Gov. Mikie Sherrill proposed an 80% cut to a program that provides job training and support to Hispanic women. The budget is due in days.

Consensa Francisca Silva Silva moved to Camden from Costa Rica more than two years ago knowing nobody. She lived on the street for two months, she said, and then was bouncing from house to house when a young man in the neighborhood told her to check out the Hispanic Women’s Resource Center in Camden, one of several such centers in the state.

She went. With help from the program, Silva received food, obtained a work permit, put a down payment down for a studio apartment, and started a job at McDonald’s.

That statewide initiative is now facing detrimental cuts under Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s budget proposal. The governor has proposed cutting nearly 80% of its funding and Silva worries other immigrant women looking to improve their circumstances won’t get the help she received.

“It was very hard to come here without knowing anyone, and it was really hard because at first I couldn’t find any work,” Silva, who is Nicaraguan, said in Spanish, translated by Jesselly De La Cruz, the executive director of the Latino Action Network Foundation, which funds the centers.

The cut is one of numerous South Jersey programs at risk under Sherrill’s proposal, including the Rowan veterinary school and a program that provides mental health care to abused children. But it’s not a done deal.

Sherrill and legislative leaders announced Tuesday they came to an “agreement” on a budget totaling $60.7 million, the same price tag Sherrill proposed in March. But it hasn’t been made public and it’s unclear how far into the details they’ve gotten. They have until Tuesday to figure it out.

And the process is still underway. State Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez, a Camden Democrat who sits on the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, has been a supporter of the centers. She was unable to speak Wednesday afternoon because she was in a committee budget hearing.

On a recent Thursday, Silva participated in a healthy life skill workshop in Spanish at the Camden center where she learned about taking care of herself as summer temperatures get hotter in the city. About 20 adults clapped for each other with big smiles on their faces, and they received goody bags with sunscreen, lip balm, a towel to keep cool, and a little fan. A young girl played with magnetic tiles and a baby was kept calm, passed between women.

The governor proposed cutting funding for the center’s programs to $535,000, down from more than $2.5 million this year and more than $3 million in 2025. Murphy had proposed a similar cut last year but the funding was restored during budget negotiations.

Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers were established through 1991 legislation to address the wage gap for Latinas. New Jersey is one of the states with the biggest wage gap for Latina workers, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

The Latino Action Network Foundation funds these resource centers in partnership with six nonprofits across 14 sites, including five in South Jersey. The Camden center is located at the nonprofit Healthy Families and Communities, and there are centers in Vineland in Cumberland County, Hammonton in Atlantic County, Pennsville in Salem County, and Rio Grande in Cape May County.

Sherrill’s proposal would “drastically cut” the number of resource centers, and sites in Hammonton and Lakewood in Atlantic and Ocean Counties would likely be on the chopping block, De La Cruz said, and services would need to be cut down in eight of 11 counties.

Martha Infante, 38, who lives in Pennsauken, said she was disoriented when she moved to South Jersey from the Dominican Republic. But through the Camden center she learned how to apply for work online and learned basic English. She obtained winter coats for her daughters’ first U.S. winter, and a staffer accompanied her to the DMV to get her driver’s license.

“I came here and my mind was all over the place, I didn’t know where things were,” she said in Spanish.

She now works as a home health aide thanks to training she got through the center, and even participated in a program where she learned about advocating for her community in Trenton.

“Don’t cut these funds, Gov. Sherrill,” she pleaded. “Don’t cut the funds! This is like a family, it’s like a home for the community.”

Some of the women in the program are fleeing domestic violence and seeking financial independence. Others are struggling to get a work permit, or may have lost a family member who helped pay the bills to deportation. A lot of former “dreamers” – or undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children – utilize the center as well, De La Cruz said.

The need for the centers has only escalated under President Donald Trump’s second administration, she said.

The social worker-turned executive said she was surprised by the severity of Sherrill’s proposed cut, especially because of the governor’s efforts to push back against Trump’s immigration policies.

A 2023 Rutgers study funded by the Latino Action Network Foundation found that the most popular services at these resource centers were English language classes and employment services, such as job referrals, assistance filling out applications, resume writing, and interview preparation.

“Aside from helping them with the technical aspects of job hunting, the assistance from the Centers seemed to provide a boost of confidence for many of the women, giving them an additional push to apply for positions even if they felt hesitant to do so at first,” the study said.

Gladys, 48, who is not providing her last name due to concerns over her safety, said in Spanish that the free English courses made her feel like she could “come up for air and breathe” after not being able to communicate.

The Camden resident was an ecologist in Nicaragua and has gotten involved in the center’s community garden. She said she would love to pursue a career teaching children about the environment, but her plans are on hold because her work visa was cancelled.

In the meantime, Gladys said activities at the center like art classes have made her feel less alone. She’s been able to connect with women in the same situation as her, and those who migrated to the U.S. earlier who can give her advice from their experiences.

“Maybe my circumstances don’t change, but my emotional wellbeing changes because I’m able to connect with others,” she said in Spanish.