The purpose of the Community Relations and Outreach Program is to provide partnership and outreach services to District Latino residents so that they may increase their knowledge of and access to vital programs and services available to them. OLA’s Community Relations and Outreach Program has three primary components:

This service provides information dissemination and educational services to District Latino residents so they can better access city and other vital services available to them. Information exchange sessions and presentations take place at multiple sites throughout the District’s Latino community.

OLA conducts an ongoing Public Education Campaign with the Latino media outlets to keep Latino residents informed of OLA sponsored events and services. In this regard, OLA collaborates with Spanish radio stations and bilingual newspapers in the city to promote awareness and education activities.

The purpose of the Community Partnerships Activity is to provide information gathering services from District Latino residents so that OLA and DC government agencies can better design and support systems to serve the Latino community. OLA collaborates with a wide range of organizations in the community, including Latino churches, social service organizations, resident and advocacy groups, neighborhood action committees, as well as Latin American consulates and embassies.

OLA works with city agencies to coordinate events to inform Latinos about services and programs aimed at improving the access of community residents to such services. Some examples of events coordinated with support from OLA include the Citizen Summit, the annual Latino Town Hall, the annual Latino Cultural Fair, the Latino Job Fair and other mayoral community forums/events.