More than five thousand people march to protest the impact of welfare reform on immigrants.

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 1997
CARECEN kicks off its Capital Campaign to raise 1.5 million dollars by the year 2000 and begins the process of developing the design and renovation of the community center. By 1997, the Capital Campaign had already raised 1 million dollars.
      CARECEN hosts the SAAN national meeting to coordinate strategies for achieving permanent legal status for Salvadorans and Guatemalans.
      CARECEN receives funding from the Emma Lazarus Fund of the Open Society Institute for support of a national collaborative project with CARECEN D.C, and Centro Presente, Boston, to create a leadership development pilot project model in civic participation for the Central American community.
      In 1997, CARECEN struggles to gain the rights lost under the IIRAIRA Immigration Act. 5,000 community members march to protest the loss of public benefits to immigrants due to welfare reform. CARECEN reactivates the ABC Committee (composed of ABC class members, relatives and friends) working for permanent residency status for leadership development in civic participation.
      A partial victory is won when Congress passes the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), which grants permanent residence to Nicaraguans and Cubans and gives to Salvadorans and Guatemalans limited rights to seek suspension of deportation.
      CARECEN joins Citizens for an Educated America, a coalition of civil rights, education groups and organizations working to defeat Proposition 227, which eliminates bilingual education.
      CARECEN, as part of the SVCLA, implements a pilot project through which vendors establish semi-permanent stalls at three MTA plazas.
      CARECEN begins implementation of its After School and Family Integration Program in collaboration with L.A. Bridges/Berendo Middle School.
      CARECEN participates in an election observers delegation to ensure fair and fraud-free elections in El Salvador. The FMLN wins a large percentage of local elections including 52 major municipalities and 27 out of 84 seats in the legislative assembly.