Echando Pa’lante (EPL), which translates to “Moving Forward”,started out as a support group for monolingual Spanish speakers.. It was born out of a group of survivors who were no longer in crisis but still needed resources to help them beyond their domestic violence situation. They also wanted to keep a connection to the agency. This group would meet once a month with various topics that would range 
from yoga sessions, art activities, and presentations from outside agencies.
EPL is continues to meet once a month but participants felt like they needed to do more to give back to the agency that helped them so much. As a result of this, the EPL Leadership training took flight. In this process of becoming trained domestic violence advocates, members gained skills in the following areas: outreach, facilitating art based support groups, peer counseling, domestic violence prevention education, and the 40 hour domestic violence training.
Echando Pa’lante has grown so much and will continue to expand and grow. In the long run, EPL member’s hopes are to expand the training and spread awareness about domestic violence to their community in hopes that one day there will be no more violence.
–Adilia Preciado, Echando Pa’lante Coordinator
