Centro Presente, Inc.

Established in 1981, Centro Presente is a member-driven, state-wide Latin American immigrant organization dedicated to the self-determination and self-sufficiency of the Latin American immigrant community of Massachusetts. Centro Presente struggles for immigrant rights and for economic and social justice. Through the integration of community organizing, leadership development and basic services, Centro Presente strives to give our members voice and build community power.

Centro Presente was founded in 1981 in direct response to the rapidly growing community of Salvadoran refugees fleeing violence, government repression and instability during the civil conflicts in Central America in the 1980s and early 1990s. Since our inception we have integrated the provision of services relevant to an immigrant community with an organizing and advocacy agenda.

We are focused on community organizing, leadership development and advocacy work in the areas of immigrant rights, workers rights and civic engagement.

We offer three main programs: (1) Education for Empowerment (EFE): our Adult Education program, which offers four annual cycles of classes in English as a Second Language (ESL), US Civics and Citizenship, (2) Legal Services, which assists over 1,500 qualified Latino immigrants each year with processes such as work permit renewals, family petitions, citizenship applications, asylum cases, etc.