{"id":5051902,"date":"2021-12-22T01:08:40","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T01:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/malatinonews.com\/?p=5051902"},"modified":"2021-12-22T01:08:40","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T01:08:40","slug":"gladys-vega-chelseas-superwoman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/2021\/12\/22\/gladys-vega-chelseas-superwoman\/","title":{"rendered":"Gladys Vega: Chelsea’s Superwoman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Spending a few minutes cruising through La Colaborativa’s <\/a>website and you’ll quickly notice this is an organization that operates on two speeds: fast and done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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La Colaborativa distributes food to 5,000+ families each week from Chelsea and surrounding areas.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

La Colaborativa leads community-based COVID testing and vaccinations as Hispanics-Latinos continue to struggle with inequities in Massachusetts\u2019 health care system. The organization provides reliable, healthy, and culturally familiar food distributions five days\/week – did you see the line down the street and around the corner for free Thanksgiving meals?<\/a> It provides emergency housing placements, rental assistance support, and more to a community that disproportionately has been hit hard with evictions as a result of forced mitigations due to the pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list of assistance and resources goes on and on in fulfilling La Colaborativa’s mission <\/a>of “empowering Latinx immigrants to enhance the social and economic health of the community and its people, and to hold institutional decision-makers accountable to the community.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading the charge is the group’s “Superwoman,”<\/a> as Gladys Vega<\/a>, Executive Director of La Colaborativa, has been affectionately nicknamed for her tireless work and commitment to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pictured at Eastern Bank\u2019s 2021 Celebration of Social Justice are left to right: Quincy Miller, Vice Chair and President of Eastern Bank; Nancy Huntington Stager, President and CEO of the Eastern Bank Foundation; Gladys Vega, Executive Director of La Colaborativa and 2021 Social Justice Award Honoree; and Bob Rivers, CEO and Chair of the Board of Eastern Bank.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Vega was recently recognized by the Eastern Bank Foundation with the 2021 Social Justice Award. The award recognizes community leaders who have made an outstanding impact in addressing critical social justice issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGladys has inspired us all through her grit, determination, resilience, and leadership, especially as she was working at the epicenter of the worst COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts and New England,\u201d said Nancy Huntington Stager, President, and CEO of the Eastern Bank Foundation. \u201cShe is an extraordinary leader and community trailblazer who leads by example and continues to be a social justice champion. She empowers individuals to realize they can affect change and make the difference they seek and achieves so much because of her deep and trusting connections to the people in the communities she serves. We are honored to present Gladys with the 2021 Social Justice Award.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring the pandemic, immigrant communities became hot spots for the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, revealing gross inequities in our safety net systems, and the team at La Colaborativa does all that we can to ensure families and individuals are not left behind or left alone,\u201d said Vega in accepting the award. “We are especially honored to receive the 2021 Social Justice Award from the Eastern Bank Foundation because it understands all too well that relationships and trust in the community are always necessary to create justice, equality, and opportunity and especially during a pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vega’s multipronged approach to serving Hispanics-Latinos includes shaping its future leaders. “She has been cultivating emerging Latina politicians among those closest to her,” writes<\/a> Marcela Garcia, Boston Globe columnist. “And three of Vega\u2019s relatives, plus one of her employees, recently got elected to municipal office.\u00a0Chelsea voters elected<\/a>\u00a0Tanairi Garc\u00eda, Vega\u2019s niece, and Norieliz De Jesus, La Colaborativa\u2019s director of policy and organizing, to the City Council\u2019s District 7 and District 3 seats, respectively. Additionally, Vega\u2019s daughter, Melinda, won reelection as District 2 councilor, while Kelly Garc\u00eda, another niece of Vega\u2019s, was reelected to the Chelsea School Committee.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to make sure every woman knows they have a place in society, especially us as women of color,\u201d Gladys told Garcia. \u201cI give them the idea [of running for office], and then I hustle to raise money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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