March 3, 2010 - 844 words
Latino Coalition files for bankruptcy
MIKE NEUMANN - The Woodstock Independent
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After seven years with official nonprofit status, the McHenry County Latino Coalition is disbanding. In January, the organization filed for bankruptcy and is currently working through the proceedings, said Board President Andy Perez.
Financial issues resulting from the downturn in the economy are the main reasons for the organization's collapse, Perez said. He said some board members' terms expired last year, and, while others showed interest in taking over, a new crop of board members was never sworn in.
"The funding never materialized," said Perez, who served five years with the organization.
The MCLC can trace its roots back to 1998, said Carlos Acosta, who served as executive director from 2005 to 2009, but was with the organization from its humble beginnings.
"I always considered the start (of the organization) to be August 1998," Acosta said. "That was the first meeting of six Latino professionals starting to talk about trying to put an organization together."
Over lunch the group shared ideas and visions and eventually began planning larger projects. Acosta said the organization's first major project involved informing the Latino community about the importance of participating in the 2000 census.
"Our message was that the census was happening," he said. "We explained to Latinos why it was important and encouraged them (to take part)."
The coalition served as a conduit to the Latino population by going door to door and posting information and handouts at the schools about the census. The population in Woodstock was 14,353 in 1990. The 2000 census showed 20,151 residents. While Acosta admits the population grew during the 10 years, he said he also feels the population in 1990 was vastly undercounted.
Until 2005, the MCLC operated as a completely volunteer-run organization. In the early 2000s, the coalition began seeking grants and contracts that would allow them to offer more services, Acosta said. In 2005, a contract was negotiated that required the organization to hire a full-time executive director. Acosta was assigned the position.
"I think one of the major changes is that we started adding more staff," Acosta said. The organization received more grants and contracts over the next couple of years, and by 2007 five full-time staff members and three or four part-time staff members made up the MCLC.
While the organization could offer more services and programs to its clientele, Acosta said, the increase in staff had two distinct disadvantages.
"The only reason we were surviving was that we were growing at 15 percent every year," he said. The organization couldn't sustain the growth as the economy slowed and grants dried up. No established funding mechanism was in place to make up for the downfall.
The organization had to begin cutting employees and revert back to a more volunteer-driven organization. According to Acosta, many of the functions conducted by volunteers had been taken over by staff, which created problems.
"Effectively, the membership started to become more passive," Acosta said.
In turn, Acosta began doing more administrative work as opposed to walking the streets and promoting the organization, he said.
"It put me in an office and pulled me further away," he said.
Toward the beginning of 2009, it became apparent that funding wasn't coming back any time soon, Acosta said. While the Latino Coalition is ultimately disbanding, Acosta said there were some people who stepped forward to help the organization through its final year.
An agreement with the organization's landlord provided the MCLC rent-free office space through the remainder of 2009. Volunteers helped to collect fees, and program costs were increased in an attempt to increase cash flow. A grant to fund the Garden Quarter Neighborhood Resource Center in McHenry was not renewed, which led to MCLS closing the center in July. A new parent organization restructured the center and now provides its own administration and oversight at the center, Acosta said.
"Even with the efforts made from January to July, I still didn't feel that I was getting enough support from the board and the membership," Acosta said when asked his reasoning for leaving the organization. "The bottom line was I was just tired."
Acosta said he is proud of the accomplishments the organization made over the past 10 years. The MCLC has offered many services throughout the years, including but not limited to teaching driver's education to unlicensed Latinos, opening two resource centers in the county, working toward immigration reform, offering scholarships for Latino students, expanding mental health services, increasing voter turnout in the county and becoming the first accredited nonprofit immigration service provider in the county.
Perez said he is proud of the connections the MCLC made, especially with state legislators. He said that, while other organizations will be able to fill the gap with some of the needs, the absence of the MCLC would be a missing link for many in the county's Latino community.
Both Acosta and Perez said they think a similar organization could establish itself in the county in the future, once the economy stabilizes.
"I think there are a lot of concerned people who would like to continue establishing connections with our Hispanic community," Perez said.
"I never say never," Acosta said. "I certainly think it's possible."
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