Talking across differences matters. This interview continues my Soy/Somos conversations with Latinos and others in the US with their feet planted in two or more cultures. The conversations can be tough. They’re always intimate and close to the heart. This is who I am. This is who we are.
Judith Aucar, and I met at El Centro Hispano's new and spacious facility. She brought me to Isabel Villar's office, a small, rectangular room with windows onto one of the meeting rooms. Isabel Villar's framed photograph was prominently featured on the desk.
Marlena, I hope you include a sense of Isabel's legacy in your write up. Isabel passed away just three months ago. It’s been very painful for all of us.
Isabel co-founded El Centro Hispano in 1974. El Centro Hispano was her dream and her achievement.
I am so sorry, Judith. I noticed her name on the building just now.
Yes, the board recently voted to add her name to El Centro's name.
Did Isabel have a family? Husband? Children?
El hijo de ella—el marido de ella- el querido de ella—se llamaban El Centro Hispano. Hubiera sido imposible dar lo que ella dió si no hubiera sido su único amor.
Her son, her husband, her lover, were called El Centro Hispano. It would have been impossible for her to give what she gave if El Centro had not been her only love.
El Centro Hispano is a beloved organization in Westchester County, New York, in the City of White Plains. It has been serving the needs of the Hispanic immigrant community for almost 50 years. I spoke with Judith Aucar, Executive Director, who said to me, “Very simply, Marlena, our mission is to educate our immigrant community so that they’ll have a better life in this country.”
During our conversation Judith Aucar spoke about the early story of El Centro Hispano, the loving attention, what has worked over the years. How it has reached out to the immigrant Hispanic community to make itself a part of their lives.
Judith, can we begin with you? When did you start your work at El Centro?
It was in l977, three years after it was founded. I was young, almost done with my second Masters (in Literature and Culture), and I desperately needed a teaching job. At that time, Westchester County had frozen all teaching positions.
I'd met Isabel; she wanted me to work with her at El Centro. She said to me you'll never get a teaching job in While Plains. Let's make a deal. If you come to work with me at the Centro Hispano, I'll get you the teaching job.
I went to my father. I said to him, she has to be a Cubana. It's like, "I give you this, but you have to give me that." He said, you have to be very stupid if you don't take it, because she's giving you the opportunity.
So, I began to work in Norwalk, Connecticut, where Isabel was also teaching. Working from 8 am to 2:30 in Norwalk and from 3 to 9 pm at El Centro in White Plains. I was Isabel's assistant from the very beginning—doing everything. I was the translator for whatever came into the center, birth certificates, school calendars. I was the grant writer, a jack of all trades. Same as I've been doing for 46 years.
When I arrived, the Centro was offering Spanish classes. I said to Isabel, you have to change the curriculum; the students are going to fall asleep. There is this series called Santillana from Spain; it's incredible. She said, all right. Let's go with Santillana. Who is going to teach it? I said, if you don't mind, I will teach it.
Taught at the end of the regular school day?
Yes. I'll tell you why. At that time, in elementary or middle school, the White Plains school system did not offer Spanish to kids of Hispanic descent. Though exposed to Spanish at home, the Hispanic children did not know how to write it or read it. This must have been in the 80s.
Now the schools provide a dual-language program, where Spanish and English classes are taught to both sets of children.
The police department in White Plains also needed someone to teach Spanish to English-speaking officers. I taught it as part of El Centro Hispano's mission. I went to the station to do it.
The While Plains Police Department have always been very open minded and very pro-community. When they began to see lots of Hispanics moving into the area and saw they needed more Spanish-speaking police, they would come to the church after mass on Sundays and treat the young men to pizza. This is how they would recruit.
What communities were using the facility at El Centro in the early years? How would you compare it with today?
In the early 70s there would have been Spaniards, Puerto Ricans, some Dominicans, a very few Cubans. Then, suddenly, we got a lot of people from Colombia; then Perú and Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador. After that, you name it, everybody came.
In the beginning, El Centro was part of the Community Action Program of White Plains. We depended on them for everything. In 2000 we decided it was time to become independent. Isabel said, I'm going to meet with friends of El Centro and see what we can do.
We used to give small scholarships to students, though we had no money. Isabel said we must begin. If you can give $50, I can give $50. If we can do $100 and $100, we will do that.
For whatever reason we landed in the newspaper. There was this woman, Patricia Lanza. She sent Isabel a note that said, "It's about time that someone is doing something for Hispanics." She was a very wealthy lady who gave money to everybody. She said she had been very poor when she was young. She had married a man who developed this tiny security part that was put in planes and made a fortune. Mrs. Lanza wanted to know about our scholarships.
Isabel invited her to the next committee meeting. We used to sponsor dances. Any money we were able to get from a Christmas dance or a Valentine's dance, we would give to the priest—at the time Father José—and he would save it for us. We had about $3000.
So here comes Mrs. Lanza with a piece of paper. She wrote as we talked about the students. OK I have to go. This is my take. Carlos will take $5000, Jose will have $2000, so and so will have $2000, and so on...
A member of the community who was there to help us choose the students said to her, it seems that you don't understand, Mrs. Lanza. We only have $3000.
Excuse me sir. It is you who do not understand. I am saying I will give. You are giving El Centro's money. You give whatever you want.
That's how the scholarship program began. Mrs. Lanza continued doing this until she passed away.
What three things about El Centro are you most proud of—or feel have helped the community the most?
It's difficult to say because we created programs according to the needs of the community at specific times. When El Centro Hispano started, Isabel believed that having a girl scout troop was very important. Sewing classes also. English classes, of course. Those were the three principal programs early in our history—in addition to assisting people with jobs and housing. We always had a tremendous problem with housing.
Over time the sewing classes were replaced with computer classes, accounting classes, nutrition. We still offer English. We still have the jobs and apartment programs. We have early literacy and tutorial programs for kindergarten through the third grades. The 4th grade class is called Culture through Technology. Children need to learn about the cultures of different communities, be it Indian, Jewish, African American, and so on. We are the world.
During the time of President Regan, the government used to give big bars of cheese. Instead of "Feeding Westchester"then. We had to go a special place to pick up boxes and boxes of cheese—5 pounds. Contribution from the federal government to all the agencies. Isabel's car was tiny; mine too; they smelled of cheese. My car needed all kinds of repair because of the cheese. How did I end up with two elbow surgeries?
People loved it. Once a lady said to me, It's too salty. So I said, it's okay, don't take it. Are you kidding me? she said. Give me two!
Since El Centro's birthday was on January 31, we celebrated with the Three Kings holiday. Isabel chose the most prominent people in White Plains to be kings, everyone who was helping El Centro. We got toys for every child. Sometimes it was 200 to 300; other times, 1000 toys. On December 26, we'd go to Sears or Woolworths as soon as they opened. Whatever toys Woolworth had not sold, they would give to us at 50 to 75 percent discount. We would buy all the toys possible.
What did we give? The children were not that sophisticated to have Legos or computers. It was dolls for the girls, trucks for the boys, table board games--Parcheesi, and so on. In the 90s we began to get donations, and Barbies showed up.
Let's go back to housing, Judith. Why is it so hard to find housing?
This is the situation. They are building incredible buildings in White Plains right now, but rents are very, very high—even for the middle class. You have a new generation that doesn't believe in saving money. People move into rentals because maybe next year they'll work in another state or country. So White Plains has all these new buildings, already rented.
But we serve the poor. And the undocumented cannot go into public housing. The people you see in public housing are black Americans and documented Hispanics.
Where do the undocumented go?
They rent private homes as a group. In many cases 3, 4 and 5 people or families get together. Each room in the house becomes an apartment. The living room, kitchen and bathrooms become a common space. It's very, very upsetting.
It's even more complicated, I imagine, with the newer immigrants being bused into New York.
We are working with it. There are those sent to the border and bused here. Then you have the ones who crossed the border that no one knows are here. I would say 99 percent of them are here to work. They do not come here to take anything for free. If the government gave them permission to work, they would be working.
One group is getting benefits from NYC. Some from this community are here at a motel down the road. They get housing, are given food and medical assistance. The other undocumented are just as needy. We see them because they are here looking for apartments, for food, and for work. The ones who do find work often get abused. They have no rights.
How can ordinary Americans help El Centro and the immigrant community in this area?
Every donation that comes to El Centro Hispano is put back into the community. We spend little on salaries. We have a group of young people arriving 17 and older who cannot go to high school because they are over the age. BOCES, an organization sponsored by the states, cannot teach them here in New York until they are 21. They need a General Education Diploma (GED'S) and English. So we began a course. That teacher is being paid by us. We received a small grant from the County to cover these expenses through January, but after January we don't have the money in the budget.
Judith, you have a long history with El Centro, almost 50 years. Have whole families gone through the system, children who are now participating...?
That is the wonderful thing. We have students who began in the "Mi hermana mayor" ("My Older Sister") program who became tutors and program coordinators and are now working in the school system in White Plains. Some are guidance counselors and come here to talk to parents on what to do when students apply to college. It's multi-generational. The cycle repeats.
It was only ten years ago, that I noticed how many Hispanics were living here in Westchester. The figures in 2020 are that one in every four residents of Westchester County are Hispanic. I found myself writing their stories. The needs are greater today with so many migrants needing asylum. Is there some way I could personally help? Mentoring, or such?
You know, Marlena, we no longer use adults in that sense, because we have a scholarship program for young people based on community service. For the annual Health Fair, as an example, we had twenty students helping. They were translating for people, serving food. We show the community that we are training our young people to be productive citizens. Some graduate with 100 and 200 hours with El Centro. They get deeply involved. That man over there (Judith points to a young man working with two school age kids in the next room) is tutoring the children. He began here in the 8th grade. He's in his third year of college now.
This is a wonderful concept.
Most of our tutors have been in the program themselves. They know the subject matter. When we had adults helping, they wanted to teach the students the way they had learned. You can no longer do that.
We have students from the honor society or others with very good grades who come during their free periods at the high school to help their classmates. We meet with them in September, explain the program and keep track of them. There are one or two teachers who control the class. You achieve two things at once. You also expose the non-Hispanic to Hispanic or Haitian--or whomever has immigrated here. They learn to accept others. The program has been very successful.
Are the Hudson Valley towns in the north making temporary facilities available for the most recent immigrants?
I don't know the status as of this date, but in this area, they are being helped. We don't want to involve El Centro with politics. We work with Republicans and Democrats. We need money. If it wasn't for elected officials, the mayor of White Plains and council people, this new building would not exist. They have been so supportive—as well as the White Plains Police Department, the schools, and the White Plains Hospital.
How does the hospital help?
We just held the Health Fair. It took place at Calvary Church, also arranged in conjunction with the Slater Community. Two months before, the hospital and community organizations start recruiting people for mammograms and pap smears, free of charge. The day of the Health Fair, they pick up people in buses and take them to the clinic. They also do prostate exams, cholesterol exams, everything and anything. If they find anyone who is ill, they take them to the hospital's clinic and take care of the bill with charitable money.
The clinic is there and willing to listen. We know them by name. They're our friends.
Does El Centro help people who are not Hispanic?
African Americans come and learn here too. We have a woman who comes for the computer classes. People come for food. We have a family from Senegal and from Ghana. We have a Ukranian family who comes regularly. Even though our name is "Hispanic," we accept anyone who needs help. We help them with passion and pleasure.
Dear readers — I was so touched and elevated by this conversation with Judith Aucar. Tell me what you are thinking. Always, as you know, this is a conversation.
This was one of my favorite installments. This organization is doing such great work and doing it with such conviction. I'm inspired! I hope your story gets a few more donations going their way.
A tremendously inspiring story - everyone needs to hear about this. It shows what hard work and a belief in people can do to raise up a community.