About El Valor

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About El Valor

El Valor is a non-profit community-based organization founded in 1973 by the late Guadalupe A. Reyes. A visionary leader and mother, Mrs. Reyes dreamed of a community in which all members, including her son with special needs, could live, learn and work. She and several others took out a small bank loan and borrowed a church basement in Pilsen where they started the first bilingual, bicultural rehabilitation center in Illinois, and named it El Valor, meaning "courage." From it's roots in the Latino community, El Valor has grown into a multicultural, multipurpose organization that reaches thousands of families in the Chicagoland area, and millions throughout the nation. Read our annual report.

Mission

El Valor’s mission is to support and challenge urban families to achieve excellence and participate fully in community life. Our programs exist to enrich and empower people with disabilities, the disenfranchised and the underserved.

Vision
El Valor seeks to be an international model for inclusion of people with disabilities, to be the best in the nation in early childhood and youth enrichment and to become the premier organization developing Hispanic leadership.

Core Beliefs

Respect
We believe in the dignity and goodness of every person and that we have a responsibility to bring out the best in those around us.

Inclusion
We believe that the entire community benefits when people with disabilities and people from diverse backgrounds are included in all levels of society.

Leadership
We believe in the importance of developing responsible and diverse leadership to build strong inner-city communities and shape public policy.

Advocacy
We believe that we have a responsibility to stand with people with disabilities, the disenfranchised and the underserved to open doors of opportunity across all sectors of society.

Partnership
We believe that the whole community is renewed when business, government, academia and community work together as equal partners.

Innovation
We believe that our programs should be models for other organizations, inspiring similar efforts and creating a ripple effect across the city and the nation.

Strategic Goals

To be the best in the nation in early childhood in the Hispanic community;

2. To become the premier organization developing leadership for the Hispanic community;

3. To be an international model for inclusion of people with disabilities in the Hispanic community.