30 Distillation Guidebook Co-Lab • 9.18–9.19 2025 in the area is the language barrier,” Rossanna explains. ESL and language classes provide immigrants with language skills and confidence to engage in community life. In addition, Rossanna Gabriel was elected in 2025 to serve on the Hazleton Government Study Commission. She is the first Latino to serve in an elected office in Hazleton. “If there are so many people here, we need representation,” she says. Roles like hers are essential to ensuring that Hispanic residents are represented and empowered to participate. “We are fighting to have a place… we are rebuilding this community,” she continues. Yet, as both David and Rossanna note, significant barriers remain. Few Hispanic residents have run for office, and those who have often struggled to gain traction. Expanding access to these pathways, through greater awareness, mentorship, and support, is key to their work. David is now running for election, a goal shaped in large part by his involvement with HIP. HIP’s efforts to expand civic participation have become a key strategy for fostering broader acceptance of the city’s growth and creating an environment where newcomers shape what the city can become. While tensions and resistance have not disappeared, the past fifteen years of work have begun to soften and blur longstanding lines of division. HIP has served as a consistent bridge between long-time residents and those who have recently arrived, building the kinds of relationships that many small cities with limited municipal capacity struggle to support on their own. “The idea was to have a place where everybody can come together without thinking we are different,” Rossanna says. “This is a place for everybody, open to everybody.” More recently, however, a charged federal immigration climate has threatened their progress and introduced new uncertainty into everyday life in the city. For many immigrant residents, heightened enforcement and the visibility of federal authorities have created a pervasive sense of fear that makes it harder to participate openly in community life. Activities that once Afterschool Scholar students receiving recognition for improving reading literacy.
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