SILER CITY — Ilana Dubester, the founder and Executive Director of El Vínculo Hispano, also known as the Hispanic Liaison, was honored with an award from the N.C. Justice Center this month recognizing her work over the past quarter century to improve the lives of Hispanic immigrants.
Duberster, honored as a “Lifetime Champion,” founded El Vínculo Hispano in Siler City in 1995 to serve the unique needs of the local Latinx community.
The N.C. Justice Center, Dubester said, “is an organization that I have deep respect for and have collaborated with many times over the years. I’m incredibly humbled, of course, to be recognized by them.”
Dubester received the award Friday, September 20, at the Washington-Duke Inn in Durham.
Each year the Justice Center celebrates “the inspirational work of outstanding leaders in our community who are leading the fight for justice at our annual Defenders of Justice Awards,” the center noted in a press release. “These few exemplify our mission — they are working to eliminate poverty in North Carolina, ensure the creation of an economy that works for everyone, and advance progressive and inclusive policies proven to advance equity and opportunity.”
Receiving the honor, Dubester said, “I have always been an immigrant, a stranger in a strange land. My ancestors sought refuge in Brazil, fleeing pogroms and the holocaust. Although I was third generation Brazilian, I was frequently reminded that our permanence and welcome could abruptly come to an end. In 1989, a twist of fate brought me to your shores. After two crazy cold winters in Chicago, I moved south to Chatham County with the dream of buying land and starting an organic farm, which I did, for a few years.”
The year was 1991, “when Latinxs were beginning to arrive in large numbers lured by the promise of jobs in the poultry industry. Their journey and mine converged in 1995, when I was at the right place, at the right time to start The Hispanic Liaison or El Vínculo Hispano.”
The nonprofit agency — with its office in downtown Siler City, at 200 N. Chatham Ave. — was among the first Latinx organizations established in North Carolina.
“Although I knew nothing about starting or running a nonprofit,” Dubester acknowledged, “I had chutzpah and the backing of amazing mentors.”
Their goal, then and now, “is to help Hispanics access services, learn about their rights and work together to defend those rights,” Dubester told the audience in Durham. “All our staff are first generation immigrants. We too had to learn English, a new culture and new systems and laws.”
The organization recently celebrated its 24th anniversary with a dinner for 150 community members, volunteers and allies.
But just as Dubester found herself “a stranger in a strange land,” so too do many immigrants who make their way to Chatham County.
“The Hispanic community is now three generations deep in North Carolina, and yet, we continue to be talked about and treated like strangers in a strange land,” she said. “Although progress has been made, the horrors being inflicted against immigrants are even worse now. We are having to adapt to more cunning and powerful enemies of common decency and the common good.”
Meanwhile, the Hispanic Liaison continues its work, helping “thousands of adults, youth and children adjust to life in the U.S., access the services they needed to succeed, and affirm their rights,” according to the agency’s website. “We serve as a bridge between the Hispanic community and non-profits, government agencies and law enforcement. We also help dozens of non-profit and governmental agencies to respond to the needs of the Hispanic community by learning about Hispanic issues and culture, and revising policies or procedures that may prevent Hispanics from accessing services.”
Dubester was honored alongside other recipients of the N.C. Justice Center’s 2019 Defenders of Justice award. The other honorees were Sue Perry Cole, President and CEO of the NC Association of Community Development Corporations (NCACDC), works to strengthen communities and increase opportunities for North Carolinians, uplifting families with low incomes and communities of color; Gerry Hancock, partner at Everett Gaskins Hancock LLP, who has spent decades improving the lives of North Carolinians by organizing with nonprofit organizations and advocating for children and schools; Marge Foreman, Government Relations Specialist/Chief Lobbyist/Research Specialist for the North Carolina Association of Educators, the state affiliate of the National Education Association, who has spent decades advocating for education, students, and all public school employees; and Patricia Beier, Executive Director of Wayne Action Group for Economic Solvency, Inc. (WAGES), a community advocate dedicated to providing services for children, seniors, and families in Wayne County.
Randall Rigsbee can be reached at rigsbee@chathamnr.com.
‘Although progress has been made, the horrors being inflicted against immigrants are even worse now. We are having to adapt to more cunning and powerful enemies of common decency and the common good.’
Ilana Dubester, founder/executive director of El Vinculo Hispano in Siler City