Seven years have passed since I first interviewed Claudia Caballero and learned of the work of Centro Hispano. In that time, many things have changed for the group, while others have remained constant. The central mission of the organization, “to promote empowerment and civic participation through education, workforce development, youth and family engagement, and community-strengthening initiatives” remains the same. Centro Hispano, however, has greatly expanded its services, moved to new headquarters, and now faces a difficult path forward with the recent freezing of federal dollars critical to their mission.
I met with Caballero to discuss the current state of the program and the challenges they face.
As we toured the new facility at Central United Methodist Church, she explained the move. “We have seven-thousand square feet. What we lost in the other building during the pandemic, because we grew, was community spaces. So, the most important thing in the new space is the beautiful classroom.” She explained that the classroom space often hosts seventy people each day for activities such as language classes, parenting classes, workshops on home ownership, small business ownership and more.
The new space also includes a smaller classroom, a counseling room, and a beautiful play space for children. The play space is critical because often the parents need child care in order to participate in needed classroom support. The previous space also had a children’s space, but it resided in a dark basement and the new space is full of light and projects a joyful atmosphere. The space is also used for instruction, working with the children on math skills, reading skills, and cultural education. They’ve partnered with the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Also included in their space is ample room for offices and a more specifically dedicated space for greeting visitors. I’d mentioned the controlled chaos that greeted visitors at the front door of the previous headquarters, which was simply because every space there had, of necessity, to serve multiple purposes. The calm entry is helpful to visitors, many of whom have experienced or are experiencing trauma. The new facility also offers dedicated space for the expanded workforce.
Calls to the center have increased 65% recently, with many people expressing a range of concerns, and the increased staff and space have allowed for that to be handled more easily. Many of the calls have expressed concern about personal immigration status or that of family or friends. Many are responding to rumors fueled by social media. “Centro Hispano does not do immigration work and there is currently no path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants,” even though they are here, working, and paying taxes (from which they often can get no benefit, such as Social Security).
Centro Hispano does not ask about citizenship, but many of their clients are U.S. citizens worried about others who are more marginally documented. Some have documentation that is set to expire and “Federal programs are so far behind, you can wait six months to get a renewal.” She gave as an example, the child of a friend who is here legally, but had to quit his job at Meryl Lynch for six months while he waited on a renewal. During that interim, many are afraid they could be deported while waiting on the system.
She noted others are U.S. citizens but have been arrested and held for days on suspicion they are here illegally. “It’s chaos, it’s fear, it’s racial profiling, it’s assumptions.” They make plans for the power of attorney so there are back-ups for who takes care of children should they be caught up in arrests. Of the children, she said many families are reporting their children are afraid to attend school for fear their parents will be taken while they are gone. “It’s not about facts, right now, it’s about chaos and fear in our community.”
As we toured, I met Dalia Rodríguez-Rojo who works with the Medical Interpreter Program, Rubi Flores Reyes who runs the English classes (about 120 every night at Pellissippi), and Marlene Cervantes who does all the personal and business financial education. (All are pictured here.) It’s a small portion of the current staff and a small sample of the range of focus areas.
Caballero said that when we first talked, Centro Hispano was very focused on English classes and childcare. “That’s turned into work-force development as a whole, so English classes, resumé building, skill building like our medical interpreter program, job placement . . . and a small business program.” Both the city and the county help fund the small business program and she made a point of how supportive Mayor Jacobs has been. Of the politics involved, she said, “I am not a political person, and we are not a political organization. I can’t afford that in the work I do, because I need support from all parties.”
She notes that workforce development is a priority they share with the state and added that Police Chief Noel has been very supportive regarding their safety concerns. She made it clear; she does not fear ICE or government officials, her fear is that more radical individuals would target them in the midst of the current heated rhetoric. She said they are also working closely with the school system, and they have been very helpful.
“It’s never the intention for Centro to be ‘other than.’ We always want to be a ‘part of.’ So, it’s like a woven fabric. Latinos are in every area of work, from construction, to health, to education . . . As difficult as this work can be, I receive support in a lot of different ways with unusual partnerships . . . It’s over and over reimagining and reinventing joy. And our community is doing the same thing. We cannot survive in fear and anguish.” She said she has to focus on the small pieces of help that so many in the community are receiving, sometimes in life-changing ways.”
The impact of the current environment portends, she fears, difficult economic times for us all if the trends continue. “These people are doing the work in our community. If we deport them, we halt our economy. It’s a numbers game . . . What’s keeping the economic engine going? The Latino community has $3.4 trillion of purchasing power in the United States.” She believes the economic reality will eventually drive immigration reform.
She said the fundraising and other work are necessary, but the joy comes from seeing lives changed. Each week she sees about seventeen programs in operation and thousands are being served. “There’s something going on every day, even weekends.” They now have twenty-five full-time and seventeen part-time employees. In 2018 when I interviewed her, she was the only full-time employee, with three others working thirty hours each week. “When I got here, we had a sixty-thousand-dollar budget.” Their budget is now $2.5 million. “It’s been huge growth but needed growth.”
She said the Knoxville community has been very supportive, including the companies with which they have relationships. She said the state’s emphasis on the removal of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts has hurt because many companies came to them for help finding Latino workers. Now the companies are hesitant to continue the relationship for fear the state will say they are violating policy. That work brought in $400,000 per year. “And that just dried up at the same time we were moving into this new space.”
On the tail of that loss of revenue came the freeze on federal grants. Federal grants, totaling about a half-million dollars, or about twenty percent of their budget, are suddenly missing. It’s forced Caballero to enter an intense fund-raising effort with the goal of replacing the $500,000. “I need to raise $500,000 by June to finish this fiscal year.” Donations are urgently needed and may be made on their website.
But she doesn’t simply want money. “Honestly, come by and see what we do. I welcome people visiting. It’s one thing to hear a story but come by and see what we do. It’s life transformational, it’s inspiring, it will make you feel good . . . This is an opportunity to be a part of something that’s vibrant, alive, and thriving, regardless of the conditions.” She has had several small groups respond to her call to come by and she’d love to see more.
She likens the fundraising effort to an anthill. She doesn’t imagine someone or some organization sweeping in to save the day but rather expects the cumulative efforts of many to preserve their work. They are working hard to expand their fundraising base. One current emphasis is asking supporters to assemble a group of like-minded friends to meet with her, tour the facility, and contribute. “I’m seeing the support and I’m very grateful for it.” They are also extremely grateful to their partners, Central United Methodist Church. “We are four months in, and we could not be happier. It brings a lot of joy to have a relationship like this.”
The bottom line is that they need help. If you are bilingual, they may be able to use your help as a volunteer. Otherwise, they need money to continue functioning. Please consider donating or connecting them to someone who can make a donation that will help. If you’d like to speak with Claudia about a group tour or other means of support, you can reach her here.