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El Centro de la Mujer is a project supported by Toledo Area
Ministries, but Annoni, who is the founder, said El Centro
will be announcing soon the advisory board.
The opening of the multi-purpose facility is a dream come true for
the Argentine-born Annoni, whose passion for the empowerment of
Latinas has been widely recognized and admired by her peers in
the field of social services.
Annoni will continue serving the Latino community as an
editor/reporter for both the weekly La Prensa newspaper
and the quarterly La Prensa La Revista.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Annoni about the community’s response to
her open house. “When you have an event like this, you know your
friends will be there to support you. They know your work and
they know your passion. But when so many people you never met
before come in to support your mission, the idea and El Centro,
just based upon what they saw in your invitation, it really
becomes inspiring.
“People came out because it was something new in Toledo to support
Latinas, and they wanted to know how they could be a part of
what we are doing. A group from the Catharine S. Eberly
Center for Women at the University of Toledo came out first
thing in the morning. I had never met them before nor had I ever
had a close working relationship with their agency,” explained
Annoni.
“Another group came from the Susan G. Komen Foundation. They
all said they have to do something and they want to reach out to
Latinas,”
Among those who attended the open house were two detectives from
the Domestic Violence Unit of the Toledo Police Department.
“I’ve worked with the unit on various committees but I was so
honored that they would take time from their busy schedules to
stop by. They said ‘we’re here to support you and the women.
If you have any women who are victims of domestic abuse and need
special attention, let us know immediately.’ To have people that
you know only from meetings and committees say that they are
here to support your women is awesome,” said Annoni.
She has also held preliminary talks with Project Able about
coordinating efforts on issues such as immigration.
El Centro de la Mujer opened its doors on August 8 for participants
– Annoni does not call them clients – and Annoni explained her
philosophy that has made her a leading advocate for Latina
empowerment both in her native Argentina and the United States.
“I’m only the person who put this together, this is your center.
Whatever happens here happens only because you want it and not
because I think it is a cool idea,” Annoni told the first group
of women. She has seen an average of 16 women attend the center
for the last three Mondays, and that is without having had any
funding.
“The only support we have had comes from the members, who are
volunteers. We are all working very hard because we share in
the ownership.
“When you do the right thing and you put your heart and passion
into what you do, the funding will follow,” said Annoni.
She is delighted with the response she has received from her Monday
morning groups and plans to extend her community outreach by
providing evening English classes beginning in September. She
hopes these classes will attract the husbands of many of the
participants in her morning groups.
She will also launch Spanish classes for adults and programs to
prepare Latinas for careers in the business world as well as to
teach computer basics.
And Annoni also has some interesting new projects for children.
Working with her talented daughter Natalia and her friend
Lindsee, students at the Toledo School for the Arts,
they will offer art classes and dance instruction, thus making
El Centro de la Mujer a full-family-service agency.
El Centro de la Mujer will also provide Latino cultural sensitivity
training, said Annoni, who is bilingual (Spanish/English), and
who earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work at the
prestigious University of Buenos Aires.
Because Annoni is known for always looking forward, La Prensa
wondered if she ever looks back and reflects upon her almost
five year stint at Adelante?
“When I moved to Ohio in 2005, Adelante opened the doors for my
involvement with the Latino community,” she responded.
El Centro de la Mujer will soon have a Web site. Until that time,
Annoni can be reached at (419) 708-0668. |
