Building community wealth and belonging

A Q&A with Nadia Mavrakis of Culturingua

Culturinguais a San Antonio-based nonprofit dedicated to empowering low-income residents in the northwest San Antonio, where many immigrants and refugees live, through small business support, affordable housing, arts and culture, and civic engagement. By centering on cultural identity and community wealth, Culturingua helps families build roots to thrive in their new home. Welcome.US sat down with co-founder Nadia Mavrakis to learn more about how the organization began, its ongoing mission, and what’s next for the communities it serves.

As one of its founders, why did you start Culturingua, and how has the mission evolved to meet community needs?

We started Culturingua to address the needs of refugee and immigrant communities in San Antonio’s Greater Medical Center area. Over time, we’ve adapted as new waves of refugees have arrived and as the community itself has grown and changed.

For example, when Operation Allies Welcome began in 2021, San Antonio saw a significant influx of Afghan refugees. The city asked us to partner with refugee resettlement agencies to create a program that would help long-time San Antonians walk alongside new families, helping them feel at home and integrate more easily.

Our focus has expanded to include building community wealth by supporting small business owners and helping newcomers pursue the American Dream. We work side by side with community members, learning from them and helping identify and address the barriers that stand in their way. As we continue working with the community, we keep asking ourselves: What can we do to help people feel rooted here and thrive?

Culturingua envisions a future where its diverse community is connected and thriving, and voices from every culture are celebrated. How do you aim to reach that vision through your daily work?

Our work focuses on four main areas: small business support, affordable homeownership through a community land trust, arts and culture programming, and civic engagement.

Focusing only on place risks pushing people out through gentrification, while focusing only on people can mean they build wealth but feel disconnected from their neighborhood. We hold all three together so that cultural identity is protected, ties are strengthened, and people have real opportunities to thrive where they live.

Through small business support and the land trust, we help families build economic stability. Our arts and culture programming creates spaces where people see their stories and identities reflected. Civic engagement ensures residents have a say in shaping their neighborhoods, rather than having decisions made for them by others.

In 2024, Silk Road—one of San Antonio’s most diverse areas—became the city’s fourth Cultural Heritage District. Your organization advocated for this designation. What can people expect in this vibrant district, and how does the recognition strengthen community pride?

This designation is meaningful because it formally recognizes the contributions of immigrant communities from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and the impact they have had on San Antonio’s culture. Our next goal is to gain recognition from the State of Texas as an official cultural district.

Visitors to the Silk Road area can expect an incredible variety of restaurants and coffee shops offering cuisines from Morocco, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, China, India, Pakistan, and more. San Antonio is a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy in part because of this diverse food culture. Shops sell imported goods like antiques and jewelry, and public art is becoming more visible with Silk Road banners on lamp posts and new installations, like the one planned under the I-10 overpass at Wurzbach. We are working with the city’s Department of Arts and Culture to gather community input on the theme, which will celebrate the stories and contributions of Silk Road communities.

We also host an annual festival, now transitioning to the Silk Road Festival, to better reflect the area’s identity and highlight the local cultures. The Silk Road Farmers Market, held monthly, brings together shops, restaurants, fresh food, and neighbors.

For the people who live here, this district is truly home. Ask the Syrian community, and they’ll tell you it’s a hub for Arabs. Talk to Afghan families, and they’ll say the same. The Rohingya community feels equally connected here. These different groups live side by side, creating an international neighborhood where everyone feels represented. San Antonio already has a strong Mexican and Hispanic identity, which is something to celebrate. Adding the Silk Road shows that our city is also deeply international, welcoming new cultures and weaving them into the city’s story.

Culturingua emphasizes support for small businesses and affordable housing. How do your Small Business Support Program and Community Land Trust help families and local entrepreneurs build stability and create new opportunities?

Our Small Business Support Program helps both new and established entrepreneurs turn ideas into real businesses. For those just getting started, we help develop a business plan, explain legal requirements, and build a sustainable model so an idea becomes a real source of income that supports their family.

For established businesses, we help connect them to funding. Through our partnership with Kiva, we help local business owners access zero-interest microloans. We also connect them to city grant programs and other funding sources.

Our Community Land Trust (CLT) is another way we can help families build stability. This project has been years in the making. A CLT owns the land but sells the house to a low-income buyer, which lowers the cost and keeps property taxes more affordable. State and local policies help make this possible. Resale restrictions make sure the home stays affordable for future buyers. Families can build equity, save money they would otherwise spend on rent, and put down roots for as long as they choose. We hope to have our first land trust home closed by 2026.

Can you share some of the community engagements you participate in that involve arts and cultural programming?

One of our biggest events is the annual festival, now becoming the Silk Road Festival, which celebrates the diverse cultures in our community through music, dance, plays, performances, and local vendors selling handmade jewelry, clothing, and crafts. We also include hands-on art activities so kids can create and participate too.

Beyond the festival, we use art as a bridge for civic engagement. Last year for National Voter Registration Day, we hosted Verse and Vote, an event where poets performed spoken word pieces about the importance of voting and community life. We also created a collaborative mural with Arabic script, designed by a Libyan artist. Each person painted a square, and together they formed a larger mural to symbolize how each person helps create the fabric of our community. Using Arabic script was intentional because it connects so many languages spoken in our community, including Arabic, Farsi, Pashto, and Urdu.

At the same time, we held conversations about local issues like mental health, affordable housing, and voting. People gathered around food, participated in art, and had conversations that felt natural and welcoming.

At another event, we hosted a live demonstration by Horia Hussaini, an Afghan artist who creates beautiful Arabic calligraphy. She led an art lesson and helped people paint their own pieces. That event also launched our partnership with the League of Women Voters. We worked with them to translate their Voter Guide and Voter Bill of Rights into Arabic and Pashto, printed hundreds of copies, and shared them through local restaurants and grocery stores. Using art and culture helps build trust and draw people in, so civic engagement feels like something people want to be part of, not something that is imposed on them.

That’s a great way to mobilize people! Culturingua stresses civic engagement to help underrepresented voices stay informed and engaged. What are some of the most important issues and actions you are focusing on today?

One of our top priorities is helping people understand that their voices matter, especially when it comes to voting and decisions that shape their neighborhoods. We encourage people to speak up for what they need, whether that is safer sidewalks, more shaded walkways, parks, or affordable housing.

For example, when the city launched a sidewalk improvement project along the Silk Road corridor, we made sure flyers and mailers were translated into Arabic and Pashto. We also helped arrange interpreters so community members could participate fully in the public meetings. Small actions like this help remove barriers and open doors for people to share their ideas.

Through partners in a coalition we are leaders in called Pathways to Prosperity, our community is also participating in a Community Ambassador Leadership Training Program. We train trusted leaders from different refugee and immigrant communities on how to connect neighbors with city resources and support them in staying informed.

How can our community of Welcomers get involved or support your work?

Support local immigrant-owned businesses in your community. Buying local helps keep money in the local economy, and by supporting locally owned immigrant businesses, you can help those immigrants thrive in America. Recent research shows how much immigrant-owned main street businesses contribute to our economy.

Showing up also makes a difference. In addition to supporting immigrant-owned businesses, you can attend an event, volunteer, spread the word, and welcome newcomers in everyday ways to help to build stronger connections. Neighbors who care enough to stay involved make this work possible.