Una Casa Propia
A prize-winning urban planning student works to expand Latino housing opportunities.
During her time as an economic development specialist for the nonprofit Latinos en Spokane, Mayra Velazquez, an EWU senior studying urban planning and economics, was tasked with the sort of job one might expect would go to a much-more experienced staffer: documenting how disparities in home ownership were affecting Spokane’s fast-growing Latino community.
Velazquez, undaunted, responded by doing a deep dive into federal data sets, using the results to create a series of maps that highlighted areas of growth and need. “We used all the data of the census to tell the stories of communities,” she says. “From a 15-page demographic report, we learned that the Latino community has more than doubled in Spokane. We then looked at housing and healthcare disparities for that population.”
The mapping project — one of many contributions she provided to the group — was among the notable achievements that earned Velazquez a Governor’s Student Civic Leadership Award earlier this spring.
The mapping project — one of many contributions she provided to the group — was among the notable achievements that earned Velazquez a Governor’s Student Civic Leadership Award earlier this spring.
Recipients of the award are chosen from students enrolled in institutions that are part of the Washington Campus Coalition for the Public Good, a consortium that works in partnership with state colleges and universities to “cultivate vital and sustainable communities based on civic engagement and social entrepreneurship.” Velazquez received the prize at a ceremony held at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.
The governor’s award wasn’t her only spring-time accolade. Velazquez was also named one of Eastern’s President’s/Chancellor’s Student Civic Leadership Award winners (an honor she received with Sanai Maraire, president of Eastern’s Black Student Union.)
Velazquez is quick to share credit for her successes with both EWU and a recent Eastern alumna, Jennyfer Mesa ’17. “I’m grateful for what I’ve learned from my professors at EWU and from Jennyfer at Latinos en Spokane,” says Velazquez, who, at press time, was set to graduate in June.
Mesa is the founder of Latinos en Spokane, a group that works to advance Latino participation, integration, community development and empowerment in our region.
Housing is critical to moving these goals forward, she says. A solution her organization has proposed involves construction of a Latino-friendly housing cooperative, one that would create affordable dwellings for up to 76 families. While in its early stages, Latinos en Spokane has already partnered with ROC Northwest and Spokane Regional Land Holding Properties LLC to locate a site and develop plans for construction.
“The idea for the housing cooperative started from [our census research],” Velazquez says. “We wanted folks to own their homes, and the land their homes were on.”
