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Gil Bernardino was away on vacation in Spain. The potential lenders were given updated information about the status
of the project.
On November 13, 2006, after working diligently for over ten year to find a financial lender, Círculo received news
about financing for its Center! Eileen Mullin and Lance Roth of Non Profit Preferred Funding PPF gave Gil the great
news that their company was supporting Círculo with a $13,000,000 loan facilitated through bonds. Eileen and
Lance were instrumental in helping Círculo obtain this funding. Eileen Mullin, married to a Hispanic herself and
the mother of children that were half Hispanic, especially advocated for the agency in front of her underwriters,
combating stereotypes and doubts that Círculo, as a Hispanic organization, was a worthy of receiving these funds.
Círculo worked with the Town of Hempstead and submitted an application through the Industrial Development
Agency (IDA). Sarah Brewster and David Boone prepared the application to the Town IDA. Non Profit Preferred
Funding purchased the bonds made available through the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency.
T
he
C
oncept
for
B
uilding
G
reen
C
asa
E
speranza
P
rograms
2006
The environment and our relationship to it has always been a theme important to Sarah Brewster, Círculo’s
administrator, who had assumed a position as Chief Director of Services and Operations at the agency. Following
a tour of CAMMAC in Montreal, a cultural organization supporting music that had done green initiatives, Sarah
Brewster returned to New York inspired about possibilities of geothermal technologies and building energy efficient
with low environmental impact. She shared her ideas with Gil. In a conversation with Gil, in the late fall of 2007, he
proposed building the Center green, and the concept for a “Green” Center was born. Building green often can cost up
to 30% more and so Mr. Bernardino asked the funders to support an increase in the loan amount, from
$13,000,000
to $15,000,000.
This was approved.
Later that week, after the great news of the funding for Círculo Center, Círculo also received positive news about
its housing proposal. On November 16, 2006, Círculo received notification that its proposal to New York State’s
Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance for a permanent housing for victims of domestic violence was approved.
Sarah Brewster and Kathy Ballesteros had first submitted applications in 2003, 2004, 2005. All had been rejected. Its
application in 2006 however was finally approved! This funding enabled the organization to purchase a two family
home in Long Beach to provide permanent housing to victims of violence.
While new programs were obtained, funding for Círculo’s educational programs started to diminish. Círculo’s $300,000
grant to provide English as a Second Language and Civics Education was cut. This was a program that had provided
important critical programming for hundreds of immigrants and non-immigrants, including United States citizens.
2007
S
igning
the
L
oan
P
apers
G
round
B
reaking
The papers for Círculo’s loan were signed in March of 2007. The process leading up to this was very tense and
required a significant amount of effort on everyone’s part. Approvals from the Attorney General’s office were needed.
This was held up for several months and Círculo asked its political representatives, including Senator Dean Skelos to
help intervene and find out why the process was delayed. There was no apparent reason why Círculo’s application
was not approved. It just needed signatures. The loan however could not move forward without approvals. Gil
Bernardino and Eileen Mullin, representing Círculo’s funder, finally got the needed signatures, after some months,
when they decided to wait outside the Attorney General’s office each day until papers were signed. The papers at last
were signed after one day, enabling Círculo to move forward to close on the loan.
The groundbreaking for Círculo Center was held on May 4, 2007. The concept for the Center was still lavish at the
time. We planned for a green building, built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards
and also thought we could have solar panels, a geothermal system, many windows and architectural features similar
to traditional Spanish buildings in Spain as well as throughout cities in Central and South America. The vision
for the original design of the building was to be a common symbol for all Hispanics, inspirational for all residents.
We wanted to use the Center for educational programs including “green” programming to teach youth, adults and
community members about the importance of conserving resources and protecting our fragile earth. Later that year
after the official ground breaking work was begun; we found the land was contaminated.