On a rooftop terrace in Seattle’s Central District last month, a feast was prepared. Chicken, ribs, beans, pastries, plantains, and more. The sun was shining, music was playing, and there were dancing and smiles in abundance.
The celebration had a simple but vital message for twenty-five youth whose families participate in activities of the nonprofit Angolan Community in Washington and who had recently graduated from high school: you matter, we are proud of you, and we are here for you!
This party was one of many examples of how the Angolan Community in WA supports immigrant families throughout South Seattle and South King County. We sat down with the President and Executive Director, Laurinda Madidilo André, this month to learn more about her work.
Most of the families who participate in the Angolan Community in WA have arrived here in the last three years, and they have in Laurinda a stalwart friend and a true servant leader. She shared that “often for immigrants, the thing that most stops them from moving forward is fear—fear of not knowing this new country. It causes a trauma.”
Being a guide to new Angolans who arrive here and helping them to establish themselves in this new country are core to the mission of the Angolan Community in WA.
The Angolan immigrant community is relatively new in South King County compared to other larger immigrant communities, and the fledgling nonprofit Laurinda leads accomplishes herculean support of their people with very limited resources.
Though she receives no salary and works on a shoestring, Laurinda has always believed “it’s better to start doing something, even something small, than to do nothing.”
From youth programs which encourage and celebrate children on their path toward high school graduation to very practical support like obtaining furniture for recently unhoused families moving into their first apartment, the Angolan Community in WA has been a lifeline.
Renton Regional Community Foundation has been honored to support the Angolan Community in WA through our CARE Together Fund. In fact, Laurinda shared that RRCF was the source of their very first grant—and they used it to rent a U-Haul and gather free or thrifted furniture around Puget Sound for recently housed families.
Many Angolan immigrants have experienced and continue to experience homelessness, and Laurinda and her community are working hard to change that. Laurinda herself lived at Mary’s Place when she first arrived in Seattle in 2022, so she has experienced the same challenges which many of her people are currently enduring.
As a mother, Laurinda also knows the importance of investing in the youth of their community. This summer the Angolan Community in WA launched a book club for their young people, and Laurinda proudly showed us a photo of a just-arrived shipment of their first book: a title—in Portuguese—which will help young adults grow in self-esteem, personal motivation, and financial responsibility.
Along with youth programs, the Angolan Community in WA is organizing a women’s support group to create a context for women to embrace the opportunities they have here in this country—to study, to be safe, to be more than they have believed possible, to even open their own business.
Of course, this year has added to the challenges faced by every member of the Angolan Community in WA due to anti-immigrant policies and repression in our country. Laurinda shared that “people are losing people every day.” Community members present themselves at government immigration appointments, and they don’t return.
Access to immigrant lawyers for assistance is cost prohibitive, and fear has increased. Laurinda shared that people don’t want to leave their homes because they are worried about being detained. She currently knows of fifteen people looking for a lawyer who have been unable to access one.
Just as Angolan families have found a friend in Laurinda and the Angolan Community in WA during these troubled times, so too has the organization treasured their partnership with RRCF and the community of RRCF supporters.
Laurinda shared that in addition to the tremendous help which RRCF funding has given them, it’s been equally valuable to be able to call upon RRCF staff for guidance as the Angolan Community in WA seeks to grow, become more sustainable as a nonprofit, and address the community’s most pressing needs.
“I know that in any moment, I can call on [RRCF Executive Director] LeAnne Moss, and she will be there for me. She may not have the answer directly, but she will always look for support or guide me to the person who can help.”
Laurinda has had many doors closed to her when seeking support—often because her English isn’t strong or because the Angolan community is not as large a presence as other immigrant communities. This has been traumatic. Yet this has never been the case when she reaches out to RRCF.
“Whenever I write to LeAnne, LeAnne replies.”
Even amidst the profound needs her own community has here in South King County, Laurinda shared that this month the members of the Angolan Community in WA are meeting to discuss what they can do to help people still in Angola.
In Angola, a repressive government, a spiraling economy, and state-sponsored violence against the populace are heartbreaking for Angolan immigrants here in Washington. These are the very conditions that forced many of them to flee their homeland. Still, they are determined to help family back in Angola.
This compassion and commitment are not at all surprising given the generosity and kindness the local Angolan community steadfastly shows to one another.
When we asked Laurinda what she would most like readers of this article to know about her community, she didn’t hesitate in answering.
“We are very resilient and very happy. We always have hope that things will get better.”
RRCF is profoundly grateful to and inspired by the Angolan Community in Washington for being such wonderful neighbors who add to the richness and tapestry of South King County—and of the United States.