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Coming soon! Carlos H. Cantu Children & Family Center

This coming spring, El Valor is scheduled to break ground for the Carlos H. Cantu Children & Family Center, our third community resource center. The Cantu Children & Family Center will be built in the heart of Little Village and will work with 500 children under the age of five and their families. These anchor programs will include Early Intervention for children with special needs, Head Start, and Early Head Start. Little Village/South Lawndale, has a population of 91,071 of which 83% is Latino. The Illinois Facilities Fund has identified South Lawndale as the Chicago community in greatest need of early childhood programs.

Mayor Richard M. Daley, recognizing the importance of the beginning years in childhood development, established a first of its kind Early Childcare and Educational Plan to increase the number of children in early childhood education programs. El Valor's proposal to the City of Chicago for the creation of a comprehensive children and family center for South Lawndale was accepted as part of the Mayor's initiative. The City of Chicago has committed $3.6 million toward the construction of this center.

State Representative Edward Acevedo, Senator Antonio Muñoz, Representative Daniel Burke, and Senator Martin Sandoval are working with Governor Blagojevich to acquire the $2.5 million needed to build the center. The Coleman Foundation deserves special recognition for their leadership gift of $500,000, which provided the funds for the purchase of the land and sparked this important campaign.

The Cantu Center will be built at Kildare and 24th Street. Commenting on the Center, Alderman Ricardo Muñoz stated, "Little Village has opened up its arms to celebrate the upcoming arrival of the Carlos H. Cantu Children & Family Center."

Programs in the Carlos H. Cantu Children & Family Center will be similar to the programs in El Valor's two existing resource centers, the Guadalupe A. Reyes Children & Family Center in Pilsen and the Rey Gonzalez Children & Family Center in South Chicago. Along with early childhood programs, the Cantu Center will host academic based youth enrichment programs, family support, respite services, and university cohort degree programs.

El Valor appreciates all of our partners who have contributed to the Carlos H. Cantu Children & Family Center campaign. As a result, thousands of families will be nurtured and supported to build a community of excellence and inclusion in the South Lawndale area.

Did you know...

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the estimated population of Hispanics in the U.S. is 41.3 million, making Hispanics the largest minority group.
  
• Research performed by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans showed that Latino children are less likely, than any other group to have attended a center-based program in the year preceding kindergarten.
  
• Twenty-five percent of the children born in the United States are Latino.; 34.5% of Children born in Chicago are Latino.
  
• The Illinois Facilities Fund identified South Lawndale as one of the areas in greatest need of childcare programs in the City of Chicago.

For more information about the Carlos H. Cantu Children & Family Center, please call Maria E. Lopez at (312) 492-5936.