Untapped resource

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By Jennifer DeWitt | Sunday, November 26, 2006 | No comments posted

On a whim, Stella Schnee-kloth and Connie Barrett headed out one day with their car and a camera to capture the faces, places, businesses and traditions that are the roots of Moline’s Floreciente neighborhood.

But what developed was much more than photographs.

The colorful scenes snapped across Moline’s west end revealed an abundance of small family-owned businesses, hard-working residents and an undying commitment to keep their Mexican culture alive. But what also was revealed — not in the photos of beautiful dancing girls at their festivals or the smiling shop owners and their stores — was a need to link their community with the rest of the Quad-Cities.

“We were wanting to showcase what we have here, which is a rich history and culture,” said Schneekloth, who is a sparkplug among advocates in the Hispanic neighborhood. “But it’s funny what we see and what you see when you’re driving through.”

The one-way streets that dissect the neighborhood are used by countless Quad-Citians on their daily commute. The “ones” are speedways that do not help the neighborhood reach out much past its own residents, she added.

Passersby don’t notice the original artwork that offers a look into the neighborhood’s culture or Hispanic-owned businesses not only in the west end of Moline but in East Moline and Silvis, too. But the businesses are there, Schneekloth said, businesses such as restaurants, groceries, professional offices, laundries, clothing shops and barber shops.

“It’s like they’re invisible,” Schneekloth said. “We wanted to show all these business we have and they contribute, not only in taxes, but in making a community.”

Barrett, a family advocate with the neighborhood’s Casa Guanajuato cultural center, said the photos — since made into a PowerPoint — also show what is lacking. Infrastructure, signage and lighting are among the physical needs of the area, but there also is a need to unite the business owners and connect them with the rest of the area, she said.

“There is such a rich, cultural history here that could be developed into a district for the city,” Barrett said. “It’s like an untapped resource for the city.”

For many in the neighborhood, the four-year-old Casa Guanajuato is a one-stop resource center. A cultural center designed to promote the Mexican culture and share it with the broader community, the center also has evolved into a help desk for the neighborhood, Barrett said.

Last week, with Thanksgiving food baskets crowded all around, Barrett fielded question after question stemming from the recent roundup and arrest of area immigrants. She provided information for families still looking for their relatives. On other days, she serves as an interpreter, accompanying Hispanic residents to court proceedings and other appointments at which language will be a barrier.

“We help immigrants here learn the ways of life here — such as banking system, how to buy a house,” she said.

While those are needs that will not go away, Casa Guanajuato’s advisory committee also sees the need for creating a Latino chamber of commerce as an offshoot of the cultural center. Such a chamber could be the solution to helping the scores of business owners who muddle through zoning and licensing issues. Another role could be to help the business owners who are uncomfortable with seeking other assistance — readily available help — that could help them build or expand their businesses.

Nanci Perkins is a member of the advisory committee and the president of Q-C Latino Connection, a full-service marketing agency for people who want to reach the Latino community. She knows firsthand of past efforts to draw in the Hispanic community to the Illinois Quad-City Chamber of Commerce.

“They’re not comfortable (with the chamber),” she said. “We’ve tried. The culture is different. With Hispanics you have to have their trust. They have to know you before they’ll do business with you.”

By drawing members into Casa Guanajuato, a group many do trust, the advisory committee hopes to begin connecting the businesses and would-be business owners with other resources that now are not being tapped, such as the Small Business Development Center at Black Hawk College or SCORE, Perkins said.

“They’re all so busy working their businesses that they don’t take a lot of time to get together. There’s a lot of programs and loans, products that people aren’t taking advantage of,” she added.

Molly Foley, a vice president of the Illinois Quad-City Chamber of Commerce, said she hopes that if efforts to create a Latino chamber do succeed, it still could be integrated into the larger chamber. Although the chamber’s previous diversity initiative failed to get off the ground, drawing in more minorities is a goal that chamber officials have not given up on, she said.

“We need to figure out a way to engage minority business owners into the larger community, not just Hispanics, all minorities,” Foley said. “The benefit (to being in the chamber) is really engaging them as part of the business community, being part of the larger picture and growth component of the Illinois Quad-City region.”

Schneekloth said businesses in Floreciente are sustained by the residents of the neighborhood, though their services and products could have a much farther reach. “We’re the best kept secrets. But how do we get people to notice?”

Jennifer DeWitt can be contacted at (563) 383-2318 or jdewitt@qctimes.com.