Guadalupe Centers builds on its tradition of helping kids on KC’s Westside
Paul G. Rojas and his four brothers found themselves with few options in 1941 when their father was sick. Their mother had died two years before and they had no relatives in the Kansas City area.
But Guadalupe Centers “stepped up to the plate,” Rojas said.
The social service agency, which started in 1919, provides workforce training programs, all levels of education, social and after-school activities, substance abuse treatment and family support services, among other programs.
Rojas, now 84, is president of the Guadalupe Centers board. And the agency has expanded over time from two buildings to more than 20, he said. The expansion continued this week.
On Thursday, the agency rededicated one of its buildings on Belleview Avenue as a new Youth Recreation Center, just across the street from Guadalupe Centers Middle School. The building was empty for three years and renovated as a space for Guadalupe Centers’ youth staff, said Cris Medina, Guadalupe Centers CEO.
“For the neighborhood, (the building) was very important because it was an anchor for the residents on the south end of the west side, which doesn’t have any pocket parks or recreational facilities for the kids,” Medina said.
The rec center reaffirms that the area is still a neighborhood despite “business encroachment,” which worries some residents, Medina said. The facility will host activities for kids and keep them off the streets and out of trouble, he said.
The center is meant to be a safe place for kids, said youth worker Angelo Guerrero.
“They are made to feel safe and special and important and that they have a belonging in this community,” said Guerrero, 18.
Guerrero has been involved with Guadalupe Centers for about seven years. He and other youth workers conduct activities with elementary and middle school students in their summer school classrooms. He works with second-graders every year, and the first class he worked with is now in middle school.
“It’s really interesting to see them grow every summer, and seeing how they progress in life and their personalities taking shape,” he said.
Medina said Guadalupe Centers’ youth often continue their engagement with the agency as adults and even senior citizens.
Deborah Moreno came to Guadalupe Centers in 1985 as part of a summer job program when she was a teenager. Her job was to paint murals, and she said it gave her the confidence and validation she needed to pursue her passion of being an artist.
She has been a self-employed caricature artist for 23 years, and she also continues to work with the youth art programs at Guadalupe Centers.
“When you’re a kid, it is so important to be a part of a community, to be accepted and to learn from your peers,” Moreno said.