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Conexion Comunidad started informally in 1998 when Minerva Cano and Ana Garcia who worked at the County Health Center were also volunteering social assistance to Mexican families unable to communicate in English. The traffic at the health center was so heavy they talked with Eloise Kaeck who was also giving assistance to the Spanish speaking community about organizing a community center to provide a place where newcomers could come and be welcomed.

They called their group Conexion Comunidad because it would be a group from the community helping one another. In 1999, this group met another group working out of Northern Illinois University (NIU) and the Community School District 428. These two groups held more meetings and wrote several grants to support educational programs directed to the needs of the limited English speaking community. By 2000, Conexion Comunidad was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) and achieved status as a not-for-profit organization. A number of programs were run by volunteers. A youth group met the first summer; a women’s group met weekly; and a dance group was organized and performed at celebrations.

A major change occurred when in 2002, through the help of Mayor Greg Sparrow, community development money from State Representative Dennis Hastert’s office dedicated to urban use was obtained for a community center to be developed by Conexion Comunidad. These funds ($202,000) allowed us to buy a building and to prepare it for use as a community center.

The building at 637 N. 11th Street in DeKlb signaled a new direction for Conexion Comunidad. A great deal of energy went into cleaning and painting the building, making decisions on how to spend money on improvements, and to begin to mount a program in the building. Funds were successfully raised to secure a computer center and classrooms as well as a modest stage and kitchen. The programs continue to be staffed by volunteers.

DeKalb is a University town that in the 2004 census had 42,579 citizens with an estimated 80 % Caucasian and the remainder divided equally (9% each) between African Americans and Latinos. This change from an almost totally white agrarian community to a much more diversified mixed economy and cosmopolitan citizenry has occurred within a short span of time. The results have put strains on the school and civic structures as well as on cultural patterns. Conexion Comunidad is a community innovation to help negotiate some of these strains. We primarily serve the 3527 Latinos counted in DeKalb in the 2000 U.S. Census.