For release on Wednesday, October 17,

SOUTH BEND – Nanci Flores, citizen/immigration coordinator of La Casa de Amistad, is the recipient of the 2018 Making Democracy Work Award.

The award, presented annually by the League of Women Voters of the South Bend Area (LWVSBA), will be presented at its Friend-Raiser, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 24 at the First Unitarian Church of South Bend, 801 E. Washington Street.  The public is invited to the event, which will also include a silent auction and light refreshments.  Admission is free.

In her 11 years as citizen/immigration coordinator, Flores has enhanced community outreach by introducing an English as a Second Language curriculum and a citizenship/civics program that has grown from its first five students to more than 700 new Americans as program graduates.

Flores offers immigrant families tools to become informed and active residents of the South Bend area.  She assists in obtaining United Way grants to fund La Casa programs. She coordinates community events and information sessions on immigrant rights with the La Casa legal team.

For students completing the classes with a 75 percent attendance rate, the La Casa citizenship program has had a 100 percent pass rate on the federal naturalization test over the 11 years of the program’s existence.

Due to increased enrollment, the citizenship classes have been offered in three different locations on the northwest side of the city.

In 2016, she partnered with the local League to sponsor a bilingual session on voter registration leading up to the fall election.  Since that year, 15 of these information sessions have been offered to the community.

Flores began her work at La Casa as a volunteer before she became the citizenship/immigration coordinator in 2007.

In August 2018, Flores was named as one of 12 women leaders at the Celebrating Michiana Women Leaders event sponsored by the Michiana Women Leaders Project, the LWVSBA, and Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center.

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