About Our Mutual Aid
Mariflor Ventura- Founder of Casa Mariflor
About us
With the rise of the Coronavirus pandemic, Arlington citizen Mariflor Ventura found herself home from work and stunned with the realization of her communities struggle to afford rent, bills, and to get by day to day while in quarentine. Her work began locally with coordinating with the Facebook group ‘Arlington Neighbors Helping Each Other Through Covid-19’ to provide items like diapers and formula to our next door neighbors. Eventually word got out of Mariflor’s ability to communicate interculturally and gain access to resources that our community of mostly Latinx immigrants & their children lacked.
With the rise of the Coronavirus pandemic, Arlington citizen Mariflor Ventura found herself home from work and stunned with the realization of her communities struggle to afford rent, bills, and to get by day to day while in quarentine. Her work began locally with coordinating with the Facebook group ‘Arlington Neighbors Helping Each Other Through Covid-19’ to provide items like diapers and formula to our next door neighbors. Eventually word got out of Mariflor’s ability to communicate interculturally and gain access to resources that our community of mostly Latinx immigrants & their children lacked.
During the 2020 holiday season our Arlington neighbors donated turkeys and thanksgiving fixings for our community. We gathered Christmas gifts from all over town to distribute toys for our Buckingham Village’s children. In the New Year we commenced with monthly free giveaways of clothes, food, household items, and various other needed items on the curb of our apartment.
In the new year Casa Mariflor emerged stronger than ever with bimonthly giveaways, a mothers day celebration, a graduation party, a summer children’s festival, a back to school drive, an autumn children’s festival, and a Christmas toy drive. Events also included free distribution of donated food, diapers, toiletries, strollers, and clothing.
Many news stations, magazines, and radio stations featuted the mutual aid Casa Mariflor has accomplished during this pandemic. Mariflor Ventura has been recognized by the Biden-Harris administration for her outstanding volunteer work. Ms. Ventura has also been rewarded a leadership award from the Virginia Democrat’s Arlington Latino Caucus for her service in the Latino community.
Mariflor has also been an activist for disability awareness and the covid vaccine. Our community has provided a wheel chair ramp and adult diapers continuously for a young man in Buckingham Village. During many of our summer giveaways the Arlington group for vaccines volunteered alongside Casa Mariflor to promote the vaccination of our community. The Arlington County Libraries have been a massive aid in providing resources such as REED English classes, immigration resources, and various other information to promote the well-being of our neighborhood. Currently Casa Mariflor operates from a local church in Arlington, VA.