Minority rule

Part 2

by Kristen Lombardi

Interestingly Centro never began with a mission to advocate. In 1977, Father Miguel Bafaro of Our Lady of Mount Carmel answered a call from Hispanics who had wanted a community center.The Italian priest was known for his work in the Catholic Diocese attempts to build a Latino center. But it met so much resistance from neighborhoods the Diocese abandoned plans. Bafaro, however, emerged as an ally, and lived up to that reputation after six Latinos, Centro founders, handed him a petition.

"They gave me a list with 300 names, and I saw how important it was to them to have a center," recalls Bafaro. "The Latino community wanted something that was theirs. They wanted an identity."

Bafaro, who many describe as a "shepherd" of the Latino flock, met with William McCullough, a public accountant, who agreed to help Centro incorporate as a non-profit organization. McCullough has remained loyal to the agency ever since.

"It was a grassroots effort, and that intrigued me," says McCullough, now assistant board treasurer. "I expected that a lot of people were working really hard, but that they didn't know what they were doing financially."

Although Centro had solicited help from 200 volunteers for its after-school programs and weekend dances, it lacked a formal structure. There was no budget for a director, let alone a professional staff. Volunteers began to raise money. And in 1979, Centro opened its Sycamore Street facility. Centro appeared to be on its way.

But the agency quickly found itself battling for funding and recognition with another local Latino organization, the Latin Association for Progress and Action (ALPA), formed in the 1960s as a social-service and advocacy agency. The two agencies were pitted against each other, scrambling for city money and local donations. The city and its funding community "only wanted to deal with one entity serving Latinos," says Worcester Juvenile Court Judge Luis Perez, a Centro founder.

"Centro never meant to replace ALPA, but nobody understood the need for two [Latino] agencies," explains Perez, who had been an ALPA member as well. "Meanwhile, ALPA was spreading itself too thin, trying to do so many things that the community lost faith in it. ALPA [eventually] folded into Centro."

The merger meant more money for Centro's meager budget. It received federal community-block-grant funds. The state's Department of Social Services and Department of Mental Retardation initiated service contracts with Centro -- by now considered the Worcester agency serving the Latino community.

The real boost, however, came from Youth Opportunities Unlimited Inc. (You Inc.), a highly regarded Worcester-based social-services agency for troubled youth and families. Beginning in 1990, You Inc. became a mentor to the fledgling Centro, which, at the time, could afford one paid employee, Rodriguez-Parker. With a $350,000 DSS grant, the two worked to expand Centro's nonexistent infrastructure. You Inc. performed all administrative tasks, says Maurice Boisvert, You Inc.'s executive director. It kept the books, counseled clients, and wrote policies.

"We put systems in place until [Centro] could take over the responsibilities," explains Boisvert.

Centro's budget has grown from $27,000 in fiscal 1990 to $1 million in fiscal 1996. It currently manages a $810,000 budget. Board members attribute such growth -- too rapid for some -- to more rigorous corporate fundraising and DSS contract negotiations. The 26-member Centro staff served 54,000 clients last year alone. But even with such remarkable expansion, Centro still cannot keep up with the needs of the city's soaring Hispanic population, which grew from one to 10 percent since the time Centro first incorporated.

Part 3

Kristen Lombardi can be reached at klombardi[a]phx.com.