Breaking Ground on La Plaza Esperanza
Last week, a group of SVP Partners and staff toured the construction site of Latino Network’s La Plaza Esperanza, the first such place of its kind for the Latinx community in east county. SVP has been in partnership with Latino Network for over a decade, working side-by-side to collaboratively build the organization’s capacity for substantial growth, so it was truly inspiring to see this vision becoming a reality. When it opens in the fall of 2024, La Plaza Esperanza will provide a wide variety of programming for all ages, including a culturally specific preschool, youth programs, and gathering spaces for community meetings and events.
During the tour, Executive Director Tony DeFalco explained, “It’s not just a space, but a heart, and a place of hope. It’s where the special chemistry and magic of community connection has a place to thrive”. He continued, “We are grateful for your investment to build the capacity of this organization to provide for the Latinx community. The problems we face are as great as ever, and the solutions start with our community here.”
The preschool at La Plaza Esperanza expands on Latino Network’s exceptional Juntos Aprendemos program, which has grown from three local classrooms to 23 sites across the state as part of the scaling plan developed through the partnership with SVP. It will provide low-income Latinx families free access to full-time, high-quality preschool, and present a replicable model for other regional providers. The classroom will be one of the only fully inclusive Spanish language and culturally specific preschool programs in Multnomah County, addressing the unique needs of Latinx children and creating a proof point for the impact that culturally and linguistically responsive preschools can have on Latinx children’s academic success and overall well-being.
Additionally, Latino Network’s strong tradition of professional learning will continue at the La Plaza Esperanza preschool, directly addressing Oregon’s early childhood workforce shortage by serving as a training site for parents to convert lived experience into professional skills. Initially, they will focus on building out training and professional support for the preschool staff to better serve the children in their classroom. In the long term, they envision the preschool becoming a training hub for other providers to deepen and improve their practice of serving Latinx children in culturally specific ways, while opening professional learning opportunities for like-minded providers across the region.
Lauren Johnson, SVP’s Executive Director, celebrated this victory for our community, sharing, “The Latino Network team has been steadfast in pursuit of their dream of La Plaza Esperanza, and we’ve been privileged to get to walk alongside them by investing general operating grants as well as Partner skills and expertise to help scale Juntos, exceed their $23 million capital campaign goal, and open their very own preschool site. This accomplishment is a testament to the tenacity, creativity, resourcefulness, and collaboration of the Latino Network team. We are proud of and inspired by their significant progress, and can’t wait to see the first class of preschool kids once the doors open!”
