BETHLEHEM, Pa. — "Juntas somos más fuertes" — or "together we are stronger" — were the final words echoed Wednesday at Lehigh Valley Hispanic Center when it was announced a new partnership.
The Fourth Street Center, a hub for health and social programs for seniors and families, will merge with the Latino Leadership Alliance, it was announced.
The nonprofit provides scholarships to high school students.
"With the merger, it's more than just combining our resources," Raymond Santiago, executive director of the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley, said.
"It's about uniting our visions, our missions and our hearts.
"Together, we'll amplify our ability to serve, advocate for the Latino community and create opportunities for our community members through two main areas."
Those areas are education and cultural enrichment.
"We will increase college scholarships to the Hispanic and Latino students," Santiago said. "That's very important these days.
"And we're going to make sure our Latino population and Latino students are not forgotten, because inclusivity is important and we want to make sure that that's known."
Strength in numbers
At the announcement, community leaders cheered the news and addressed the needs of the growing Latino population in the Lehigh Valley.
"When it comes to the Hispanic community, this merger is really important," Santiago said. "The Lehigh Valley is now about 26% Hispanic in Lehigh County and 15% in Northampton County.
"In Allentown alone, in 1990, it was 12% Hispanic, but now it's 55%."
The Hispanic Center of Lehigh Valley, or HCLV, opened in 1968.
"... It made sense to lean into a non-competitive model of coalition building."Latino Leadership Alliance President Janine Santoro
It offers free and low-cost medical care, senior lunches and social engagements, and community events for children, such as its Back to School supplies in the fall and Christmas/Navidad toy giveaway in December.
The Latino Leadership Alliance was founded in 2003.
Since 2006, it has provided scholarships to students pursuing a degree from a post-secondary educational institution.
"As the Board of Latino Leadership Alliance sought to build capacity around addressing health equity, maximizing its fundraising and distribution of scholarships, and having a home for its leadership and advocacy efforts, it made sense to lean into a non-competitive model of coalition building," Latino Leadership Alliance President Janine Santoro said.
'Community needs to be heard'
The Alliance consists of volunteers serving on its board and subcommittees in the private and public sectors.
"Where their wisdom, their time and their talents have helped not just to increase Latino representation in their own workplaces, but to create more equitable outcomes in the communities that they serve," said Santoro, who also is Bethlehem's director of equity and inclusion.
"This merger is not so much about power as it is about influence. We want people to feel our influence, growth, and commitment to our community."Guillermo Lopez Jr., a Latino Leadership Alliance's founder and a board member of HCLV
"Over the past year, our board was wise to recognize the urgency of continuing the mission of the Latino Leadership Alliance of the Lehigh Valley in a sustainable way with partners that complement and enhance the mission and vision."
Guillermo Lopez Jr., a Latino Leadership Alliance's founder and a board member of HCLV, said he hopes the merger brings the community together.
"This merger is not so much about power as it is about influence," Lopez said. "We want people to feel our influence, growth, and commitment to our community. That's what this is about more than anything.
"In our early days, I loved that we would have a monthly public forum to meet at the government center in Lehigh County. And on a Tuesday morning, once a month, we would have a public forum for Latinos to come and tell us what's happening in the community.
"I'm hoping that we can revive that kind of effort again. Also, our community needs to be heard."
