Nuestro Center means "Our Center"

The Nuestro Center is one of our most visible programs and began in 1997 as a local response to the growing needs of the Latino community. Nuestro Center means “our center” in Spanish and provides community resources, referrals and programs for the families of the North Shore Estates apartment complex in Highwood, Illinois. It is a place where children and families come for bilingual and bi-cultural support. Its objective is to ensure that children and parents have the necessary resources and assistance needed to assimilate to American society while maintaining a sense of strength and pride in their cultural heritage.

Some of the dynamic services offered include ESL classes, health screenings, art classes, after school homework club, computer training and community-based summer camp. In January of 2003, Nuestro moved to a larger facility within North Shore Estates, effectively doubling its programming capacity and adding an additional staff member. The move included the installation of a new, networked computer lab donated through Township School District 113. The First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest provided supplies and manpower to construct two classrooms and two private interviewing offices for one-on-one time between staff members and families.

After-School Program

Nuestro Center's after school program, is supplemented by teen and adult volunteers and includes the following components:

“La Escuelita”— a four day a week homework club that works in coordination with teachers from Oak Terrace, Northwood Schools, Red Oak and Elm Place.
Computer training including educational software programs for students of many ages.
Recreational and mentoring activities supervised daily. Occasionally an educational field trip for youth and families is also offered.
Health care through monthly visits from Lake Forest Hospital 's “Care Coach,” providing immunizations to school age children and cholesterol and blood sugar screenings for adults.
The annual Health Fair at Oak Terrace Elementary School, which provides school physicals and vaccinations to meet school requirements for the coming academic year. The fair is held in conjunction with local health care providers including Lake Forest Hospital and Evanston and Highland Park Hospital.

All these services are open to children 6 through 14 years of age. During the summer months when school is not in session, a day camp called Nuestro Verano is offered.

Friday Art Club

The Highland Park Suburban Fine Arts Center recently donated 10 art scholarships to Nuestro Center for their prestigious art center. In addition, a teacher from Suburban Fine Arts volunteers by teaching art classes to Nuestro children. In response to the children's excitement, we initiated ‘Friday Art Club'.

Friday Art Club introduces children to creative Mexican themed projects and is run by Nuestro Center's program coordinator. Here, youth create Mexican themed projects and sell them at fairs, giving half the proceeds back to the Center. The youngsters take the other half of the earnings home as an exercise in creativity, productivity and entrepreneurship.

Nuestro Verano means "Our Summer"

Nuestro Verano is a summer day camp for residents of North Shore Estates offering arts and crafts, sports, games, team-building exercises, leadership training, and field trips. Two paid staff and a team of 35 teen volunteers work with as many as 100 campers on any given summer day. To view more pictures from previous years please click here.

Mental Health and Prevention

The Nuestro Center maintains a holistic environment that deals with the problems of assimilation and how those social pressures can create real stress for the new immigrant family. Digna Rivera, one of our bilingual therapists, has pointed out a plethora of social pressures that lead to serious stressors such as:

Language barriers
Joblessness and financial difficulties
Ongoing feeling of marginalization and isolation leading to substance abuse and domestic violence
Postpartum depression and teen pregnancy
A changing of family roles from parent to child and the reverse due to a child's faster paced assimilation, panic attacks, depression and self-mutilation are just some of the other issues new immigrant families' experience.

We work with other agencies for psychiatric evaluations in cases where medical intervention is necessary. Digna, an immigrant herself, offers a unique perspective on the challenges of assimilation for new immigrants. She provides on site and off site therapy for Nuestro clients.