La Luz Center

La Luz Center Welcomes Vineyard Workers Services!

By Stephen Dale — After months of talks, on April 20th the Board of Directors of both the La Luz Bilingual Center and Vineyard Worker Services voted  to consolidate the two organizations. Vineyard Workers Services is now a vital  program of the La Luz Center. Elizabeth Kemp, VWS Board Chair, assures that  “VWS will continue their commitment to provide housing for permanent farm workers (24 low-cost units in the Springs Village), in addition to the camps for seasonal workers.”


All programs of VWS including vintner/grower Assistance Outreach Services, GED Migrant Education, Poder Popular, Vineyard Worker & Day Laborer Meals and Support, Parents Speak Up National Campaign, Student Intern Volunteer Support Network and the Resource Center will continue with no immediate changes.

“We feel that this is the best strategy to serve our community, “ says new Board Chair Martha Rosenblatt.  “The consolidation will enable both groups to operate more efficiently with fewer duplications of services.”

La Luz Center: A Legacy

By Noris Binet — La Luz Center is celebrating its twentieth birthday. Li Booker, a Latina woman, planted a seed in the ground of Sonoma with her Anglo friends, and today we have an amazing institution, imbedded at the core of our unfolding and transforming Latino community. It is very hard to find a Latino in this valley that has not been a part of La Luz Center in one way or another, even if they never visited the location. But in their minds they know that La Luz is there, just around the corner!  

Latinos feel that La Luz is a safe place where they can go in any kind of crisis or circumstance, and be heard, attended to and helped. They know they will find a friendly atmosphere where they can feel at home—a vital necessity for those who have left their families and villages to embark upon a new life, a process that doesn’t come without an emotional and psychological price.

La Luz can serve as a model to educate others about what is possible, that discrimination can be faced with action and creative responses, that people from separate backgrounds can work together to ensure that cultural and language bridges are the solutions for connecting diverse societies. Through its rich history, La Luz illustrates that a society thrives not only with tolerance for differences but by embracing other cultures and heritages, and demonstrating respect for every race, culture and social class.  ❧

A Scholarship Success Story

The Cinco de Mayo Fiesta for Education held each May is an opportunity to bring Sonoma’s two cultures together to celebrate in Mexican style and to raise funds for scholarships to local High School Students who go on to higher education.  

One of our great success scholarship stories is Yaqui  Magana  who tells La Luz, “I was the first in my family to attend college and it would have been impossible to do so with out money to pay for tuition, buy books etc. Like many Latino students, I didn’t have a college fund or parents who could write out a check each month. For me, my scholarship meant I could attend SSU with peace of mind knowing I had the financial support I needed to be successful. I graduated from Sonoma State University in May of 2008 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

I have worked at the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce since 2002, my Junior Year in High School, and all through college.  When I graduated from SSU, I was promoted to Membership Manager. I serve as a board member of the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center and am very passionate about helping others in our community. I married the man of my dreams in September and we just bought our first home in Petaluma. If there is one thing I’d like anyone to know about me it is that I would not be where I am today if it had not been for my teachers, professors, and mentors at La Luz who saw me struggle yet believed in me. You just never know how much you can influence a person.”

Yaqui is just one of the many students that La Luz has helped.  According to Ana Byerly of the La Luz scholarship committee, “Last year we had 13 of the most awesome young people apply (all first in the family to go on to higher education) some accepted at Sac State, Dominican, Berkeley, SFU, SSU, USF, Chico, SRJC. These young men and women are such role models to so many kids on campus, Latino and Anglo.”