_Description of Programs and Services
Centro Hispano is a bilingual multi-service and advocacy center with approximately 140 employees. It is a nonprofit organization that serves over 15,000 individuals annually, and which has served poor, working class and immigrant Latinos (and others) in the Milwaukee area for the past 48 years. The majority of program participants are from zip codes 53204 (40%) and 53215 (39%). In general, approximately 90% of clients are Latinos, and 80% live are under the poverty level.
Our services are provided bilingually, in Spanish and English. Centro Hispano dates back to 1964, and it is the first and longest serving Latino organization in the state of Wisconsin. Its funding comes from federal and state programs, United Way, foundations and various corporations, as well as public donations. Its board of directors is constituted by volunteers from the Milwaukee community and meets bi-monthly to govern the organization, support its activities, and oversee its fiduciary standing. Centro Hispano operates out of 15 locations. Its administrative offices are located in Milwaukee’s near south side (614 W. National Ave, Milwaukee). Another three nonprofits also offer Head Start services funded through this organization. In the area of education, it offers the largest dual language and bilingual Head Start (from birth to 5) in Wisconsin, related training and professional development for parents and Head Start staff, and a large Resource Center. It has a small alternative bilingual high school for at-risk students and a healthy youth program; and, it offers an adult education and workforce development program. In the area of housing, it has six buildings dedicated to elderly and disabled housing and a bilingual housing program that provides some wrap around services to tenants. Centro Hispano offers a social services program that provides bilingual interventions with the health industry, educational institutions, law enforcement, and other public and private agencies. The program also offers bilingual assistance with housing foreclosures and related fiscal issues; an immigration program that assist in all areas of immigration, including assistance in processes that may lead to US citizenship; and an energy assistance program. Centro Hispano is currently leading a major mobilization of Latinos for civic engagement and voting. Its programs and services all strive to enhance Latino self-sufficiency. Advocacy In addition, Centro Hispano engages in extensive and substantial advocacy in: · Comprehensive immigration reform at the local and national levels; · Comprehensive public school reform and the rights and access to services by Latino students at risk of not completing high school; · Dual language and bilingual education (we are working on the implementation of a plan to convert near south side Head Start Centers and schools in places that promote bilingualism in English and Spanish; and we have agreements with collaborating institutions of higher education to prepare the bilingual adults who will work on this initiative); · Police/community relations (we are a member of the Milwaukee Police Community Relations Commission and promote policing that truly “serves and protects”); · Health education and referrals in a community with a major health disparity problem; · Latino succession and demographic information awareness, especially through our web site; · Latino civic engagement and voter mobilization; and · Latino civil rights and equality. Centro Hispano also holds annually a major Thanksgiving Food Drive (which impacts over 5,000); El Día del Niño (a celebration of children and families that attracts close to 1,000); a national conference on Educating and Graduating Latino high School Students; and an annual Dual Language Bilingual Enrichment Conference. The organization’s web page (www.spanishcenter-milw.org) is also a source of information and data on Latinos in Wisconsin and Milwaukee. Over the years, the organization has engaged in a vast program of partnering with other community-based non profits in the Milwaukee area, and organizations that complement its services and programs to the Latino community. In particular, it provides space in its facilities for nonprofit organizations that are still evolving, and which are very promising. Specifics on the partnerships in each of the buildings of Centro Hispano can be found on the section below on Facilities and Buildings. |