Grand Re-Opening of the Santa Cruz Community Center in Los Angeles

The broader goal of the community center is “uniting people from diverse backgrounds and promoting community participation to work toward a common good”. The community center would be a benchmark for all people in need. It is vital to not ignore the problems that people are facing today especially in this part of the city. How can this be done?

Firstly, promoting culture and creating a “culture of encounter”. The community center wants to be a place that creates new relationships and leads one to experience fraternity and communion that transcends differences and boundaries. A place where people can grow in the awareness of being part of the same universal family. Echoing the words of Pope Francis: “We need to strengthen the conviction that we are one single human family.” (Laudato si’, no. 52)

Secondly, the center plans to offer important services including: healthcare, mental care, English courses, technology, student and family resources, as well as family well-being. Additionally, the center offers, for women and men, a room to discuss relationships, to share experiences, and to find out about one's rights. Furthermore, the center will activate new individual and group paths to prevent and combat all forms of gender-based violence.

Finally, the concern surrounding environmental problems and migrants is important for the community center. In his encyclical Laudato si’, Pope Francis encourages us to listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor (no 49). He wrote: “Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society.” (Laudato si’, no. 91)

We are committed to protecting our common house and to building a culture of hospitality and solidarity with migrants. The community center would like to be a structure for intertwining personal, social and ecological perspectives.

Dedicated volunteers express their excitement over the reopening of the Santa Cruz Community Center: “We are excited to be part of the opening of ‘El Centro Comunitario’. This center is a dream that was planted in all of us by Father Domingo. His hard work and missionary heart inspires us to give back and to do something for others. Our goal as a community center is to provide services such as mental health and immigration support, as well as resources and skills that men and women need to transform their lives. El Centro Comunitario is ‘one of a kind’ and my husband and I are honored to be part of this beautiful project.” (Lupita Pinedo).

“We are working to create a Community Center that empowers Latinos with their personal growth in an environment that is more adaptable to humanity's changes while preserving our culture's values and beliefs, because our Latino identity in South Central is changing across generations.” (Zeidy Vargas)

Needless to say, the center offers the possibility of getting involved as a volunteer. Volunteering improves skills, allows one to experience a different way of life, and simply to do more with one's own life. It is evident that volunteering encourages civic responsibility. As a team, we ask for the grace of growing and walking together in humility. It is necessary to trust and understand each other and to acknowledge the path we must embark on because it is just a start.

Fr. Domenico Guarino
Comboni missionary,
in Los Angeles / USA