Why Vamos Nomar?
For more than a century, the North End has been a home for Latinos in Wichita, centered around the commercial area of 21st Street - the present-day Nomar District.
Even as the City's Latino population has dispersed citywide, the Nomar District and the North End more broadly are still home to important Latino churches, festivals, and businesses, and to a tight-knit community of long-time residents and newly arrived immigrants. However, in recent decades, job loss, recession, and housing instability have left abandoned storefronts along 21st Street, and families struggling to make ends meet.
Empower is transforming and anchoring the eastern edge of the District, including the historic Nomar Theater, while Latino entrepreneurship continues to be a key economic driver for the North End and the region. Building off this investment and activity, our project provided platforms for residents to shape the future of the District to benefit local communities, and change its perception citywide.
Vamos Nomar translates to Let's Go Nomar - we believe that together we can uplift the strengths of the Nomar District and help make residents' vision come to life.
Empower's mission is to empower all residents, with an emphasis on our Hispanic community, by providing programming in education, workforce and small business development so that all individuals can achieve their full potential.
Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) is a Los Angeles based community development and design nonprofit, who partners with under-resourced communities to advance equity in their neighborhoods.
