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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