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Community Corner

At Don Bosco, Immigrant Laborers Have Advocates

The center advocates on behalf of day laborers -- and gives them a place to sit down to a hot meal.

Along Don Bosco Place, a line forms in front of the community center, with men chatting it up as they wait for their day's work. Inside the center, a meal is being prepared by volunteers, while others take English classes in the adjoining church basement at Holy Rosary.

The Day Laborer's Center has had its doors open in Port Chester since 2004. It is one out of four sites in the county, which include Mamaroneck, Mt. Kisco and New Rochelle. Started in collaboration with the Westchester Hispanic Coalition and Holy Rosary Church, which owns the Don Bosco Community Center, the aim is to help the men find work for the day and make sure they get paid for it.

"The idea was to get the men off the streets and avoid abuse from employers," said Graciela Heymann, the executive director of the Westchester Hispanic Coalition. "We wanted to educate them about their rights and responsibilities."

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She said it's not unusual to hear stories from men who are hired by employers for the day but get stiffed on payment, since they generally won't complain to authorities. Heymann said day laborers also work in less-than-ideal conditions, often with safety hazards.

In response to this, the Day Laborer's Center offers classes about worker's rights, so the workers can dispute abusive employers. Pamphlets are also passed out, which teach laborers how to document their own work schedules for the day to ensure payment from their employers. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) training is also available.

The Day Laborers' Center also works to make sure the hiring process is organized. The laborers are paid minimum wage and their schedules are coordinated daily with employers.

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Gonzalo Cruz, who coordinates the Port Chester site at Don Bosco, serves as a liason between the laborers and their temporary employers.

"I make sure they get paid and processed," he said.

Along with helping the workers find jobs, the center also offers English classes. Volunteer tutors offer their services Mondays and Wednesdays and offer one-on-one classes to all students.

Laura Winston, who has been teaching at the center for several years, said her students are eager to learn English

"I find it extremely rewarding that the students are appreciative and work hard at learning English," she said. "I feel that I get more out of teaching them than [they get from] me."

But it's a constant struggle to keep the center open for Port Chester's Hispanic community and illegal immigrants, even though the demand is high. The center relies on donations from the community, as well as various grants.

"We are always on the look-out for funding," Heymann said.

The center recently received a grant from the Elias Foundation for the Campaign for Human Development, Heymann said, and staff are constantly writing to potential donors, petitioning for funds.

Cruz said the center is working to publicize the day center and reach out to potential volunteers. Most of that work involves posters and word-of-mouth at local congregations.

"The Latino community in Port Chester is continually growing, so we need a space for them to learn English and have a job," he said.

For more information on the Day Laborers' Center, as well as other services at Don Bosco, visit: http://www.donboscocenter.com. The center runs daily, from 7 a.m. until noon.

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