Our Story
The Latino Community Center (LCC) was founded in 2017 by Rosamaria Cristello with the support of community members who dared to Dream Big.
However, the story of the LCC dates back to 2009- when the Department of Human Services (DHS) dedicated one of their 28 Family Support Centers to the Latino community- naming it the Latino Family Center (LFC). The LFC, operated under the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) at the time, opened its doors in Squirrel Hill, focused on supporting parents with children between the ages of 0-5.
For years, the LFC team welcomed and supported young families with children ages 0-5. As the community continued to grow, and as the children the LFC worked with grew older, the community and the families' needs evolved.In 2013, Rosamaria Cristello became the Site Director for the LFC. During this time the LFC had moved to the South Side and then moved again to Hazelwood. Becoming acutely aware of the needs of the Latino community, by listening, observing, and asking questions, Rosamaria worked collaboratively with partners and funders to run the counties first Latinx Needs Assessment in 2015 to document these needs and think strategically about how to best address them.
In 2017, Rosamaria established the Latino Community Center with the support of the Heinz Endowments. The LCC was created as a 501 c3 Nonprofit organization with a governance structure reflective of our community. This intentionality opened doors and resources for our community that had not been opened before. With the support of Catholic Charities, the LCC was given a space in their building in Downtown Pittsburgh. The space, which consisted of 3 offices and a reception area became our first home. During this time the LCC was run primarily by volunteers, one of which is now our Director of Operations, Sofia Bermeo. Under Sofia’s leadership, we opened “La Tiendita” with the support of our founding Board Chair, Giselle Fetterman and our Welcome Center.
The first funded program of the LCC was our SOY PGH Afterschool Program in Beechview Elementary. This program was led by our first employee- Pittsburgh born and raised Emily Blair. Her professionalism and experience working with immigrant students in North Carolina as an Elementary School Teacher and then administrator helped ensure this program had a strong foundation, addressed the unique needs of our students, and ensured it was filled with empathy, love, and kindness. Then- one fateful afternoon in 2018, we received a walk-in to the center. It was Mrs. Aleira, who had recently moved to Pittsburgh from Puerto Rico and was looking for a community. We knew right away she was the right person to officially run our SOY PGH program in Beechview. Mrs. Aleira has been with us ever since.
And just like that, moment after moment, we slowly grew our team from 0 to over 40 LCC team members. Our team is over 90% members of our community. Many started off as either families who benefited from one or more of our programs.
In 2020, DHS officially transferred the Latino Family Center over to the LCC. This was a big moment for our community. Since then, the LCC has moved the Family Center from Hazelwood to East Liberty and has expanded the program offerings to include: Triple P Parenting Classes, a Community Health Worker program focused on maternal health, quarterly Health Fairs and Quarterly Service Provider Fairs, and much more. It was also in this year when the LCC pivoted all programs to support our community through the COVID-19 crisis.
In 2023 the LCC expanded into the first floor of the current building and set off to raise $2 Million to establish a Youth Center. This will be a big component of the continuation of the center's story. You can learn more about this HERE.