Her formative years, adolescence and early adulthood were spent subconsciously masking who she was.
During the pandemic, she left Cleveland for Dallas, where the Hispanic population nearly quadrupled Ohio’s. Here, she hoped to build a friend group — something she really never experienced in Ohio — with people who could pronounce her name, understood her background and didn’t question her authenticity.
“I started going on [the app] Bumble BFF, as many women across DFW are doing, and it was just hard to really set in stone plans,” Garcia-Ponce says. “And you would match with a lot of great friendships, but then it was lost in conversation, or you couldn't really pinpoint a time or a date, or the conversation would just end.”
Garcia-Ponce took matters into her own hands last March, launching Latina Social Club DFW, an empowering social club aimed at bringing Latinas together and fostering personal connections.
“For someone that has had to hide my identity when I was growing up in the States, just because I would be made fun of for my name, for speaking Spanish, for being different than the other kids, to fully embrace that and be at the forefront of that [Latina Social Club DFW] has been so rewarding,” Garcia-Ponce says.
Latina Social Club is Garcia-Ponce’s successful attempt to ward off the loneliness epidemic. The idea began to manifest in 2022. Garcia-Ponce, who was a college commuter student, missed out on the friendship-forming college culture. She created an Instagram page for the club, but the introvert’s self-doubt halted further action. Instead, she sat with the isolating discomfort so many Americans were experiencing.
“In recent years, about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness,” 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek H. Murthy said in a 2023 report. “And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic cut off so many of us from friends, loved ones, and support systems, exacerbating loneliness and isolation.”
In Dallas, Garcia-Ponce found that a shared cultural background eradicates isolation.
“Moving to Texas, I wanted to be more involved in my community, and that's where I wanted to find a space where I could share my experiences and celebrate my culture, and we could support one another,” she says. “I found a lot of great women through social networking groups, but none that really spoke to my unique identity and experiences that I have as a Latina.”
Dallas-Fort Worth Latinas felt the same. Over the last year, the Latina Social Club has flourished. The group has grown from 400 Instagram followers to nearly 3,000. Latina Social Club hosts four monthly events at BIPOC-friendly spaces with community embedded in their ethos. Events are posted on the club’s Instagram page.
The social club has partnered with iiCE Fitness, a cycling studio famed for its Bici Bici Banda immersive cycling experience, for Biciantro with Besties; Wayward Coffee for a charm necklace party; and Far Out for a pilates class with Pilates for the People. The social club's fitness-oriented events are the most popular.
“When you see pilates, when you see all of these studios opening up in Dallas, I felt like, ‘Oh, I don't belong here,’” Garcia-Ponce says. “I'm not the typical tall, slender, white female that goes to these classes. These events are popping off because it's like, ‘I can work out with people that look like me and not feel judged and not feel like I don't belong.’”
Garcia-Ponce credits Latina Social Club DFW social ambassador Brenda Baez with cultivating community connections that have given the club a strong presence.
“I’ve always been surrounded by Hispanic communities, even while attending predominantly white institutions but since graduating, I’ve missed that strong community feel,” Baez said on the Latina Social Club DFW website.
Echando Raíces
To Ponce-Garcia’s delight, the sense of shared identity has propelled attendees to make almost instant connections.“I really found the conversation flowing — not just, like, struggles of finding friendships, but also struggles in the workplace, struggles with being an immigrant, with having to help their families and move because of their families,” she says. “The conversations from a very early age have been very deep and very uplifting and very supportive.”
Latina Social Club meet-ups are intimate events capped at about 20 attendees. On average, attendees range from their early 20s to mid-30s, but guests up to the age of 70 have attended Latina Social Club events. The club is mother-friendly and notes when events are specifically 18 and up. It’s also open to attendees from all cultural backgrounds. Speaking Spanish is not a requirement.
Garcia-Ponce says most people come with a friend, but recommends those interested not to let anxiety or nerves stop them from coming alone.
“You have to give yourself that permission to take that step out of your comfort zone and come and meet women just like you that want to be friends with you,” she says.
On March 8, the club hosted a volunteer event, “Latinas in Action,” at Brother Bill’s Helping Hand.
“Giving back is at the core part of our mission, and it just felt right to use this celebration as an opportunity to support a cause that really resonates within our community,” Garcia-Ponce says. The club is centering its values on Latina Social Club's first anniversary, which takes place from 8 p.m. to midnight on March 14 at LadyLove Lounge and Sound. The celebration will feature giveaways, and DJs La Taina and Oscar Lozado will be spinning.
LadyLove has curated a specialty cocktail menu in partnership with Latina Social Club. Half of the proceeds will be donated to the nonprofit immigration advocacy organization RAICES.
“In this country, specifically, they want to shut us out, and they want to erase us and I think celebrating us and being loud is the perfect kind of comeback,” Garcia-Ponce says.
