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Immigrant Support Group Breaks Ground On 2-Story Facility in Little Village

By Erica Demarest | March 1, 2017 8:27pm | Updated on March 2, 2017 11:19pm

LITTLE VILLAGE — Rain, snow and biting wind couldn't keep spirits down Wednesday as nonprofit Enlace broke ground on a new two-story facility in Little Village.

"Today is a joyful day," Enlace executive director Katya Nuques told a crowd of roughly 50 peope who had gathered huddled under umbrellas at the West Side construction site. "The new facility will serve our community for many years to come."

Enlace is a longstanding Little Village organization that employees 35 full-time staffers and more than 100 part-time employees. It's based in a house-turned-office at 2756 S. Harding Ave., and has outgrown the building.

Inside the new facility, which will be across the street at 2759 S. Harding Ave., staffers hope to provide legal aid to immigrants, offer counseling on health and public benefits, and expand after-school and anti-violence programming.

Executive Director Katya Nuques said construction should be complete by November. [Provided/Canopy / architecture + design]

Immigration support, which includes counseling for undocumented teens hoping to attend college, is especially important in "the political climate that we're living in," Nuques said.

"We've definitely started to see many more people coming to the [immigration] legal clinic on Tuesdays," she continued. "Many people are seeking answers to their questions that are related to knowing your rights as immigrants."

Nuques estimates that roughly 25 percent of Little Village residents are not in the United States legally.

"And when you're thinking about a quarter of a community," she said," you're basically assuming that about every family has a member or maybe more than one who is feeling particularly threatened."

Little Village native Hector Teto Lopez, 24, said he was thrilled to see Enlace expanding.

A part-time Enlace employee, Lopez teaches after-school art classes at a local middle school and high school. Topics range from mural design to photography, he said, and students become so involved that they come back after graduation to help.

"I'm excited for this building here," Lopez said, noting he didn't have access to much after-school programming as a kid. "It's just going to stand out in the neighborhood, and more people are going to come and get a lot of information that they need."

Construction should be complete by November, Nuques said. The new two-story facility will include multiple private offices that can house counseling sessions and legal clinics.

Initial plans called for three stories. Nuques is hopeful additional funding will make an expansion possible in the future.

The building was designed by Canopy / architecture + design, LLC.

Executive Director Katya Nuques said construction should be complete by November. [Provided/ Canopy / architecture + design]