Elgin Hispanic outreach program loses funding

Elgin's first Hispanic outreach agency is in jeopardy of closing its doors, after its sole donor backed out last month.

The United Way of Elgin, which since 1972 has been the sole donor of Centro de Informacion's Community Outreach Program, in June told the agency it would no longer provide assistance, Centro Executive Director Jaime Garcia said.

As a referral and information source, Centro de Informacion's Community Outreach Program serves more than 8,000 low-income Hispanics in the area each year by organizing job fairs, legal clinics, health screenings and information fairs.

"We're a conduit for a number of agencies in the area here," Garcia said. "This program is why Centro was started in the first place."

The United Way of Elgin donated $30,000 to the center last year. In years past, the organization has donated as much as $90,000 a year, Garcia said.

"At least for a little while, we're not in dire straits," he said. "But we need to recoup at least ($30,000) to maintain the same level of services in our Elgin offices."

Because the United Way only funded Centro's Community Outreach Program, which is based out of Elgin, its Carpentersville and Hanover Park offices will not be affected, Garcia said.

"The United Way is our only outside source for Community Outreach. There aren't too many grants for what we do," Garcia said.

United Way of Elgin President Lynne Bosley said Centro was one of a number of organizations that did not receive funding this year.

"We had over $1.8 million in requests, and $950,000 to donate," Bosley said. Of the 44 programs that requested funding, Elgin United Way was only able to fund 25.

This year, the United Way has begun donating funds under a new approach, Bosley said.

"Under our old model, we had a certain number of dollars to allocate, and agencies just came to us and said, 'This is what we need,' " Bosley said.

"For the most part, we gave every organization something."

This year, Bosley said, the United Way has begun funding based on needs assessments. The organization looks to fund needs in three areas - children, families and neighborhoods, Bosley said.

"As we were moving into this model, we told our agencies:, 'This is like beginning with a blank slate,'" she said.

Longtime donors like Centro were not guaranteed funding as they had been in the past.

"Everyone had to come in and tell us how they'd meet the needs of the community," Bosley said. "Only the best proposals got funded."

In 1972, Bosley said, Centro was the only organization in town serving Elgin's Hispanic community.

"While they still may be the only organization dedicated solely to Hispanics in the area ... all of our agencies are serving the Hispanic community in large numbers," Bosley said.

Despite troubled economic times, Bosley insists the economy has not been a factor. Yet.

"These dollars we're investing now were raised last fall," she said. "We had a pretty good campaign (then), up about 3 percent from the year before," she said.

"I know Centro was disappointed," Bosley said. "They weren't the only agency."

Since hearing the news, Centro has stepped up efforts to find alternative sources of funding, Garcia said.

To help, write Garcia at jgarcia@centrodeinformacion.org or call (847) 695-9050.