Cipriano Ferrel Education Center, Woodburn

The construction of a multi-purpose facility on the grounds of Nuevo Amanecer has long been a goal of FHDC. It was four years from the beginning of fund raising until the completion of the Cipriano Ferrel Education Center, but during that period we discovered how strong local support for FHDC and farmworker families had become. While we relied more heavily on a local donor base than we had at any time in the past, we also earned the respect and support of many large granting agencies, among them the Paul Allen Foundation, the Meyer Memorial Trust, Spirit Mountain Community Fund, the Sheridan Foundation, the Oregon Community Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Collins Foundation, the Ford Family Foundation, and the Rural Investment Fund of the Mid-Willamette Council of Governments.

Importantly, we also built a stronger relationship between the City of Woodburn and FHDC and its residents. Working with FHDC, the City of Woodburn submitted a Community Development Block Grant to the State requesting funds for the construction of the Cipriano Ferrel Education Center. The Block Grant gave us the final funding we needed to begin the Education Center. We are also grateful to the numerous local businesses, individuals and anonymous donors who contributed over fifty thousand dollars to our fundraising campaign. This list of contributors shows how broad support for FHDC has become.

Vital to securing the funds for the Center was the participation of several community members who served on a fundraising committee. Among these persons were members of the local clergy, the Woodburn school district, the Chamber of Commerce, Woodburn business owners, farmworkers and farmworker advocates, former Governor Barbara Roberts, and Woodburn Mayor Richard Jennings. We are proud of the role that Woodburn teachers and our children played in the completion of the Center. Children painted tiles that now adorn the hallways of the Center, while high school students constructed the ornate iron fencing that surrounds the children’s play area and artwork that decorates the front of the building.

We officially opened the $1.6 million Cipriano Ferrel Education Center in October 2003. Governor Ted Kulongoski, Oregon Senate President, Peter Courtney, and U.S. Representative, Darlene Hooley, the Mayor of Woodburn, and several other local dignitaries attended the opening ceremonies. Governor Kulongoski gave the keynote speech and referred to the Center and our community as “the new face of Oregon.”

The 8600 square foot multi-purpose center is named in honor of Cipriano Ferrel. Cipriano died in 1995, but only after he had succeeded in sowing the seeds for the development of a strong community. The Education Center is today the crowning achievement of Nuevo Amanecer, a community educational, cultural and social center and a place where adults and children can come to learn. Thanks to an early grant from Microsoft, the Education Center has become a “Community-Based Technology and Learning Center,” where adults and youth can come together to utilize the 21st century’s Internet technologies. The Center has two Headstart classrooms, a third children’s classroom/day care center, two large adult classrooms which can be combined for large classes or events, a commercial kitchen, and a computer laboratory with seventeen computers, as well as office space and a large open plaza. The Center is currently the site for a Headstart Program that helps children prepare for elementary school and establish good social skills. The Center also frequently serves as a site for meetings, instructional classes, and cultural events. As the result of a grant from Microsoft, the Education Center and its 17-computer lab has become a Community-Based Technology and Learning Center where adults and youth will gain computer skills, learn how to access and utilize the Internet, conduct research, take on-line educational and vocational courses, and conduct job searches. The Center has already become an important focal point for the community and its activities.

FHDC provides the following services at CFEC

Education, recreational, and other services to 103 Families who reside on FHDC properties and additional individuals from the Woodburn community at large.
Services Information and referral services through personal contact with residents
Family Services Access to assistance in Spanish both through bilingual staff and Spanish language written materials
Community Access to the activities and benefits from many community resources
Coordination of health education classes
Referral Services Referral to local and county agencies

On going classes / Day to day activities

Computers classes in morning for adults
In AM women support group Post Partum as well Mental Health
After School program begins at 2:45 PM with healthy snacks provided
Help with home work
Tutoring one on one
After school one on one computers classes and tutoring in the computer lab and key board practice for young students and newcomers
Art classes including but not limited to mural painting
Guitars lessons
Tae-Kwon-Do lessons
Cultural events
Classes teaching self respect and discipline

Special classes and events in evening

Adult computers classes
Health related issues presentations
Tax season free assistance with personal taxes with the help of AARP members
English as a Second Language
Spanish Literacy
Working towards the GED
Women’s group
Driving manual classes
Residents Association monthly meeting
Small committees monthly meeting
After school program parents meeting
Parenting classes
Cultural events such as Dia del Niño (Children Day), Mothers day, Fathers day, National Night Out, Christmas “Posadas”

Other Services

VIDA Individual Development Accounts
ABC of Home buyers