Jennifer Horner, Director of the Southwest Iowa Latino Resource Center (Red Oak, IA), first envisioned ÉXITO EN EL NORTE in response to immigrant needs she encountered daily in her work. In 2000, she collaborated with Experience Education, a non-profit organization that designs and develops educational tools and resources for English and Spanish-speaking communities, to make this ten video/DVD series a reality. Iowa State University Extension also partnered with Experience Education and SWILRC throughout the filming and editing process Learn more about our partnerships and collaborations on the Partners & Contributors page. Below, Jennifer shares more about the project’s history and development.

How did ÉXITO EN EL NORTE come about?

After working directly with immigrants for over eight years, I realized there was a body of vital information that immigrants desperately needed -- information specific to Spanish-speaking immigrants living and working in the U.S. I thought, "If immigrants here in this small town were having these problems, unaware of how things worked, this must be the case in small towns and big cities everywhere. How could people be effectively reached with the information and resources they need?"

Working so closely with immigrants as the Director of the Southwest Iowa Latino Resource Center gave me the opportunity to get to know what the most important issues and informational needs were. It also gave me the chance to investigate and find solutions to some of the common concerns in the areas of taxes, housing, and employment -- the ten topics covered in the series. It is of utmost importance that immigrants have accurate information. I've heard so many stories about people being taken advantage of, or just not knowing where to go to find reliable information. There's a lot of confusion about what's "true," about what's reliable. People make decisions based on unreliable information, decisions that can have a long-lasting impact. Immigration status plays heavily into all of the topics. But one huge misconception everyone has--immigrants included--is that being undocumented means having no rights, being excluded from justice. The United States is a country literally of "justice for all." Just being here in the United States affords everyone certain rights. I want to make sure immigrants everywhere know that.

Next: Project History (continued)

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