She's cleaned houses, worked in a factory and taught at the local Community College. She's now a staff person for the Center for Participatory Change (CPC) here, a small non-profit that supports grass roots groups across western North Carolina.
"We believe in people taking care of their own community," she says.
A native of Columbia, she knew only one person in America and he lived in Brevard. So, that's where she went. She quickly got involved in a local group that was helping the growing community of Hispanics.
"I started as a volunteer at the end of 2001," she recalls. She quickly developed a network in the Hispanic community through her work at the college, her help with income taxes and her translation assistance.
"The board wanted to build a center," she says, but it settled on a vacant, downtown home offered by a Presbyterian church. The center opened in September, 2002.
For Arias, the experience in establishing the center introduced her to a wider circle of people and boards whose members were impressed with the pretty, energetic 24-year-old organizer. One of those groups was CPC, and it offered her a job in 2003.
"My values and the organization's values are similar," she explains. "I believe that people in the community know their problems and the solutions. They're the experts, but they need support and that's what we do."
She is proud of the group's multi-cultural mission. "We work with African Americans, rural Appalachian people, Latinos and native Americans," she says.
There are a growing number of CPC-type non-profit funds that aim their money and skills at local community groups. They provide small grants, training in self-development, and help in finding matching grants elsewhere. About 300 people interested in such groups gathered at a Research Triangle Park conference, sponsored by NCGives, a Raleigh-based initiative.
Their projects typically are not grand in scale but grand in purpose. Arias illustrated her work by telling the story of a Hispanic community in Burnsville that wanted to form a troupe to perform their native dances.
"They wanted indigenous costumes, but they didn't have enough money. They heard about us through their Latino Center. We provided a $1,000 start-up grant and they had to raise money for a $500 matching grant. That's part of our role, to provide assistance in raising money," she relates. The community raised the money and bought the materials and made their own traditional costumes.
Arias was also excited about CPC's recent gathering of 55 Hispanic students from nearby high schools and colleges. "They were speaking Spanish, talking about higher education and wanted to form a network of Hispanic high school students," she says. "That was good."
Another project has been the formation of COLA, the Coalition of Latin American Organizations. With help from a CPC, COLA received a grant from one of the state's large foundations to hold a retreat to plan future work.
Her life is not likely to slow down. She recently moved here and loves the bigger city and its crafts and arts. "I like seeing people," she smiles. "I'm very social." And very busy.
