Centro de la Familia to celebrate 30th year of service

Thirty years ago Rebecca Chavez-Houck, acting director of Centro de la Familia de Utah, was a sophomore at Bingham High School. Her mother was a widow, and Chavez was studying hard so she could get a scholarship and be the first in her family to go to college.

Thirty years ago Derek Parra was a 4-year-old living in California. He'd not yet learned to skate. He would go on to be the first Mexican-American to win Olympic gold. He also would become the kind of man who is willing to talk to kids, especially Latino kids, to tell them that they, too, can achieve their goals.

Today, 30 years after its founding, Chavez-Houck gives thanks to the people who started the nonprofit agency now called Centro de la Familia. She remembers them: Robert "Archie" Archuleta, John Florez, Eugene Garcia, Linda Quintana Saylor, Orlando Rivera and Joe Sandoval. She may have been only a kid at the time, but she knows that, in those days, social service agencies didn't always have what she calls "cultural competency." The very people who were supposed to be helping Latinos did not always understand the fast-growing population.

Chavez-Houck honors her elders, who worked to remove the barriers for her generation. College was her family's dream for her, and it came to pass. Most of today's immigrants also dream of college for their children, she said.

Of course, Derek Parra's dreams came true, as well. He is the honorary chairman of Centro de la Familia's 30th Anniversary Gala, and he will speak about Utah's Hispanic heritage and its future at the gala, which will be held on Saturday, April 16.

Part of the mission of Centro de la Familia is to celebrate the good things that happen to Hispanics, Latinos and Chicanos, said Chavez-Houck. "Derek Parra exemplifies what can happen." Since he has been living in Utah, Parra has proved he is more than a great athlete, Chavez-Houck said.

Last year he came to talk to the girls and moms who take part in Centro's life-skills class. He was down-to-earth and genuine with the families, Chavez-Houck said. "He could share their struggles."

Chavez-Houck and the others who work at Centro de la Familia are the ones who will make the nonprofit organization mean something to the next generation. They are expecting unprecedented growth, said Pam Boede, development director. All the agencies that serve Latinos are going to have a hard time keeping pace.

When it first began in October 1975, Centro de la Familia was called the Institute of Human Resource Development. The Deseret News reported, "The first project of the new Institute of Human Resource Development, an all-Chicano organization, will be to find and help severely disabled persons of Spanish speaking descent. Andy Gallegos, director, said . . . the program was funded by the State Board of Education . . . the institute is a community-based, private, nonprofit, which will be looking at conditions and resources in the area . . . it also will provide an advocacy system for Spanish speaking people who may not be able to communicate or request service they need."

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