so we provide child enrichment including kindergarten readiness, NTI support and summer camps to immerse our young people in education. We look forward to a continued collaboration with AT&T as we work to create increased opportunities for the Latinx population in the Louisville area and beyond.”
The Backside Learning Center’s Front Runners family program provides after-school education and enrichment for the children of backside workers at Churchill Downs. The program focuses on literacy development, social and emotional learning, and homework help for K-12 students.
“The Backside Learning Center is a one-of-a-kind model based in the heart of the workplace for the community we serve,” said Sherry Stanley, Executive Director. “With 85% of the workers in Churchill Downs stable area being Spanish-speaking immigrants from Central America and Mexico, our programs provide support and resources for the diverse community of racetrack workers and their families. With support from the AT&T Foundation, we hope to better serve even more families.”
In addition to collaborating with local non-profits, AT&T signed The Hispanic Promise in 2019, which is the first-of-its-kind national pledge to hire, promote, retain and celebrate Hispanics in the workplace. This promise serves as a call to action for business leaders and companies of Corporate America to create a more inclusive work environment for Hispanics.
About La Casita Center
La Casita Center is a feminist, Latinx led nonprofit organization, unique in the state of Kentucky, that accompanies and empowers the Latinx community in the Louisville metro area and beyond. We strive to ensure our community has meaningful access to all resources necessary to thrive. From our food pantry to our mental health counseling, legal clinic, and so much more, all of our many services are free of charge and open to all. We are also intentional about language access, meaning we are not only fluent in Spanish and English, but we are also inclusive of those who speak Indigenous languages. Since we accompany families and individuals, our services are wrap-around–if a family needs any service, we also ensure they have lunch and childcare.
About Backside Learning Center
The Backside Learning Center is an independent, non-profit organization with the mission of providing support and resources in a safe, welcoming environment for the diverse community of racetrack workers and their families. Based on the backside of Churchill Downs racetrack, they also serve the community at Trackside Training Center off of Preston Highway which was once Louisville Downs. Not only does the organization provide in-house services to the 1000+ population at the racetrack, but they also work with children and families of backside workers through educational programming for adults and children, social services, health and wellness programming, referrals and more.
*About Philanthropy & Social Innovation at AT&T
We’re committed to advancing education, creating opportunities, strengthening communities and improving lives. As part of our companywide $2 billion commitment from 2021-2023 to address the digital divide, we launched AT&T Connected Learning to invest in connectivity and technology, digital literacy and education solutions to help today’s learners succeed inside and outside of the classroom. Since 2008, we’ve committed more than $600 million to programs that help millions of students across all 50 states and around the world, particularly those in underserved communities.
