While we acknowledge that
Hispanics are at a crossroads with
potential at every avenue, our
community remains challenged. And how we choose to respond
to those challenges can make our community a better or worse
place in which to live and work.
Unacceptably high drop-out rates, teen pregnancy, gangs, crime
and a host of other problems are combining to destroy quality of
life in our urban communities. These are not problems of the
future; they are problems of today. They compass a wide range of
issues all interwoven by a single common thread…education.
Education is an issue of community well being.
Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group, younger by a
decade, with over $1 Trillion purchasing power.With this significant
potential we shoulder a great responsibility.We must assume
the responsibility to ensure that our young Hispanics have access
to quality elementary, secondary AND post-secondary education.
The HCCW Education Fund/Philip Arreola Scholarship Program
has grown considerably since its 1993 inception. The objective
and mission however, have remained steadfast-empowering
Hispanic youth through higher education. Student after
ambitious student has benefited from the efforts of our small
non-profit business organization and that which our small independent
scholarship program offers.
With little fanfare or attention, the Program has awarded $405,
240 to 80 students thus far.
These bright beacons for the future – our college educated youth
- are the most decisive hope for the future and we all have a stake
in their academic success. We have an obligation to motivate
them, to prepare them to seize the torch, to hold it higher and
run farther than those of preceding generations.We must continue
to invest in their potential, their aspirations and their upward
mobility.
We must use the errors of the past as the wisdoms of the future
and comprehend that ours is an on-going journey. We know how
far we have come but more importantly we realize that there is
much, much more achieving left to accomplish. Our urban communitiesMUST
have the added value that post secondary education
provides- socially and economically. The future is bright, the
path is clear and the opportunities are at hand. This is our time!
Adelante Juntos,
Maria Monreal-Cameron
President and CEO
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