Bringing hope for immigrant families Maricela Torres in her office at the Esperanza Community Center
Driving to work in the Northwood area of West Palm Beach, Maricela Torres would notice the Hispanic men gathered on a corner lot, hoping to be hired as day laborers. Born in Mexico, Torres came to the U.S. at age 10, so she well understood the challenge of mastering English and adjusting to life in the States.
With a co-founder, she opened the Esperanza Community Center. Esperanza is Spanish for “hope,” in this case: hope for the future, hope to raise families, hope to live and thrive and coexist with others in a neighborly fashion. Located on Broadway Avenue, the center opened in March 2019. It now serves some 260 families, with a variety of classes, workshops and referrals and with a network of clients who help each other.
As she learned more about the Guatemalan community in Palm Beach County, she discovered many other challenges these day laborers faced. Some were illiterate, and often were cheated by their employers. Newcomers “The most amazing group of women come together,” were clueless about how to find medical help, register said Torres. “They share parenting tips. They their children for school or set up a bank account. volunteer watching each other’s children. It’s Somebody should do something to help these people, she thought. gratifying to see how they themselves give back.” And then the prompting came: Why couldn’t I start looking Torres is now executive director of the center, and she into a solution? also works full time at Florida Crystals. On a recent Studying in evening classes at PBA, Torres had earned her bachelor’s degree in organizational management and her master’s degree in counseling. She also had found her calling: serving others.
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Tuesday she worked a full day, then came to the center to interview a prospective English teacher and finally teach an English class herself. “It’s been a long day,” she said, “but it’s been a great day.”
Alumni success: