LHACC executive director Gloria Vazquez Merrick and other local officials cut the ribbon on the new center.
A longtime hub for Harrisburg’s Latino community has a new home.
The Latino Hispanic American Community Center (LHACC) cut the ribbon on its new building on Derry Street on Wednesday, marking a milestone in its years-long history.
“This building means empowerment,” said Gloria Vazquez Merrick, executive director of LHACC, at the ceremony. “We are ecstatic. We went from two rooms to three floors.”
The center, which was founded in 2009, operated out of a space on the same street until moving into their new building at 1301 Derry St., in October.
With better quality and expanded space, Vazquez Merrick said that the center will now not only be able to help provide help with things like food and clothing needs, but really work to give residents a hand up in creating a better life.
“Now it goes from giving things out to lifting people up,” she said.
At the new building, which was purchased and donated to the center by Harrisburg philanthropist Peggy Grove, LHACC will begin educational courses and classes dedicated to helping people launch businesses. The center will also feature a computer lab for the community.
Youth performers danced at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Everybody deserves good surroundings. They deserve the ability to be lifted up, and what they are surrounded with and served in is an indication of where we’re going,” Dauphin County Commissioner George Hartwick said.
LHACC’s many programs will continue on, including their LISTO youth program, senior program and Empowering Latina Entrepreneurs classes. The center also provides case management services, immigration support, employment assistance and bilingual services, among many other programs.
According to Vazquez Merrick, the center has helped around 100,000 people since its inception and, just this past year, assisted about 2,400 people across its programs.
“What this means today and means for us now—it means a milestone,” she said.
For more information about the Latino Hispanic American Community Center, visit their website.
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