"To be a man is...to be responsible. It is to feel shame at the sight of what seems to be unmerited misery. It is to take pride in a victory won by one's comrades. It is to feel, when setting one's stone, that one is contributng to the building of the world."

-Antoine de Sainte-Exupery

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl00HGkKHPc

THE STUDENTS

Centro Romero serves underserved and underpriveleged immigrants who are trying to make a living our society and who are primarily of Latino decent. This Latino population has several assets that helps Centro Romero achieve its mission of teaching students english, along with assisting them with assimilating into our culture. These assets include:  

Time: One of the main assests is time - a lot of the students are either trying to find work or stay at home and take care of their children. Therefore, they are able to come to the classes every day and work on their english. For those who work during the days or go to school, most of them set aside time in the evenings to attend the night classes that are offered. Many of the students are available during some point in the day to come to class and learn.

Proximity: The majority of the students are from Rogers Park, making the commute about a fifteen minute walk, at most. There is no need to drive, pay for parking, take public transportaiton, etc, making it much easier and affordable to come to school. 

Spanish Speaking: This makes the school a much more welcoming enviornment. They are able to comfortably communicate with others, meet people who are in similar situations, and develop friendships that may have otherwise been difficult to make.

Education: The population that makes up the organization is a highly educated one, allowing them to develop a school that can provide good teachers and a vareity of other resources for the students.  They are also constantly working towards making improvement, growing as an organization, and offering even more types of classes.

Bilingual: Knowing English and Spanish further helps in understanding the needs of the students, at the same time as being able to challenge them by only speaking in English. 

THE COMMUNITY

Centro Romero is located in a community that offers many important assets to its success. These include:

Location: Centro Romero is located on Clark Street, right on the border of Rogers Park and Edgewater. This community is able to provide money to the organization because this area is very rich in culture.

Large Population of Immigrants: Other immigrants like to donate to organizations like Centro Romero because they were or still are in a similar position as the students at Centro.

Institutions: This area contains lots of schools, shops, and religious institutions, all which bring individuals together and allow them to share experiences and advice. Many of the students at the center explain how they discovered Centro Romero, through ways such as a classmate or fellow churchgoer telling them about it.

Tight-Knit Communities: This area is made up of very tight-knit communities, in which individuals share certain things that have helped them assimilate into American society.

Loyola University Chicago: Loyola University is also part of this neighborhood and is able to provide students, faculty, and other resources to help Centro Romero grow and continue serving its members. 

THE ORGANIZATION

Centro Romero as an organization does contain several assets itself. These include:

Facility: The building is made up of many offices, classrooms, and private tutoring areas that provide spaces where the staff can work on the more business side of the organization, provide services aside from english classes to individuals (such as their Women's Leadership Development Project), and much more.

Variety of Classes: The organization is able to provide different levels of english classes, which helps students learn much more efficiently.

Technology: The center is able to provide computers to all of the working staff, in addition to an entire classroom full of computers. This allows for the staff to communicate with outside businesses, advertise the organization, contact more students and volunteers, etc. Also, the center is able to provide a class on basic computer skills that nowadays is required for many jobs.

Volunteers: Centro Romero has many volunteers who help serve as many of the students and other members as possible, and for cost. This means that the organization is able to maintain its great educational services without having to pay anything.

Class Materials: The center has basic office equipment, such as copy machines and printers, which allows teachers to provide materials to all of the students, without having to pay for textbooks. This is extremely important because it lets each student have his/her own materials that he/she can bring home and refer to whenever he/she needs help.

Classroom Resources: The center has many desks and chalkboards, making it easy for the teachers to present their lessons in an organized way, knowing that the students are able to see and can comfortably take notes.