The Trenton Times published the following article on February 10, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
Trenton’s Welcome House celebrates 1 year of aiding Hispanic immigrants
By Cristina Rojas/The Times of Trenton
on February 10, 2014 at 7:41 AM, updated February 10, 2014 at 7:45 AMTRENTON — For the first few years after Leonardo Zacarias, 54, moved to the city from his native Guatemala, even the smallest tasks — everything from writing a check to asking for directions — were daunting because he could not speak English.
But now, since he started coming to the Welcome House on Chambers Street, Zacarias speaks English well enough to understand addresses and phone numbers, communicate with people he does business with and go to the bank without always having to wait for a Spanish-speaking teller.
For Zacarias and hundreds like him, the Welcome House, a project of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, provides them with a wealth of resources to become more self-sufficient.
The center, celebrating its one-year anniversary, was born out of a growing need to provide more services to the city’s burgeoning Hispanic population and help them integrate into the fabric of the city, said Maria Juega, executive director of LALDEF.