Hometown society

Hometown associations (HTA's), also known as Hometown societies, are social alliances that are formed among immigrants from the same city or region of origin. Their goal is to maintain connections with and provide mutual aid to immigrants from a shared place of origin. They may also aim to produce a new sense of transnational community and identity rooted in the migrant's country of origin and extending to the country of settlement.

The total number of HTA's is hard to measure as these groups fluctuate in number every year. The United States is home to approximately 3,000 Mexican HTA's. Filipino groups may amount to 1,000, and other ethnic migrants such as Ghanaian amount to about 500 organizations. These associations are predominantly volunteer-driven, and the larger ones have official nonprofit statuses, such as 501(c)(3) registration within the United States. Smaller groups are only for family remittances and do not affiliate with any government or organizational support.

HTA's are usually led by a board of directors or elected group leaders. However, due to the voluntary nature of HTA's and the predominantly working-class profiles of their members, the amount of time devoted to HTA activities is commonly limited. For the majority of HTA's, the main activity is fundraising for ongoing programs or special needs, such as a natural disaster in the home country. Many HTA projects are oriented towards the advancement of health or educational activities and resources for the HTA's country of origin. This includes HTA's working in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa who donate school or medical supplies to local institutions, or provide basic infrastructure through the construction of clinics, classrooms, parks, and homes.

HTA's also serve to donate money for special occasions or circumstances, such as a religious celebration or to repaint or repair a local church in either their new community location or in their place of origin. The percentage of remittance, sending migrants who belong to HTAs, varies from one national origin group to another. Often, HTAs coordinate with local organizations within their community of origin to put their projects into practice. For example, in Guyana, the most common local partners are local nonprofits and churches.

...
Wikipedia