Unidos South OC

Unidos South OC is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization with a mission to strengthen under- resourced neighborhoods in South Orange County. Unidos has been offering direct services and community-building projects in the Capistrano Villas neighborhood in San Juan Capistrano since January 2017. By offering direct services such as academic support, enrichment activities and adult education workshops, we are able to build trust that leads to community building. Community building activities such as cultural events and mutual aid build a stronger social fabric, inspiring residents to advocate for their collective wellbeing. Resident leaders, then, work together toward systemic change. Resident leaders are currently focused on housing affordability.

Unidos South OC was founded by John and Heather Chapman as an expression of their faith. With twenty years of experience with non-profits and eight years of experience living in Lima, Peru, the Chapmans leveraged their connections with faith communities in South Orange County to address the stark disparities between the Capistrano Villas neighborhood in the downtown area of San Juan Capistrano and the surrounding areas. With disparities in income, housing conditions, health and educational outcomes and many other areas, they chose an asset-based community development approach that would center the perspectives and priorities of the residents themselves. The residents’ first priority was addressing the need for homework help for elementary school, so Homework Club first began in borrowed garages in an alley. From there, resident leaders emerged and we were able to begin community-building work.

FY24 Accomplishments:
1) Provided 1140 participant hours for elementary homework club
2) Provided 30 youth to their first overnight camp in Yosemite
3) School year enrichment opportunity hours: Youth:1888hrs Elementary 236hrs
4) Conducted 28 adult workshops with 8-15 in attendance at each class

FY25 Goals
1) Maintain excellent needed programs for the community
2) Launch Unidos Housing Initiative to begin acquiring units in the neighborhood for rentals
3) Build Capacity around administration and finance to match our program development

The five most pressing needs of Unidos South OC:

1) Capacity building for our administration and financial staff.
2) We need to diversify our donation sources, particularly with grants and major donors.
3) We need a housing solution for percentage of income burden
4) We need the funding Sara and Ester to go to Portland
5) We need more contacts who have expertise and investment interest in addressing housing affordability at the local level.

Our work is centered in the Capistrano Villas neighborhood of the downtown area of San Juan Capistrano within the census tract 423.12. This is a housing development of 799 individually-owned condos adjacent to the historic Los Rios District and is located between the train tracks and the Trabuco Creek canal where approximately 4000 residents live in overcrowded conditions. This neighborhood has the highest concentration of equity issues in all of South Orange County (south of Irvine), including household income, environmental problems, overcrowding, linguistic isolation, rates of uninsured adults, and educational attainment. The community is 98% Latino, with 95% of Latinos being of Mexican lineage. There is a relatively high foreign-born population and mixed-status families.

We are a neighborhood based community development organization. Our greatest asset is the voice of the residents. They lead, they speak into our actions, they are the best solution for their own neighborhood to flourish. We believe coming along side them will create a neighborhood where all will flourish.