La Luz Grows up

08.30.08 | By DFP in: A Word From The Director

It was a normal day at La Luz, at least as normal as it ever is, when I opened up the mail and found an announcement, “Congratulations! La Luz Center will be 20 years old in 2009!”  It set me back a minute – could that be right? Well, it will be.  We were incorporated in 1990 and 2009 will be our 20th year!

From it’s ambitious beginnings by visionary Ligia Perez Estrada Booker, under the watchful leadership of a parade of dedicated board members, hard work by La Luz staff and volunteers and with the support of generous community benefactors, La Luz Center will reach it’s twentieth year stronger than ever and looking forward to it’s third decade of helping immigrants succeed in Sonoma Valley, creating a strong and healthy multicultural community.

La Luz Center has spent the past year working to sharpen it’s mission, making sure that all of it’s programs were directly connected to that mission and establishing a way to document the positive impact that our programs have on the families we serve.  As a result of that process, we are planning some ambitious projects that we trust are worthy of the efforts of those on whose shoulders we now stand.  By December we hope to have obtained our expanded use permit so the office will be open a full day.  We  have also added two additional staff positions to improve the level of family advocacy services and the number of community development projects.  Watch this space for information on the leadership project, and cultural events that focus on community building, developed by our new Community Development Worker, Noris Binet.  Other developments will be rolling out in the new year as we continually strive to promote the values of mutual respect, social justice and an engaged community for all of our valley’s residents.

From it’s ambitious beginnings by visionary Ligia Perez Estrada Booker, under the watchful leadership of a parade of dedicated board members, hard work by La Luz staff and volunteers and with the support of generous community benefactors, La Luz Center will reach it’s twentieth year stronger than ever and looking forward to it’s third decade of helping immigrants succeed in Sonoma Valley, creating a strong and healthy multicultural community.

La Luz Center has spent the past year working to sharpen it’s mission, making sure that all of it’s programs were directly connected to that mission and establishing a way to document the positive impact that our programs have on the families we serve.  As a result of that process, we are planning some ambitious projects that we trust are worthy of the efforts of those on whose shoulders we now stand.  By December we hope to have obtained our expanded use permit so the office will be open a full day.  We  have also added two additional staff positions to improve the level of family advocacy services and the number of community development projects.  Watch this space for information on the leadership project, and cultural events that focus on community building, developed by our new Community Development Worker, Noris Binet.  Other developments will be rolling out in the new year as we continually strive to promote the values of mutual respect, social justice and an engaged community for all of our valley’s residents.