HAINES CITY, Fla. — As Haines City’s Hispanic population continues to grow, so does the need to educate the community on government resources.

What You Need To Know

  • Eastside Elementary School is the first school in Polk County to house a government agency in its building.

  • Community Redevelopment Agency helps provide neighborhood revitalization help to the community.

  • CRA is helping Hispanic families at Eastside Elementary, with 70% of its students being Hispanic.

It’s why the Community Redevelopment Agency opened a first of its kind office in an elementary school.

Seventy percent of students at Eastside Elementary school are Hispanic, according to school leaders. They say those families and students are unaware of resources that are right at their fingertips.

It’s the little things that Jazmine Beltran says makes a difference in the community — take, for instance, a raised garden.

“The importance of having this garden here is to be able to provide to the students fresh food so they can take it home to their families,” she says.

It was established in partnership with the Community Redevelopment Agency.

It’s part of a bigger initiative to connect with the families at the school.

“We ask them questions like do they need help with windows, do they need help with utilities and affordable housing, so that way we can connect them to the proper agency,” Beltran said.

Beltran is the Project Coordinator for CRA, where she’s able to sit down with families and connect with them in Spanish. She meets with about two to three families a week.

For Principal Elizabeth Munoz, having the CRA office at the school is a support system for the families she helps.

“I want to do as much as I can to empower those families and let them know that we’re here for each other,” says Munoz.

Beltran says over the past month, families have needed help with damages to their homes after past hurricanes.

But neighborhood revitalization isn’t the only thing they help with, they also connect families to access to food.

“There are different qualifying factors, but once they are qualified, it feels good to be able to help,” Beltran said.

Just like planting a seed is a process, Beltran says with this being the first time a CRA is in a school, it will take time to build that trust amongst families in order to help more people.

Families fill out an intake form to be approved to get help, and that usually takes about a week. The Community Redevelopment Agency says it’s also hoping to expand into other schools in the future.