Historic Reflections 2015

There are days that I am very tired, but I love what I do and in the words of Harry Chapin, he said it was good to be tired, knowing that when you lay down your head at night on the pillow you fought the good fight for justice. Thank you to Círculo’s Board, staff, volunteers and our many friends and supporters who have been with us year after year, cheering us on and building us up in good times and bad. Each day you help us reach for the unreachable stars. We are stronger together. Gracias.

Message from Chief Director of Services and Operations S arah E. R. B rewster October 24, 2015 It is with great pleasure that I take a moment to reflect the completion of Círculo Center and all I worked so hard, with others, to achieve. I came to Long Beach seeking to be closer to nature. I had relocated from upstate New York to complete my graduate studies in NYC social work. I never thought I would stay. Twenty years have passed and I am still here, living my dream, through the work I am grateful to do for Círculo de la Hispanidad and Evergreen Charter School. I am thankful always for the support of my family and in particular for the leadership and vision of parents and grandfather who supported a profound understanding of how different cultures can enrich one’s life. At a young age I had the experience to live and work in Haiti one summer when I was just thirteen. This changed my life. I knew I wanted to work for justice and to face challenges of inequity. My family continued to support my education and I was able to travel and study in different cultures including the Lakota Sioux in Mission South Dakota; Burgos, Spain; Calcutta, India; and Guadalajara, Mexico; enriching my understanding of people and of this planet’s great inequity’s with wealth, power and use of resources. Over the past sixteen years that I have worked at Círculo I have been truly challenged to dream deep and follow the quest to help individuals achieve stability for themselves and their families on Long Island, especially Hispanic immigrants. I am grateful for the circle of life that connects humanity together and for linking me to this organization to whom I have dedicated my life’s work. I am living an impossible dream that has become a reality, the completion of Círculo Center. When I was around 10 years old, I tried to recall the words from the impossible dream. I wrote them out because I loved the song and wanted to learn it. My family kept a copy of this in our “log book”, where it is still taped to the pages over three decades later. Later in my early teens, I wrote out the words again. I have kept this fragile piece of paper for nearly thirty years; it has been taped for the past sixteen years to my desk at Círculo. How beautiful is life that has connected me to a man and institution that I love and admire, Gil Bernardino and Círculo de la Hispanidad. Gil and I share a vision, a mission and passion to fight for social justice causes.

9

8