Showing posts tagged “El Centro Latino”

El Centro Hispano rolls out its Carrboro branch plans

Joe Schwartz · 17 Feb 2010, 12:14 PM · Comment


Durham’s El Centro Hispano plans to open its Orange County branch on April 1 in Carrboro Plaza, though they are yet to secure a lease, leaders said in both Spanish and English at the Seymour Center on Tuesday.

The group hopes to bring financial stability, consistent leadership and a successful service and funding model to Carrboro after El Centro Latino closed in November, leaving a hole in translation, job finding, after school and legal services for Spanish speakers.

“There are no guarantees. We are out on a limb,” El Centro Hispano Board Chairwoman Susan Denman said. “It’s because we support what Carrboro and Chapel Hill have been doing, and we have faith in the foundation the board has laid.”

More than 100 community members, some former volunteers or members of churches that supported El Centro Latino, attended the meeting during which El Centro Hispano outlined its plans for Orange County and pinned for support.

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El Centro Hispano to provide service in Orange County

Joe Schwartz · 3 Feb 2010, 6:26 PM · Comment


Durham’s El Centro Hispano announced plans today to open an Orange County branch, which would fill the gap left when El Centro Latino shut its doors in November.

Leadership from both nonprofits will host a public meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 in the Seymour Center auditorium in Chapel Hill to garner input on the collaborative effort.

Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, executive director of El Centro Hispano, said her organization is ready and willing to provide much-needed translating, English lessons and job finding services for Orange County’s Spanish-speaking community.

“We are confident that the structure we have here will allow us to give good service to the community,” she said.

El Centro Latino closed after a 10-year run as a nonprofit due to a lack of funding and constant turnover of its leadership.

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