Project Unica, "A New Beginning to End Abuse"

This Friday, we talk about issues of domestic violence and how they are impacting the Portland Latino community.We welcome Kat Kelley and Sheyla Ramirez from Catholic Charities’ Hispanic program, Proyecto Unica. "Project Unica's goal is to provide support, advocacy, and opportunity for self-empowerment, enabling survivors to exercise free and informed life choices."

Kat Kelley is the Program Manager for Project Unica. Kat is originally from rural Colorado and has lived in Oregon for 14 years.  She has been a social worker for 11 years and has been working with the Latino community for the last 5 years.  Kat has a particular passion for working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence as many, many of the people she loves are survivors. 
 
Sheyla Ramirez is the Crisis Line Coordinator and Lead Domestic Violence Advocate for Project Unica. Sheyla was born in Havana, Cuba and came to the United States during the Cuban exodus of 1994, escaping from the dictatorship.  She spent 42 hours in a raft and was sent to Guantanamo Bay after being detained by the U.S. Navy where she spent 8 months.  She arrived in the U.S. in April of 1995 and has been here since then.  She has moved in and out of Oregon three times but no one has trees like Oregon and they call her name.   Sheyla has always wanted to use her passion for social work to help survivors like herself.  She prioritizes working with survivors with high barriers such as language, immigration status, poverty etc.  She has three daughters, 18 year old twins and a 14 year old.  Sheyla is currently writing her memoirs.

Find out more about Proyecto Unica http://www.catholiccharitiesoregon.org/latino_services_unica.asp

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