About
La Raza Community Resource Center is a bilingual, multi-service, non-profit organization dedicated to meeting the social service, immigration, educational, and leadership development needs of low-income families and individuals.
The majority of La Raza participants are Spanish-speaking families and individuals of all ages, living in the Mission District of San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. But we serve a diverse body of individuals from the vast and various ethnic groups in the community. The agency provides city wide services, and is located in Centro Del Pueblo, a newly renovated facility that houses several non-profit agencies.
Most of La Raza participants are Spanish-speaking families and individuals of all ages who reside in the Mission District and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Other ethnic groups served are African American, Caucasian and Asian /Pacific Islander. The agency provides citywide services and is in the North Mission area (Board of Supervisors District 6).
Melba Maldonado
Melba Maldonado is the past Executive Director of La Raza Community Resource Center. Under her 25-year stewardship, the agency has become one of San Francisco’s well-known Family Resource Center for the Latino Community; providing innovative programs; such as Immigration, Social Services and Community Education, with the goal to help Latino families, women, and individuals achieve self-sufficiency.
Melba Maldonado was born and raised in Puerto Rico and immigrated with her family to New Jersey. Melba began her political and community organizing work as a factory worker in Newark, New Jersey and later as student at Rutgers University, doing outreach to the Puerto Rican and Black community on tenant rights, welfare rights and as an advocate for Puerto Rican Studies at Rutgers University.
For over 50 years, Melba has distinguished herself as a dynamic leader and pioneer for the rights of marginalized people in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the U.S. Her work in civil rights, affirmative action, child welfare, women’s rights, family policies, and voter registration, put her at the vanguard for struggles for peace and justice.
Melba’s many political and community affiliations in the San Francisco Bay Area include leadership roles in organizing and founding of the Chicano Latino Family Resource System, SFILEN and SFILDC, Immigration Commissioner at OCEIA and numerous others community-based entities.
She has traveled extensively through the African Continent, Europe and the Caribbean.
Our Funders
La Raza is Collaborative
La Raza is part of several collaboratives and coalitions serving the Leadership, Voting, Immigration, Affordable Housing, COVID-19 Latino Collaboration, and Family Services needs of the Latinx community with San Francisco Family Resource Centers and City BMR Housing Collaborative along with the following agencies:
