Local Community Center Reaches Out To Hispanic Population - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

SALISBURY, Md. - Recent numbers show the Hispanic population makes up 10% of folks living on the Eastern Shore. But a lack of resources can make bridging the cultural gap difficult. A local community center is making it's presence here on the Eastern Shore as they reach out to the Hispanic population, and they have a vision to expand their services.

On the night of August 14, Erica Ventura and her family lost their home in a massive fire. "We lost everything," she said. But true to their name, The Rayo De Luz Center for Hispanic Development in Salisbury stepped in like a "ray of light" to offer them a helping hand. "Rayo de Luz helped us to raise money for a deposit on our new place to live. They also helped us to get together clothing and shoes. They did a food and clothing drive for me and my family. Out of all of the services that were offered in the community, Ray of Light was the one that helped us the most," Ventura said.

The community center also bridges the gap between the Hispanic community and local resource agencies. "We found that there were issues in the Hispanic community that no one was addressing, whether it was housing issues or issues with law enforcement, education, etc. How can we come together, partner with agencies, gain the trust of the community and work together? And it really has worked. We've built a relationship with the city police, the county police and the state. We've been very fortunate to have the support of the local government - the mayor's office. We found opportunities to educate the community, and at the same time bring the law enforcement agencies in for them to hear the questions directly from the community," Founder and President of Rayo de Luz Jacqueline Lisjuan said.

Rayo De Luz hopes to expand and offer English Second Language, GED and computer literacy classes among others. But they're in desperate need of more space. "Our offices are too small and we've only been here two months and we realized it's too small. Sometimes on Fridays, we don't have enough space in here. And we want to offer an array of services where a dad comes and he's taking his Spanish GED classes, and mom is taking her ESL classes, and the children are coming for tutoring and after school help. We'd also provide childcare. That's our idea of being able to service everyone," Lisjuan said.

Over the past two years Rayo de Luz has serviced more than 250 people, and with a new community center, they hope the numbers continue to grow.

Rayo de Luz is looking to raise $150,000 for a new community center. For more information and to donate, go to www.indiegogo.com/rayodeluz.