A Christian couple has turned an 850-square feet condo into a community building center for low-income families to get the help they need. 

“It’s named Casa Unidos. It’s a condo…There’s a living room [with] folding tables and chairs. We have a homework club. Most of our programs are done midweek afternoon, homework club, there’s youth study hour, there’s ballet class, there’s a chefs club, a midweek middle school group and a midweek high school group,” said Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder John Chapman. 

Unidos South OC, a faith-based non-profit initiative to serve under-resourced San Juan communities, is currently working to aid the Capistrano Villas neighborhood, also known as the “La Zanja,” through Casa Unidos. Inside the condo, chromebooks, a TV for presentations, foldable tables and chairs can be found.

“It [Capistrano Villas] has the most environmental problems in South Orange County, which leads to health problems. It has the highest rates of overcrowding in South Orange County, which means that there isn’t enough housing people can afford so they share a space with 1-3 families per house,” said John Chapman in the Unidos South OC youtube channel. 

Because having more money can mean access to more resources, and less money can mean less access, socioeconomic status can play a role in academic success.

At SJHHS, 61.7% of Hispanic students and 86.4% of English Learner (EL) students are considered socioeconomically disadvantaged. Additionally, 24.4% of Hispanic students and 44.6% of EL are homeless, according to data collected in  2021 for the school’s WASC report.

Student groups can become predisposed to lower academic success if they lack necessary resources, like computer access and homework assistance.

On the 2018-19 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress exam (most recent due to COVID-19), 71.7% of Hispanic and 23.0% of EL students met/exceeded the standard of the English section, compared to the 89.2% of white students. 34.6% Hispanic and 0% of EL students met/exceeded the math standard, compared to 57.2% of white students, according to data gathered for the SJHHS’s 2021 WASC report.

Heather and John Chapman, co-executives and founders of Unidos South OC, established their non-profit five years ago. During the pandemic, the group raised and distributed $122,750 in aid to 292 recipients, and in 13 months distributed 1,924,756 pounds of food to local residents in need. Unidos South OC has been recognized with the Mayors Award 2020 for Service to the Community during the Pandemic, and the PBIS Community Cares Award from the OC Department of Education.

Casa Unidos aims to serve low-income students in need of resources, energized by the group’s Christian faith.

“For me, for us, we started this non profit coming from a background in Christian ministry. We say our faith is our fuel, so the motivation behind it is the biblical command to love your neighbor. A lot of our volunteers and participants come to the work for different reasons, all of us share the vision of a flourishing community, so we all come with our different motivations, but our vision is what unites us,” said Heather Chapman. 

On campus, club Unidos OC promotes the condo’s resources.

“It’s all to help the community outreach program of Unidos. [The club] provides opportunities for students at San Juan Hills to learn about Unidos so that they can use the Unidos resources, they can use the Unidos van, they can get whatever materials and education that Unidos is doing,” said club advisor Fernanda Villalba.

The condo hopes to put families at the center of their students’ education and well being.

During the recent school-wide Unity Week event, some teachers and staff visited Casa Unidos on a field trip to experience the community and condo for themselves.

“That’s the other reason why we love to use our space for this kind of thing because if you had a parent panel here [at SJHHS], parents would feel so out of place. At this place [Casa Unidos], the teacher is out of place, so it’s a ‘flip who’s being centered’ [situation]. In this situation it’s the family that is being centered,” said John Chapman. 

“I think a lot of the teachers and staff that were there haven’t really been down to La Zanja. I think something as simple as that was very eye opening for our staff members. I think the staff that was there, the teachers that were there, were happy to hear from the [Capistrano Villas] parents and eager to help out to do our part in making sure everybody feels welcomed,” said Spanish teacher Lorena Perez Sanchez, who attended the field trip.

 “I think that’s what our main goal is, we just want to help people that don’t have help at home, that’s why we are here,” said campus Unidos club president, sophomore Alexandra Alducin. At Casa Unidos, help is available. The space is located at 31341 Los Rios St, San Juan Capistrano.