Promoting academic and technical excellence
 

About us

Mi Chiantla is a nonprofit organization based in Olympia, WA. It was founded by a Honduran American physician with extensive experience working within immigrant communities in the United States to improve health outcomes. We have built an impressive network of nationally certified, trusted facilitators working within their own Washington communities. The facilitators — known as community ambassadors — incorporate evidence-based and innovative public health approaches into a 12-week program that guides groups of young people and their parents through highly interactive and engaging content. Because participants consistently promote the program to their friends and neighbors, we’ve built a substantial waitlist of “hard to reach” community members.

We recently started our child passport program in response to participant feedback. We’ve also begun reducing food insecurity among participating families in need and are also doing what we can to support the employment, transportation, housing, health insurance, medical, and legal needs these families share with us.

“Mi Chiantla” means “my home” in Nahuatl (an Indigenous American language).

Kids working at a table full of speaker parts, markers, wires, tools, water bottles, and plastic bags.

Our partners

We are funded by grants and private donations and also benefit from the work of passionate volunteers.

Over the years, we’ve partnered with many organizations in Washington to carry out our core program and bring a variety of additional supports to our community network. Our partner list includes the following organizations and is expanding all of the time!

  • City of Tacoma
  • Legal Foundation of Washington
  • ASHHO Cultural Community Center
  • Family Education and Support Services
  • TwinStar Credit Union
  • Washington State Department of Health
  • Mason County Public Health and Human Services
  • Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
  • Family Support Partnership
  • Circulo de Mujeres Para la Justicia
  • Rochester City School District
  • Washougal Community Coalition
  • Tacoma Environmental Services Department
  • Salishan Family Investment Center
  • Nisqually Tribe
  • Bamford Foundation
  • Voice Tacoma Creative Media VTRU
  • Olympia Indivisible
  • Olympia Unitarian Universalist Church 

Where we work

Mi Chiantla has led programs in all of the following counties and cities in Washington.

  • Grays Harbor County: Aberdeen and Elma
  • Lewis County: Centralia, Chehalis, and Mossyrock
  • Mason County: Shelton and Belfair
  • Pacific County: Raymond/South Bend and Long Beach/Ilwaco
  • Pierce County: Tacoma, Lakewood, Sumner/Orting, Spanaway, Parkland 
  • Thurston County: Rochester, Olympia, and Lacey-Tumwater