What started as a small gathering of Latina women inside a Bridgehampton church, sharing the challenges of holding down jobs, raising children and keeping house while dreaming of better lives, has grown into a powerful source of inspiration for hundreds of women on Long Island and beyond.
At the 15th annual Congreso de la Mujer Latina (Latina Women’s Congress) on Nov. 7, some 250 women will gather at Hotel Indigo in Riverhead to celebrate the organization’s success and the life-changing experiences of its members.
Jenny Muñoz is one of those success stories.
About 10 years ago, she attended her first Congreso. Her sons were in grade school, and between taking them to school, helping with homework, keeping house and cleaning other people’s homes, she struggled to imagine pursuing her own education.
“I didn’t think I had the time to learn English and go to college,” she said.
Muñoz remembered her husband’s initial reaction to the Congreso.
“He said, ‘Now you’re going to be a feminist?’ But when he started to see the changes, he said, ‘I was wrong. I see how well you are doing for yourself and for us.’”
Today, Muñoz is completing her final semester at Suffolk County Community College, where she will earn an associate degree in business administration.
She enrolled after helping her son register for classes.
“The woman at the office said, ‘You can do it too,’” she recalled.
She completed five levels of English classes, and in moments of doubt, it was her son’s encouragement that kept her going.
“My dream is to finish school with a bachelor’s degree,” said Muñoz, who works in the Town of East Hampton’s Office of Housing and Community Development, helping Spanish-speaking residents navigate the building permit process.
One day, she hopes to become a building inspector.
“I am a person who wants to help Latins. I want to be their voice,” she said.
“So many women are afraid” to ask their families to pitch in with laundry, making beds and other household chores, she said.
“I had to have rules and my sons said, ‘We can help you.’”
Stories like Muñoz’s are at the heart of the Congreso, which has spent 15 years encouraging Latina women to pursue opportunities they once thought were beyond their reach.
Claudia González, co-founder of the conference, recognized the needs of her East End neighbors through her own experience with domestic violence. About 30 years ago, she attended a women’s conference in Rockville Centre, where she found the support she needed to work through her struggles.
She knew many Latinas on the East End needed the same support, but closer to home.
“They didn’t have a car, or they didn’t know how to drive, or they had to focus on the kids,” González told the Sun.
It didn’t take long for her and the small group of women to attract about 60 new members.
“People trust you when there are these kinds of events,” González said. “They come.”
The conference eventually moved to St. Rosalie’s Catholic Church in Hampton Bays, where it was held for roughly a dozen years before relocating to Hotel Indigo in Riverhead.
This year’s Congreso will feature success stories from members whose lives were transformed after they were told “they were not alone,” González said.
The daylong conference, featuring workshops under the theme “Renacer” (Rebirth), will include experts such as Dr. Mirna N. Umanzor de Girón, an internal medicine specialist trained at the National University of El Salvador. Umanzor de Girón will discuss preventive medicine for women.
Marcela Ortiz, a nutritionist and dietitian educated at the University of Antioquia in Colombia, will focus on navigating menopause without fear, offering nutritional guidance and weight-training exercises to build muscle.
Paola Quiceno, a psychologist educated at Simón Bolívar University in Barranquilla, Colombia, will address mental health and personal well-being. Jacqueline Franco, a personal and business development strategist educated at EAFIT University in Colombia, will focus on personal and professional growth.
Also featured will be Cleydis Gonzalez, a life coach and author of Elegí Vivir Diferente (I Chose to Live Differently).
Gonzalez de Regalado, a family coach specializing in emotional intelligence, believes that building a foundation of strength and self-love is essential to bringing balance to a woman’s life in her roles as head of household, wife, mother and professional.
“Amor propio [self-love] goes beyond a day at the spa,” Gonzalez said, adding that exercise, yoga and meditation should take precedence over unrealistic notions of perfection, “like having an immaculate home we see in magazines.”
The conference runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 7 at Hotel Indigo in Riverhead. Admission is $45 and includes breakfast and lunch. Tickets can be purchased on the Congreso de la Mujer Latina website.
