Our History

Familias en Acción/Families in Action, formerly Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, was founded in 1998 in response to members of the Latino community who saw a need for a Latino culturally specific community based organization focused on family well-being.  Leadership development and family empowerment have always been central to the mission and purpose of Familias en Acción with training provided to promotoras/community health workers to build their leadership and to enhance their knowledge of health, family wellness, mental health and other topics important to healthy family functioning. Many of the promotoras trained by Familias en Acción are now employed by governmental, for profit and non-profit organizations. Familias en Acción and Augustana Lutheran Church have worked since the inception of the organization to build partnerships with faith communities in order to better serve their Latino communities. Familias en Acción serves as a model nationally for a program that is housed within a faith community benefiting from the social capital provided by the members of Augustana Lutheran Church.

In 2007 Familias en Acción received funding from PacificSource Foundation to implement Wellness Wheels which is a health promotion program in partnership with a children's safety net clinic serving Latinos and other uninsured communities. This program brings together partners from healthcare organizations, schools of nursing, faith communities and community based organization  to support health promotion programs designed to promote individual, family and community health.

In 2008 the board of directors made the decision to make a name change and focus the mission on health through advocacy and community research. An important program of the organization is De la Mano Frente al Cancer/Hand in Hand Confronting Cancer which is a partnership with cancer survivors and community members. Familias en Acción has close partnerships with Oregon Health & Science University, University of Portland and national organizations such as the National Cancer Institute and local cancer organizations.