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El Centro Latino closes its doors

Posted on December 3, 2009December 3, 2009 by Staff

By Kirk Ross, Staff Writer

CARRBORO — El Centro Latino, a 10-year-old organization aimed at assisting Latino immigrants, has closed its doors and will cease operations, its board of directors announced last week, citing lack of funding.

“For the past few years, El Centro Latino has been dealing with many challenges including reduced grant funds and individual donations, leadership and staff transitions, as well as the economic recession. All of these factors have made it difficult for El Centro Latino (ECL) to continue pursuing its mission,” the statement reads in part (the full text is in the Opinions Section, On the closing of El Centro Latino).

The board met Wednesday to try to name a time and place for a community meeting planned for mid-January to help guide the organization as it regroups.

Board member Paula Gildner said that a drop in donations and grant funding made it impossible for operations to continue at its offices in the Daniels Building on Main Street in Carrboro.

“It’s basic economics,” she said. “We cut everything we could.”

Gildner said several of the organization’s programs will continue with the help of other local agencies. But losing other services, like El Centro’s work-assistance program and an after-school program, which helps match employers and workers, will have a big impact.

Gildner said she believes the community will find a way to make sure the services don’t end.

“I have complete faith that the community is going to come together,” she said.

El Centro has struggled to maintain steady leadership over the years.

Ilana Dubester, the former head of Hispanic Liaison of Chatham County, who was brought in as an interim director, said closing down operations is serious but doesn’t necessarily mean the services will disappear.

“This is a big loss, obviously,” she said. “Part of that big loss is the connection between the immigrant population, and the Hispanic population in general, and the community at large.”

Dubester said she and three staff members will work their last day next Thursday. Clients, she said, have expressed shock and dismay at the prospect of the closing.

The loss of a simple service such as helping people sort through their mail and determine what is junk and what’s important will have a strong impact on some families.

“Where do immigrants go for basic questions?” she asked.

In the long run, she said, the closing presents an opportunity to either restructure the organization or perhaps create a new one. It also may be possible, she said, that more-established organizations in Durham and Chatham counties would be interested in partnering with Orange County to set up satellite operations.

Either way, she does not expect to see El Centro return in the same form.

“They’ll have to learn from experience,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for a fresh start.”

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