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25 Years and Time to Celebrate
By Pat Burson. STAFF WRITER
2003 November 09

Since La Fuerza Unida began 25 years ago to assist Hispanic and poor people in
Glen Cove, Pascual Blanco has measured its success by the thousands of lives
the nonprofit has touched.

Such as the young girl from the Dominican Republic, who was tutored by a
volunteer at the agency, went on to study education in college and returned to
head up its tutorial program.

Or the few men from El Salvador, who started out on the street trying to hustle a
day's pay for a day's work, learned a trade and started their own small
landscaping companies.

"Those are the byproducts of our effort," said Blanco, who in 1978 helped start
La Fuerza Unida, which in English means "the united force."

"We look at the potential and positive things that a newcomer brings in order to
build their skills, which in turn will be beneficial to our society here," Blanco, 61,
said.

La Fuerza Unida will mark its 25th anniversary with a gala Thursday night at
Chateau Briand in Carle Place. A portion of the proceeds from the event will help
establish a scholarship in the name of co-founder Teodoro Pérez.

Blanco, who has lived in Glen Cove since coming to the United States in 1961
from Puerto Rico, was one of a group of concerned residents who started the
organization to help Hispanic and low- and moderate-income people.

They started organizing in his home, applied for nonprofit status, "and then we
began to knock on doors of funders," Blanco said.

They spent their first $2,000 donation from a Catholic foundation in part on a
used typewriter. "We used to spend a lot of hours ... writing grant proposals," he
said. "We were then able to get our first grant for operations and programs from
Nassau County Youth Board."

The nonprofit opened its first office at 14 Glen St. in 1981 under the name La
Fuerza Unida de Glen Cove. In 1995, it was renamed La Fuerza Unida Inc. when
the agency expanded its reach to all of Long Island and Queens.

It has grown, and now offers programs that target neighborhood preservation,
economic and community development, immigration and citizenship and
education, among others.

El Salvador native Amilcar Valle, 19, works as a waiter and is perfecting his
English in the agency's adult education program. "It's beautiful really," he said.
"I'm learning a lot. I can feel it when I talk outside, at work. I know I can use
now different words. "

In 1994, La Fuerza Unida opened a hiring center in response to complaints that
immigrant day laborers were creating a nuisance by gathering on streets and
contributing to overcrowded housing. The center, which began in a trailer on city
land, moved to a renovated shop on Sea Cliff Avenue. It is run by a bilingual
coordinator who acts as a liaison between the workers and the contractors, and
English instruction and other programs are provided.

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who first worked as a pro bono lawyer
for the group and supported its hiring center as Glen Cove mayor, will be among
honorees at the gala.

"I think [Blanco and La Fuerza] have really touched a lot of people's lives ... and
have made a lot of people's lives better," Suozzi said.

Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.