Virginia LULAC Member Helen Zurita, an advocate for the Latino Community

Virginia LULAC is proud to recognize one of our own, Helen Zurita, a longtime community advocate, trusted ally of the Latino community, running for the Manassas City Council.

For many years, Helen has stood alongside Latino families throughout Manassas and Prince William County. She has earned the trust and respect of the community not through words alone, but through years of unwavering service. When families have faced hardship, uncertainty, or barriers to accessing help, Helen has often been one of the first people they call.

Helen's connection to the Latino community is deeply personal. Through her marriage into a Mexican family, years of standing alongside Latino families throughout Manassas and Prince William County, and her unwavering commitment to service, she has developed a deep understanding of the community's needs, challenges, and strengths. That understanding has shaped her approach to advocacy, inspiring her to build partnerships, create programs, and find practical ways to improve the lives of working families. It is this deep connection that has made Helen more than an ally. She has become deeply woven into the fabric of the Latino community.

She is known as someone who listens, who cares, and who never hesitates to step forward when others need help. Whether assisting families with housing, connecting them with food and clothing, helping them navigate government agencies, or finding resources to keep the lights on and a roof over their heads, Helen has made service her life's mission. To many families, she has been more than an advocate. She has been a trusted friend, a tireless defender, and, in their darkest moments, a source of hope.

Her work has been especially meaningful for Latino families who often face language barriers, unfamiliar systems, and institutions that can seem overwhelming or unresponsive. Helen has spent years helping families understand their rights, connecting them with organizations that can provide assistance, explaining complex processes in ways that are easy to understand, and ensuring every person is treated with dignity and respect. She has consistently stood beside families who felt unheard and has worked tirelessly to make sure their voices were represented.

Helen's commitment to service is deeply personal. Having experienced poverty, homelessness, and moments when she felt overlooked by the very systems meant to help, she understands firsthand the fear and uncertainty many working families experience. Rather than allowing those hardships to define her, Helen transformed them into a lifelong commitment to serve others. She became the advocate she once needed, dedicating her life to ensuring that no family would have to face those struggles alone. That lived experience continues to shape her leadership today and is one of the reasons so many residents see her as a voice for the voiceless.

Helen's service to the Latino community extends across some of the region's largest Latino neighborhoods. For years, she has worked alongside residents in manassas city and Prince William County, especially with families at East End Mobile Home Park. Throughout each chapter of her work, Helen has remained a steadfast ally, earning the trust of families through compassion, consistency, and a willingness to stand beside them when they needed someone most.

One of Helen's defining moments as an advocate came during the crisis at the East End Mobile Home Park, a community comprised primarily of Latino families. When hundreds of residents faced the possibility of losing their homes, Helen became a leading voice for the community. She organized residents, spoke before city leaders, and worked alongside nonprofit partners to pursue solutions that would preserve affordable housing rather than displace families. Her advocacy helped unite community organizations and local leaders in an effort that ultimately preserved the neighborhood while improving living conditions for its residents. She became a voice for those who were scared and downtrodden, and together with partners and advocates helped save the mobile home park from being shut down. Although no one could have predicted it at the time, preserving East End in 2018 meant that when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived two years later, hundreds of Latino families were able to shelter in place safely in the homes and community they already knew instead of facing displacement. (Koma, Sale completed of East End Mobile Home Park, Saving Park from closure | manassas | insidenova.com 2018)

At the time, no one could have known that preserving East End would have an impact far beyond affordable housing. The work Helen and so many others invested in protecting the community would soon prove invaluable in ways no one could have predicted.

Helen's leadership did not end with preserving East End. When the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented hardship to Manassas and Prince William County, she once again answered the call to serve. Helen organized large-scale food drives, coordinated donations, and built partnerships with local businesses, faith communities, and nonprofit organizations to ensure families had access to nutritious meals and essential supplies. Week after week, she personally helped deliver food to hundreds of residents, with a particular focus on Latino families, seniors, and others facing food insecurity. What began as emergency meal deliveries during the pandemic evolved into Creating Foundations for Hope's Mobile Pantry, a program that today continues serving hundreds of families every month. Today, the Mobile Pantry continues to provide food assistance through Creating Foundations for Hope, growing from an emergency pandemic response into a long-term community resource.

Beyond food distribution, Helen organized clothing drives, backpack giveaways, toy drives, and other community initiatives to make sure families had the support they needed during an incredibly uncertain time. For countless families, Helen became a lifeline during one of the most difficult periods in recent history. Her unwavering commitment to serving others reminds us that true leadership is measured not by titles, but by the lives we touch and the communities we strengthen. (Domionguez, Hope and help: Activist Helen Zurita feeds hundreds in Manassas each week | helphope | insidenova.com 2020)

Today, Helen continues that same commitment through her work as Community Liaison with Creating Foundations for Hope. She helps connect families with food assistance, housing resources, clothing, emergency support, and other essential services. Her work reaches hundreds of families each month and reflects her belief that every person deserves compassion, dignity, and the opportunity to succeed.

Building on years of community service, Helen is now seeking a seat on the Manassas City Council. Her campaign reflects the same values that have guided her work for years: listening first, leading with compassion, supporting working families, strengthening neighborhoods, and ensuring every resident has a voice in local government. She has built her campaign around practical leadership, responsible growth, and restoring trust between residents and city government.

Those who know Helen know she leads with heart. She may not claim to have all the answers, but she has consistently demonstrated that genuine leadership is measured by service, integrity, and a willingness to stand beside people when they need someone most.

Whether organizing residents to save their homes, delivering food during a global pandemic, or connecting families with essential resources today, Helen has consistently demonstrated that leadership begins with service.

Helen Zurita reminds us that true leadership is not measured by titles or campaigns. It is measured by the lives we change, the communities we strengthen, and the hope we inspire in others. Virginia LULAC proudly recognizes Helen for her extraordinary service and unwavering commitment to the Latino community. We thank her for standing beside andbeing an ally for Latino families, advocating for our neighborhoods, and demonstrating through her actions what servant leadership truly looks like.

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About Virginia LULAC

Virginia LULAC is the state chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the nation’s oldest and largest Latino civil rights advocacy organization. Our mission is to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health, housing, and civil rights of Hispanic Americans in the Commonwealth of Virginia and beyond.

Contact:

virginialulacofficial@gmail.com | valulac.org