about the building

Acerca del edificio

​​​Centro's ribbon cutting and opening ceremony

On April 26th, 2024 the new building was filled with love and support from all attendees to our "Big Opening". For us, having a community with over 600 friends coming along with smiles, home-warming gifts, plants, flowers, and above everything, bursting with love and care for our community felt healing and empowering at the same time.

Thank you for being part of the ceremony honoring the east, west, north, south, sun, earth, and especially our hearts. By opening the doors to Calli, our new home, we open our healing hearts to friends and partners. ​

Our goal

Campaign Centro has raised 20 million dollars to build a safe, strong, and sustainable home for the Latinx community on the southside of Madison, Wisconsin. 

Funds will be invested in two priority areas: 

- Building a new facility with improved accessibility and increased square footage for program expansion

- Seed funds for critical development of agency infrastructure to support the growth of workforce and educational programs

The concept
Calli, home,  is an ancient symbol that originates back to the Aztec calendar. Calli is associated with rest, tranquility and family. The concept of Calli is woven throughout campaign CENTRO and even into the design of the building. 

The site
The new Centro will be located at the corner of Cypress Way and Hughes Place, right around the corner from where we are currently located. Pictured - Centro Juventuras Summer Program doing teambuilding activities at the new site.

About the campaign

The need

​The Latinx community is the largest and the fastest growing group in the city, county and state with over 100% growth in the last ten years. The Southside of Madison, WI, where Centro is located also has the highest concentration of low-income Latinx in the city.

As the leading non-profit organization working with the Latinx population in Dane County,  Centro has a forty-year history of uplifting and strengthening the local community. Centro is also a key resource for the city, county, and local school districts  and partners with over a hundred other nonprofits and employers.

The organization has worked tirelessly to keep up with the growth of the community and now supports over 7,500 individuals annually with more than 20,000 hours of programming. Centro has triple the number of staff, triple the budget size, and double the number of programs it had ten years ago.

Centro can no longer keep up with the pace of the needs of the growing Latinx community in its current facility. All workforce and educational programs currently carry waitlists. Centro is stretched to its maximum capacity.

The solution

A Safe Building

Our new building will allow increased safety for staff and the community, sustainability in building design, enhanced accessibility, and the square footage needed for critically needed expansion of youth and workforce programs to meet needs.

Strong Programs

Centro's workforce and youth programs are in high demand but all programs are currently waitlisted. The campaign will provide seed funds and added programming space necessary for the development and expansion of these program areas. 

A Sustainable Organization

Centro is the largest non-profit provider in Dane County supporting the Latinx community and a critical partner to the city, county and state. The campaign will focus on sustainability so the organization can better strategize and plan for community needs.

Campaign CENTRO will make it possible for Centro to expand its reach significantly.

​The organization will be able to support 1,000 more community members a year, with a plan to double the youth enrolled in afterschool and summer programs, and to begin developing its Healthcare Career Program to include a Nursing Career Pathway by 2030.

About our new home

Preliminary renderings of the new Centro facility which will be located on the corner of Hughes Place and Cypress Way from EUA Architects are shown below. The new building's design was inspired by Centro's "the rhythm of the Plaza" and by the symbol of the campaign, Calli. When seen from above the building is shaped like Calli and the symbol will appear in many architectural details throughout the space. The new Centro will also be a place for the Southside and greater Madison to gather with outdoor spaces meant to encourage community building and sharing including a fountain, outdoor market space, and parking lot that converts into outdoor play area. 

Get involved

SHARE OUR STORY

We need your help getting the word out. Can you help? Contact us or read about what is being said already.

---

Steering Committee

Nancy Francisco-Welke
University of Wisconsin

Elizabeth Garcia Hall
Centro Hispano of Dane County

Rich Lynch
Findorff & Son
​
Karen Menendez Coller
Centro Hispano of Dane County

Felipe Noboa 
BMO Bank

Cesar Pinzon
American Family Insurance 

Resources & Events

UPCOMING EVENTS

Date TBD/Fecha por ser determinada
Evening of Dreaming/Noche de Sueños

PAST EVENTS
June 24th, 2023
Becas Luncheon Awards Celebration 

April 26th, 2023
Strategic Update

Campaign Contact

Have a question? Want to learn more? Interested in setting up a meeting with our Executive Director and/or the campaign CENTRO team? Please contact us at [email protected].