Thread: MO: Struggling Hispanic center closes in Marshall

Struggling Hispanic center closes in Marshall

By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER of The Associated Press
Published Tuesday, March 27, 2007

MARSHALL - In English, the front-door sign offers a simple, if misleading message: Closed for remodeling.

The explanation in Spanish is far more revealing: Los agradezco con todo mi corazon por todo su apoyo y por todo lo que hicieron por el centro. "I thank you with all my heart for all your support and all you have done for the center."

When Carrie Tyler moved here from suburban San Diego four years ago, following her sister and parents, her dream was to support the town’s growing Spanish-speaking population and build bridges between the newcomers and the farmers, small-town business owners and factory workers who’ve called Marshall home for generations.

The result was CLARO, Centro Latino de Apoyo, Recursos y Oportunidades, a not-for-profit social service agency where Spanish speakers could take computer classes, enlist legal help or rely on a translator.

The center scraped together individual and corporate donations to pay the rent and utilities. Tyler, who earns a living as a translator under contract with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, worked at CLARO for free.

In the end, the donations weren’t enough. CLARO shut its doors late last year.

Though exact numbers are difficulty to come by, the town of 12,000 has seen its Hispanic population - primarily immigrants from El Salvador - surge in recent years, attracted by work at the town’s meat-processing plants.

But like other towns in Missouri, Kansas and other states that have seen an influx of Spanish speakers, Marshall found it difficult to keep up with the demand for resources.

Tyler, who continues to help local Hispanics on a case-by-case basis, tries to put a positive spin on the change. She notes she has more free time and isn’t bound to the office. But the disappointment in her voice is clear.

"I would love to have kept this thing going," she said. "But I can’t do it all by myself."

Around town, former clients continue to warmly greet Tyler - whom they call "Senora CLARO." With CLARO no more, many come looking for her at La Paz, a Salvadoran restaurant and market.

Katherine Tyler, a friend of Carrie Tyler’s sister but no relation, helped lure the lifelong Southern California resident to the town.

She had hoped to seek out grants in an effort to resurrect CLARO but now seems resigned to its demise.

"We tried to keep going, but you just can’t if you don’t have donations," said Katherine Tyler, who owns the building where CLARO was located.

Though discouraged by CLARO’s closure, Carrie Tyler has no plans of fading away. She’s a candidate for Marshall City Council in the April election, with a campaign platform that includes greater advocacy for the town’s roughly 2,000 Hispanics.

With one son grown and her daughter headed to college in the fall, Tyler wants to attend law school at the University of Missouri-Columbia and open an immigration law practice in Marshall.

She has also joined Centro Latino in Columbia as its legal assistance coordinator.

"I’m just trying to bridge the gap, to bring the communities together," she said.


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Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

In the end, the donations weren’t enough. CLARO shut its doors late last year.

Heaven forbid that anyone actually would expect these people to help pay their own way.

Oh well. That's what happens when you decide to support parasites.

Originally Posted by CountFloyd

In the end, the donations weren’t enough. CLARO shut its doors late last year.

Heaven forbid that anyone actually would expect these people to help pay their own way.

Oh well. That's what happens when you decide to support parasites.

EXACTLY! They want everything for nothing. Watch out with the "P" word. I used in in a post not long ago and was informed later that it was "cleaned up" as we didn't want visitors to the site to compare us to the nazis and other sundy twits. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

From Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: par·a·site
Pronunciation: 'per-&-"sIt, 'pa-r&-
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French, from Latin parasitus, from Greek parasitos, from para- + sitos grain, food
1 : a person who exploits the hospitality of the rich and earns welcome by flattery
2 : an organism living in, with, or on another organism in parasitism
3: something that resembles a biological parasite in dependence on something else for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/parasite

Though discouraged by CLARO’s closure, Carrie Tyler has no plans of fading away. She’s a candidate for Marshall City Council in the April election, with a campaign platform that includes greater advocacy for the town’s roughly 2,000 Hispanics.

In short, the center was an exercise in political vote gathering. Isn't there an article within U.S. election law that states that organizations which have the intent of supporting a political candidate for office need to register as such? Isn't there also a limitation on how funds can be used, and that they do not become tax-deductible contributions if the organizations' head is indeed running for political office?

I am fuzzy on this---anyone care to comment?

Just goes to show you that the town is being overrun with illegal aliens. Enough pandering, lets have some enforcement.

Johnny