This is the third story in a special holiday series celebrating altruists in our midst. Know a neighborhood helper who deserves a shout out? Email us at editorial@arlingtonmagazine.com.
After nearly four years of providing help to new immigrants in need, a grassroots effort that started in a one-bedroom apartment may soon become a nonprofit.
Mariflor Ventura began helping her neighbors in Arlington’s Buckingham neighborhood during the most difficult days of the pandemic. Many of them were immigrants who had worked in industries that closed during lockdown. They were struggling to make ends meet without health insurance, child care or state-issued identification.
She started out providing necessities such as food, baby formula and diapers to just a few Spanish-speaking families, posting requests for much-needed items in local Facebook groups. Word soon spread of her ability to communicate interculturally. This allowed her to bridge the gap for Latinx immigrants in the community. She found herself working to fill an overwhelming need that has only continued to grow.
To drum up donations, Ventura created an Amazon wish list and began collecting food, clothing and household items, storing them all in the small apartment she lived in at the time. The response was so robust that she ran out of space.
Now known as Casa Mariflor, her organization has expanded to the First Vietnamese-American United Methodist Church on Arlington Boulevard, where she is able to store all the donations. She accepts them there every Thursday and Friday morning between 10 and 11:30 a.m. and distributes them to the community on Wednesday mornings.
Ventura also has been instrumental in promoting the Covid vaccine in her community and helping connect new immigrants with English language classes and immigration resources. She says many of them are coming from Venezuela and Bolivia.
“Those new families, they come in from different countries. And they want help,” she says. “I tell them how it is in the USA—the belief system here, how to enroll the kids [in school], how to get apartments. They don’t know this stuff.”
Now, Ventura is in the process of turning Casa Mariflor into a nonprofit. She says she has submitted paperwork and is going through the legal process to establish a 501(c)3, but she needs a treasurer and a secretary before the application can proceed. These could start as volunteer roles, but she will eventually need permanent help. She is also looking for someone who can help with her website.
“I wish I could have this as a full time thing, you know? Because these are my passions. This is what I love to do,” says Ventura, who works as a school bus attendant for Arlington Public Schools Transportation.
“It’s hard for them to come—to arrive to a new country with no family. And they’re just walking around in the streets. It’s really hard for them to find somebody to help them… So that’s my dreams. Have my own organization, my own place, and help more people.”
This month she is gearing up for her busiest time of year—her annual Christmas toy drive. Last year, Ventura was able to procure gifts for about 300 children. This year, she expects that number to be about 400. She is in the process of accepting donations of children’s toys and is also looking for coats and other warm clothing, such as hats and gloves.
Ventura has been recognized by the Biden-Harris administration for her volunteer work and received a leadership award from the Arlington Democrats Latino Caucus for her service.
Want to donate toys to help Casa Mariflor make the holidays a little brighter for local children? Check out her Amazon wishlist.