The Mavis Dunbar Immigrant Services LLC is a For-profit organization committed to ensure that immigrants from diverse backgrounds have access to the same opportunities and outcomes as others who are residing in their communities and assist to alleviate systemic inequalities. Its alarming how many immigrants who came here to make a better life for themselves and families, are caught in this vicious cycle; our organization is created to help break the cycle of poverty and lack of knowledge among immigrants in New Jersey and surrounding cities.

We believe that providing individuals with necessary referrals and consulting services such as job training, employment skills, legal assistance, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship skills will improve their family's futures. We will refer clients to various training programs and other social services that will help families to get on the road to self-sufficiency and a brighter future. Among the services offered will be job training, day care, after school program, food pantry, mental and health services . We are committed to help end poverty among immigrants using not a “one size fits all approach.” Our Program Headquarters is located at 204 Ellis Avenue, First Floor, Irvington, New Jersey, 07111.

With a population of over 60,000 people residing in Irvington, this is the 29th most populated city in the state of New Jersey out of 565 cities, but only has 1 high school. According to the US Census Bureau, 2020, Irvington's largest racial/ethnic groups are Black (86.2%) followed by Hispanic (8.5%) and White (2.3%). Additionally, In 2019, the median household income for Irvington households was $44,898 and compared to other minority towns in New Jersey, Irvington households made slightly more than Brooklawn households ($44,805) and Passaic households ($44,779). However, 15.5% of Irvington families live in poverty, with an uncertain economy resulting from the COVID -19 pandemic and recent cuts in all social service programs affecting immigrants, Mavis Dunbar Immigrant Services LLC is what the target areas need (US Census Bureau, 2020).

The holistic approaches of the program will help families change the patterns of behavior that created these situations because the Mavis Dunbar Immigrant Services LLC is community based and will be linked to the city of Irvington and surrounding areas. We employ a professional workforce that will work in conjunction with volunteers from the community to reinforce the true meaning of “Establishing Trust, Mentorship, and Community Building”. Our vision is to change the demographic of the community and create awareness among immigrants to not only empower the immigrants but also to strengthen the bonds of the family unit.

With little to no such programs as ours, we feel an immense responsibility to help our community rebuild the family structure which is essential in the lives of future generation. We foresee that these services will impact not only this community and its families but will inspire surrounding communities as well.

Thank you in advance for your interest and reading of The Mavis Dunbar Immigrant Services LLC ensuring a better and brighter future for immigrants and their families of Irvington Township and surrounding towns in New Jersey.

Based on the information above, the Mavis Dunbar Immigrant Services LLC was developed on the Social- Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1995). The Social Cognitive theory emphasizes that learning occurs through a series of practices such as modeling, observation, and motivation. It demonstrates that there is a relationship between behavioral, environmental, and personal factors when an individual learns (Bandura, 1995).

According to Bandura (1995), foundation of social learning theory (also called social cognitive or observational learning theory) is the belief that people learn to act by observing the actions of others, observing what happens because of those actions, evaluating the results in relation to their own lives, and then rehearsing and attempting to reproduce those actions themselves. The most common application of social learning in community building is the use of role models (community navigation to provide resources, advocacy, and consulting efforts) for the delivery of program messages. The role models are people whom the target audience can identify with and who perform the behavior being promoted so that audience members can observe, learn, and evaluate the results for themselves. A key concept in social learning is self-efficacy, which is confidence in one’s ability to perform an action and achieve the desired result.

The social learning and social cognitive theory will assist the program by observing all aspect of empowerment affected by immigrants including parents in the community etc. on accounting of observing success of immigrants and their families as they transition on their journey in the United States of America and strive to be self-reliant/ successful in diverse professional and educational endeavors. Additionally, this organization will empower immigrants within Irvington and surrounding communities in New Jersey to, build social capital, breaking barriers that hinder immigrants to thrive, and establishing community building efforts by 10% in the next 5 years.

The vision of Mavis Dunbar Immigrant Services LLC is to bridge the gap between immigrants, their families, and community building to establish trust, financial stability, marketing, educational, entrepreneurship, and employment opportunities, leading to self- reliance and sufficiency in the United States of America.

The mission of Mavis Dunbar Immigrant Services LLC is to provide immigrants and their families with culturally sensitive consulting, referral, and follow up on social, economic, educational, and legal services.

The goal of Mavis Dunbar Immigrant Services LLC For-profit organization is to provide consultation, referrals, and follow up services to refer immigrants from diverse backgrounds to various training programs and other social services to help families to get on the road to self-sufficiency and a brighter future.

1. Empowering immigrants to build social capital and remain connected with their immigrant communities

2. Provide community navigation assistance and connect immigrants to resources in and around their communities

3. Provide Entrepreneurship skills -including needs assistance, program planning, development, and evaluation

4. Provide referrals to financial , marketing and educational assistance

5. Provide mentoring, establish trust/transparency and remain connected to succeed in their endeavors

6. Break the barriers that exist among immigrants through community building efforts.

• U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Irvington township, Essex County, New Jersey. (2021, July 1). Census Bureau QuickFacts. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/irvingtontownshipessexcountynewjersey

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