OUR HISTORY:

El Centro Hispanoamericano was founded in 1984 through a group of local churches here in Plainfield, who recognized and responded to the needs of the growing number of Central American refugees that were coming to New Jersey. Most refugees were fleeing the violence of the civil war in Central America (namely El Salvador and Guatemala), and so the group was integrated in the name of the Plainfield Area Committee on El Salvador and Central America. Sandra Gold was hired as the Executive Director and, with the help of volunteers, began to offer all types of services to the new arrivals, by providing; shelter, food, legal services, translation, English classes, and referrals to other social services.

The number of refugees kept growing over the years, and so El Centro expanded their services to people all over the state of New Jersey. In 1986, the government offered amnesty to undocumented individuals who had been in the country prior to 1984 as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act. After that, the influx of Latin American immigrants to the Plainfield area increased enormously and the offices of El Centro were filled by applicants who wanted to realize the American dream.

By the end of the 80s and early 90s, Plainfield became a city with a significant Latino/a presence. To meet the needs of this changing community, El Centro expanded their services to include: ESL, citizenship classes, cultural events, women's programs, community workshops and other such events. In May of 1994, the organization changed its name from The Center for Central American Refugees to El Centro Hispanoamericano, to better reflect this changing community.

El Centro has always been able to serve the neediest immigrants thanks to our minimal service fees and the support of our many benefactors.

We are especially grateful for the support of church groups, particularly the Presbyterian Church, and the support of the IOLTA fund provided by the New Jersey Bar. Most of all, we are grateful for the selfless service of many people who have given us thousands of hours of their labor and skill in order to help the community.

El Centro makes our offices available to community organizations that need space while they are beginning to organize. We work with other organizations on many kinds of campaigns as well as provide free services to the community such as frequent free eye screenings and community oriented workshops.

The main focus of this agency is to offer legal assistance to immigrants for family reunification, citizenship, and residency. We have served thousands of clients since we began in 1984.

While we primarily serve the Latino community, we have clients from every continent. After the tragic events of September 11th, El Centro (through the Immigration Policy Network) opened its 9/11 outreach center. Through this program we have been able to reach out to even more communities, such as the Arabic population.

Our human and financial resources are limited, while the needs of the community are great. We are always open to any ideas that might help bring us financial assistance or volunteers. We are a nonpolitical 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We are registered with the state of New Jersey as a charitable organization. We are a tax exempt corporation registered with the New Jersey Secretary of State.