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On Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, during its 37th Annual Gala,
the campaign was celebrated with its goal to raise funds to move
to the new facility to 2800 Pearl Avenue; it was achieved and
now El Centro will have space almost doubling the size of its
original facility, to serve predominately the minority
communities in South Lorain.
“This year there has been many hardships and many successes,” said
Victor Leandry, executive director of El Centro. “I am
proud to say that we will open the new building next month
Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, at 5pm.”
The opening day is actually an open house for the community to see
the inside of the building, what Leandry says is not his, it is
not El Centro’s, it belongs to the people, and the city of
Lorain.
“This building belongs to the community,” said Leandry. “That is
one of the reasons why we did not want to finance the project;
we did not want the community to have debt.”
According to
Margarita Quiñones, vice president of El
Centro and chairwoman of the capital campaign to raise money for
the new facility. Fundraising began three years ago; the goal
was to raise $1.5 million, but the campaign fell slightly short
at $1.2 million. But that will not stop the doors from opening
and services to begin.
“Though we didn’t raise all the money the building will be fully
functioning and ready to go,” said Jared Pérez, youth
program coordinator of El Centro.
“Even though the building isn’t open yet, and we didn’t have an
opening date yet, agencies came to partner with us to provide
services to Lorain,” said Leandry.
The news of the new facility opening and more services for Lorain
comes at a time when the Brookings Institute released poverty
numbers Thursday, Nov. 3 that showed Lorain - in particular
South Lorain – had experienced high poverty level spikes over
the past five years.
Donators of the capital campaign were truly a community effort,
spearheaded by financial institutions, community organizations,
and private donations. The Gala attendees were supporters of El
Centro – which provides services for the youth, the elderly, the
disabled, and those who speak only Spanish.
Joel Arredondo, Lorain City Council President, was in attendance, as well as
Lorain’s Rey Carrion, interim director of community
development. Marcy Kaptur, congresswoman for the 9th
Congressional District, was in attendance as well as Ted Kalo,
Lorain County Commissioner.
Lilly
Cavanaugh
and Richard Romero of the Ohio Commission on
Hispanic/Latino Affairs traveled to enjoy the night, and
representatives of the Lorain County Hispanic Fund showed
support. Antonio Barrios, vice president of the
Coalition for Hispanic/Latino Issues and Progress (CHIP) and
others from the political action committee attended.
A youth dance group, “Son de Cleveland,” and musician
Pepe Rivera provided entertainment as the guests enjoyed and
danced the night away, commemorating an occasion all were proud
to be a part of.
However, the Gala was not all celebration; reality set in, the five
year promise has ended and the well known Board president,
Angie Martínez, plans to step down, fostering a solemn
moment among the guests.
Promising not to cry, Leandry shared his thoughts.
“People have come up to me asking did I get her a plaque or
something, I said no, because today is not goodbye,” said
Leandry. “She’s here until February; today is a day to
celebrate.”
On the Internet: http://lorainelcentro.com/
http://chiplorain.org/
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