Welcome! ¡Bienvenidos!

CARECEN is a 501 (c) 3 community based organization that offers legal, educational, housing and other services to the Central American/Latino community in the Washington Metropolitan Area. CARECEN provides information, access, direct services and civic and life-skill training necessary for clients to attain a safe and stable environment for their families.

CARECEN was established in 1981 to protect the rights of refugees from Central America's wars and to provide direct legal services that would ease their transition. Over time, the organization has evolved and grown with the immigrant community into broader areas of community service and economic development, establishing itself as a strong and visible advocate on critical local and national policy issues, particularly those relating to immigration and housing. We now represent a new and diverse generation of Latinos, accompanying them through the stages of the long and complex migration process, confronting all the legal and policy issues affecting them at each step of that journey. All of our programs are available to low and moderate income Latinos living in any part of the Washington Metropolitan Area, though the majority of our clients reside in Washington, D.C.

Our community

• CARECEN is located in the heart of the Latino community of Washington, DC and provides direct services to Latinos in the Washington metropolitan area (Maryland, Virginia, and the District.
• Latinos make up 8 to 10 percent of the total D.C. population.
• Central Americans are the primary source of the D.C's Latino population.
• D.C. has the second-highest concentration of Salvadorans in the U.S., following Los Angeles.

CARECEN | 1460 Columbia Rd. NW, Suite C-1 Washington, D.C. 20009
(202) 328-9799 Fax: (202) 328-7894