By Anthony Rifilato
At the other tables, elderly people socialized as well, drinking coffee and chatting, within arm's length of kids probably 60 to 70 years younger. Both the young and the old say that the Hispanic Brotherhood has become a vital part of their lives.
Edwin Marmol, 16, of Rockville Centre said that if he didn't have the center as an alternative, he never would have become a tutor for the younger kids here, received help with his own homework, had access to computers or made friends. "I've known them all for so long," Marmol said of his pals here.
Upstairs, the woman who is at the center of the non-profit organization's vitality, Executive Director Margarita Grasing, spoke on the phone in urgent though congenial tones, saying she wanted things done quickly.
After she hung up, Grasing, of Baldwin, noted that there might be some trouble ahead for the organization. Gov. George Pataki has proposed cuts to numerous programs in his budget, and the Hispanic Brotherhood is one of them.
"You're talking about a whole generation, and it's important for them to have a place to be," said Grasing. The group's after-school services are in jeopardy of losing a $50,000 New York State grant called Safe Places, which provides tutorial programs and pays nine tutors, such as Marmol, $7 an hour.
"Right now everybody is upset with the budget," Grasing said.
This is nothing new to Grasing, who said that each year she has to fight to maintain the funding for an organization that helps keep kids off the streets and in school, and helps immigrants find affordable housing and jobs. She has to stay on top of things, or else deceitful landlords, employers, gangs and unreceptive politicians win.
"I enjoy reminding government sometimes," Grasing said. "I think all organizations are struggling to survive. One day the money is here, the next day they don't want to look at you."
Established in 1984 by a group of local Latino residents, the Hispanic Brotherhood helps Hispanic immigrants leap the hurdles they face in their attempts to better themselves. The organization provides after-school child care, teenage services and a senior-citizen recreational and nutrition program, and helps people deal with housing issues, such as tenant and landlord cases.
The organization also provides employment, immigration and naturalization counseling as well as scholarships. This year it is paying for three high school juniors to take the Princeton Review classes in order to prepare for the SATs.
Three years ago, the Hispanic Brotherhood moved to a new house on Clinton Avenue, which enabled the organization to provide more activities and services. Last year, Grasing said, the Brotherhood helped 7,000 people, and 75 children from Rockville Centre, Baldwin, Freeport and other areas are involved in the after-school programs.
"She addresses problems within the community," said Jenny Cepero, Grasing's assistant for 12 years. Cepero explained that she almost lost her apartment before coming to work at the Hispanic Brotherhood, where she got help from Grasing. "She has done that for a lot of families. I owe a lot to her."
Grasing was one of the founders of the organization, and her colleagues said that without her drive, the organization would probably flounder. "This is her baby, so it's something she always fights for," said Margerite Keller, Grasing's daughter, who has worked at the Hispanic
Brotherhood for 14 years. "A lot of people respect her and what she does."
Maybe Grasing's tenacity was borne out of the strife that launched her to America in the first place. Grasing fled Cuba in 1961, immediately after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, when Fidel Castro tightened his grip on the country. At 18, she came to Miami with her brother, leaving her parents at home, where her father was a banker.
Though she says her transition was a bit easier because she was young, there were very few opportunities for Hispanics in those days. She saw Cuban exiles, many of them doctors and lawyers, take manual labor jobs, and there were not many signs or literature in Spanish to help immigrants make the transition. "Immigrants always did the jobs nobody wanted to do," Grasing said.
Despite the obstacles, she had time to enjoy life. "For an 18-year-old, it was fun to go to Miami," Grasing said.
She eventually moved to New York and worked for a financial company. She married a New York City police officer in 1967, moved to Baldwin and had three children, who are now all grown. Grasing also was active in church, and in the late 1970s she volunteered at St. Agnes's parish outreach program, which eventually became the Hispanic Brotherhood. She was surprised to learn it was a paying job.
"I felt that there was a need at that point and I had the blessing to speak the language, so I thought I could help," Grasing said.
As the years went by and the Hispanic community grew, Grasing helped the center gain a reputation for its resources, particularly in the area of subsidized housing and discrimination -- which also are now threatened with cuts.
"She began her outreach in earnest and has done a fantastic job," said Rockville Centre Mayor Eugene Murray. "She doesn't take no for an answer from any politician."
But Grasing has other formidable opponents, mainly the gangs that attract young immigrants in search of identity or protection. Without the center and its after-school activities, kids are in jeopardy of being isolated and swallowed into criminal life, especially when their parents are at work. The Hispanic Brotherhood exists in part to help those kids whose parents work more than one job and don't speak English.
"A lot of time the way out is drugs," Grasing said, adding that she has lost kids to drugs and prison. "Unfortunately, an appetite for that money exists."
She said reaching kids early in life is crucial. "It's not a Hispanic thing," Grasing said. "The fight is the same, just as it was for the Irish and Italians."
Now the work to maintain the funding continues, and Grasing said she is hoping that state Sen. Dean Skelos or Assemb. Robert Barra will help by working to reinstate the grants. "We need the young people to stay...I've seen many good kids come out of this program," Grasing said.
