How Centro are helping the Latino community, one youth at a time

On the corner of 5^th and Blair right around the corner from Tacovore and Papa’s Soul Food, popular places to eat in the Eugene, stands a crummy old pink building that may look outdated to some. That crummy old pink building is the home of Centro Latino Americano, a bilingual multicultural agency that serves Latino families in Lane County. Don’t get me wrong; the first time I sought out Centro, I drove right by it because the place looked deserted and closed to me. But the more I spoke with Jake Harder, the youth mentorship coordinator, the more I realized what a great place it was. The youth here at Centro completely love it and enjoy spending their time here and away from home. Although the youth are at-risk, this place has given them a chance to change their lives while making new friends and being educated in the process.

What did you do before coming to Centro?

I did a year of AmeriCorps after I graduated from college. I worked at a food bank, gave nutrition classes and healthy cooking demos in English and Spanish.

What did you learn from your time down there?

Definitely learned more about the Mexican community here in the United States. I lived in Watsonville, CA, it was about 90 percent Mexican and a lot of pickers in the fields. Also how nonprofits function, I worked at a food bank and I got to see how they function and how awesome the staff members are at nonprofits.

What draws you to the Hispanic community?

First of all, I speak Spanish. I studied it in school, middle school, high school and college. I figured I have to keep going with it; I’ve studied it this long. When I was in college I got to study abroad in Costa Rica. I loved it. I loved getting to know the culture. I just love learning a new language and challenging myself and I think it came from my love of the language to want to get to know the culture. Especially my work in Watsonville, I loved getting to know those guys, the ‘cabrones’. They would just call me, ‘ey huero como estas,’ they were hysterical. At first I realized, ‘you’re calling me white boy?’ But it was affectionate and I love those guys.

Why did you want to work with Centro?

I started as a volunteer. I wanted to keep my Spanish up and I wanted to learn about the Latino community in Eugene. Unfortunately when I was in high school I was taking Spanish classes but I was not really speaking Spanish. Aside from class I did not really know the Latino community in Eugene. I wanted to get to know it better and I wanted to work with youth. I knew about Centro Latino already from growing up here and I never really looked into it. When I looked into it and saw the mentoring program, I signed up to be a mentor. I have been a mentor for two and a half years now.

What have your learned from being a mentor?

You have to be flexible because you never know what is going to happen. Unfortunately I had a mentee who had to leave the program. I learned about giving proper training to mentors and being prepared to deal with all sorts of situations. But also kids are kids, whether they are going to be at-risk or very low-risk, kids are kids and they want to have fun. They are still kids and it is important to be real. People are going to have problems going on in their life and it is important to be honest and real with the kids and they will treat you like an equal and be real with you.

What is so special about this program?

I think the flexibility of it. It is really, especially with the one-on-one relationships, it is kind of where the youth and the mentor want to take the relationship. If they just want to have a friend to hang out with and someone to get them out of the house and see the community, they can do that. If they want to talk about major issues going on in real life together and help the youth or the mentor get set up with whatever resources they need, we can do that to. It is really what the mentors and the mentee’s make out of the program. I think that is really cool, that it can be so flexible and they can take it where they want it.

What is the difference between the group sessions and the one-on-one sessions?

Group sessions are a bit more structured. We meet here twice a month at Centro and the coordinators choose a theme to discuss with the youth. It is about an hour of themed discussion. We have done self-care, healthy relationships, stereotypes and those are some of the themes we have chosen. And then an hour of kind of peer mentoring or group games like fun get to know you games and team building games. As I said kids are kid, especially when it is sunny out like it was yesterday. They wanted to get outside and play, so we went and played tag and it was great. A lot of it, for the kids in-group, is to get to know other kids who are going through the same thing.

For one-on-one, we match a mentor with a mentee and they are asked to spend six hours a month together doing whatever they want in the Eugene /Springfield area. That can be going for hikes, going to a museum, doing homework together. The idea is to get the youth out in the community with a positive role model.

How has the program helped the youth?

I have definitely seen some of the kids be more social and open up. I have seen a lot of kids start out really shy and quiet, especially in-group. It gives me a first hand experience of getting to observe the youth instead of hearing it through the mentors. Being more social and trying out for basketball teams when they would not have wanted previously or whatever afterschool activity it may be. I think that’s the biggest one for me, seeing the kids open up more and be more confident.

How have you developed the program?

We used to have a monthly game night and there was not really a group mentoring. I established the group mentoring and I think that is what I enjoy the most. Whether that’s for selfish reasons or not because it gives me a chance to be with the kids, which I really like. It is really important to have one-on-one interactions with the mentors and the mentee’s. I really like group for that selfish reason, but also, it gives the kids a chance to meet kids from other schools going through the same things as them. It is fun and we do group outings once a month. We have gone to track meets in the past, we have gone snow shoeing, done some outdoor hikes together and have done some volunteering in the community. Group is a way to get out in the community together and represent Centro.

What kind of reactions do you get from the kids?

They really like it. They love having someone to hang out with. I have had request from the parents saying if their kid’s mentor can spend more time with them because they are having such a great time. I hear positive comments fro the kids saying, ‘I love hanging out with my mentor, they got me interesting in this, like psychology or whatever it may be. They showed me how to rock climb and now I really want to rock climb.’ There have been times when kids say they want to get matched sooner and we are not able to get them a mentor for various reasons whether it is lack of communication from the parents or we do not have enough male mentors or whatever the issue is. There are obviously some drawbacks. We are a small program and we are slowly growing and there are times when we gives kids the resources that they need or supply them with a mentor immediately. That is something I hear from the kids as well.

Where do you see the program a year from now?

Hopefully slowly growing as it is. Eventually we are going to need to find more funding if the program is going to continually grow like it has been. We will need more funding for that to happen. Applying for more grants, doing more fundraisers and things like that. I want there to be a youth leadership council. There are some kids who have been in the program awhile now and they are ready to step into a leadership role and get some good experience. We are trying to implement that now. But hopefully the youth leadership council will be very active by next year. They will take more initiative and the youth will be leading some fundraising events.

What would you tell the community about the program to continue to grow it?

First of all that it is fun and it is not something that the youth or mentor is forced to do. They are both here because they want to be here. It is a fun environment, like I said; we do fun group outings together. But also you can make a big difference in not just the mentee’s life but the mentor’s life as well. Through that cross cultural and sharing whatever it may be, like your own personal experiences. It is just a good thing I guess and you feel better about yourself, like you are making a difference in this youths life.

What does this mentorship program mean to you?

It means a lot personally. This is the first time that I have really had a big leadership role in a nonprofit, where I feel like I am making a positive impact on the community. Helping the Latino population, improving my Spanish and having that cultural interaction with the Latino population here in Eugene. Also, it is a great way to interact with fun, awesome youth who may not feel as appreciated at school or at home. And here it is a space where we can say, ‘you are awesome and we are all awesome. We are different and we have issues, but we can have fun together and we can talk about serious stuff together.’ Just give them the confidence and the tools to talk about those things are really awesome for me to see.