Omaha, NE — Based in the same South 24th Street storefront for over a half-century, the largest nonprofit serving the Omaha metro’s Latino community is undergoing a $10 million headquarters makeover and expansion.
The renovation of the Latino Center of the Midlands along a historic commercial corridor was kickstarted by a $2.8 million award from the State of Nebraska’s North and South Omaha Recovery Grant Program.
Rendering of lobby area of renovated Latino Center of the Midlands. (Courtesy of Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture)
Anticipated completion in early 2027 will take the center from about 17,000 square feet to nearly 29,000 square feet, officials said. Walls will fall between the longtime headquarters and an adjacent bank building the nonprofit bought last year. Additional space will be created, including outward extension of the top floor and a new deck area.
All services, including workforce development programming that had been offered in a leased spot a block away, will be under one roof — with space carved out for such features as a training kitchen envisioned as a hub for pop-up restaurants and community events.
“We will be able to serve more people more completely because we have more space,” said CEO and president Albert Varas.
A groundbreaking reception is scheduled Tuesday.
Rooted in Chicano movement
Philanthropic and private donor funds complement the state grant in covering the $10 million for the capital project at 4821 S. 24th St. Fundraising efforts for future operating funds are ongoing, Varas said.
The Latino center expansion was part of a bundle of South Omaha projects submitted in an application led by nonprofit Canopy South, which is acting as a sort of “community quarterback.” The resulting $64 million award from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development is divided among seven entities, including the Latino center.
Construction activity picks up
The funding source for the $235 million North and South Omaha Recovery Grant Program started with deadline-strapped COVID-19 federal dollars, but a swap with state dollars later occurred to allow more time for a complex slate of projects to develop. Sharing the funds are about 130 groups and businesses, whose selection by state officials were based on potential for helping to reverse disinvestment. The dollars are to be spent by the end of 2027 — a deadline that has prompted a flurry of recent groundbreakings.
César García, executive director of Canopy South, called the Latino center’s extensive renovation “a transformative investment” in South Omaha — opening more pathways to health, education and opportunity.”
Described as the largest Latino-serving agency in Nebraska’s most populous city, the center was born as the Chicano Awareness Center. Its roots go back to the 1960s when the local Mexican-American community and youths were tuned in to the Chicano civil rights movement in larger places such as California, and feeling effects of discrimination in their own city.
Local leaders began meeting with the goal of creating a self-esteem-building and advocacy hub where young people could affirm their heritage and gain leadership skills.
The Chicano Awareness Center launched formally in 1971 and in 1974 moved into the space on the 24th Street corridor. The range of services and bilingual advocacy efforts grew — to art and culture, anti-gang and anti-drug programming, educational and student support, English language learner classes, civic engagement, family well-being, summer internships and workforce development.
In 2007, the nonprofit changed its name to Latino Center of the Midlands to better reflect the growing and broader population from various Spanish-speaking countries. The center’s staff has grown to 36 people.
Coffees, community conversations
The renovated headquarters will feature youth-centric areas and modern classrooms to enhance GED, citizenship and literacy programs. A new teaching kitchen will promote nutrition education and is expected to be a “social enterprise” space to host coffee conversations and guest speakers.
The expansion also will allow the center to lease office space in the facility to area nonprofits with similar missions, said Varas.
Rendering shows entrance to the renovated Latino Center of the Midlands, which is to reopen in its larger footprint in early 2027. Services are going on without disruption in a nearby location. (Courtesy of Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture)
“We recognize we can’t fix everything,” he said, adding that providing a common ground where clients can easily access services of other organizations is key to solving a community’s needs.
Existing services of the center will continue without disruption at a temporary site a block away at 4937 S. 24th St. until the renovation is complete.
“The Latino center has long been a cornerstone in our community and this expansion ensures its impact will only grow stronger for generations to come,” Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr. said in a statement.
Yesenia Peck, president of the Nebraska Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the center is a standing testament to the drive and vision of the local Latino community.
“We look forward to the ways it will keep building opportunity and prosperity for Omaha,” she said.
‘More complex needs’
Varas said the needs of immigrants, Latinos and other communities the center serves have evolved and in this era are more complex. He foresees the more modern and larger facility allowing opportunity for a “deeper” response.
“For over five decades, we’ve walked alongside families in South Omaha. This expansion allows us to grow with them, breaking down barriers, expanding programs and serving more youth and families.”
Upper floor space, including a deck area, is to be added to the facility. (Courtesy of Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture)
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