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StumbleHispanic advocacy group seeks help to keep daycare open
Friday, March 19, 2010 | 6:16 p.m.
Sun Coverage
- New immigration policy causes concern (2-17-07)
- Hispanic seniors center gets reprieve (10-15-04)
- Kids’ health care ailing (5-13-03)
The 40-year-old Nevada Association of Latin Americans has filed for bankruptcy protection and is appealing to benefactors and the public for financial help so it can continue its operations.
The association, known for running an affordable daycare near downtown Las Vegas at 323 N. Maryland Parkway at Stewart Avenue, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Sunday and closed the daycare serving 65 children on Monday.
The NALA bankruptcy and the closing of the daycare are tied to a legal dispute with the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority, NALA's landlord that had complained NALA didn't serve enough housing authority clients.
The bankruptcy was filed Sunday to block possible eviction on Monday, said Peggy Maze Johnson, chairwoman of the NALA board.
While Chapter 7 cases are for liquidations, NALA's bankruptcy attorney Christina DiEdoardo and Maze Johnson said that if money can be raised, the case could be converted to a Chapter 11 reorganization and NALA could find a way to reinstate the daycare services under the sponsorship of another group that would take over the lease.
If it remains a Chapter 7, NALA's daycare assets could be auctioned to satisfy some of the claims of creditors. The assets include daycare equipment such as desks, toys, playground equipment and kitchen equipment. The bankruptcy filing listed assets of $89,400 and liabilities of $219,400.
Maze Johnson said a dozen employees have been laid off since the bankruptcy and that besides the closure of the daycare, NALAs community advocacy programs are now in jeopardy.
NALA has been helping local and immigrant families and seniors with needs involving food, housing and jobs, Maze Johnson said. She said many of the families and individuals served by NALA were comfortable going there because NALA never asked about their immigration status.
"There was a level of comfort coming to NALA because they knew we were not going to judge them,'' Maze Johnson said.
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Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Maybe poeple should spend the time and money helping others who are here illegally complete the LEGAL process. I for one would be happy to help if the day care was for people who were in the country legally.
She said many of the families and individuals served by NALA were comfortable going there because NALA never asked about their immigration status.
Not one penny will I donate to assist with these rabbits. If they can't afford to pay their own way, go back to latin America where you belong.
I'm caucasion and am eating Ramen Noodles to put my two kids in daycare...I'm talking the usual $175/week per child. I make middle class wages (not union), yet I do not qualify for any assistance. ..I'm broke because of the daycare expenses I pay. Welcome to America..CLOSE THEM DOWN!
so...the very people you are supposed to represent can't keep you in business?
sounds like you SHOULD close.
Too many kids and expecting more handouts to support them, hmmn imagine that.
America! the great enabler
Perhaps some of the kind hearted Mexicans will send money to this group instead of Mexico.
Why don't they appeal to the President of Mexico for financial help, after all America has taken on the responsibility of providing for Mexicans on both sides of the border.
NALA,La Raza and all of these groups should be made to pay taxes and open their books for review by the federal government as well as state and county governments.They are fronts for crime and criminals.
DO NOT ADVOCATE/POPULARIZE A ROBINHOOD SCHEME..
WORK ON LEGALIZATION THAT YOU MAY CONTRIBUTE YOUR
SHARE CIVIC/VOLUNTEER WORK TO LESSEN BUDGET CONSTRAINT OF THE GOV'T DO NOT ABUSE THE COMPASSION OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Adios
I say crawl back across the boarder with all your anchor babies and let the Mexican Government pay for your day care. We have American Citizens out of work because of you boarder breakers and we are sick and tired of you sucking from the American people every hand out you can get. If you want hand outs then go back to your own country and protest and vote until you have the kind of country you want. DEPORT ALL ILLEGALS!!
60% BLAME THE ENFORCERS, EXECUTIVES,LEGISLATIVE AND
COURT OFFICES. LET'S THROW THEM OUT OF OFFICE BECAUSE THEY BREED THIER VOTING BASE, WE KNOW THESE
DISHONEST WORDSMITH . SOONER OR LATER WE BECOME THE MINORITY IN THIS GREAT COUNTRY. THE BEST WEAPON
IS THE FORTHCOMING ELECTION TO THROW THEM OUT
BTW HEALTHCARE IS NOT PRIMORDIAL TO OUR COUNTRY
AILING CONDITION. ELECTED OFFICIALS HARNESS YOUR POLITICAL EFFORTS TO CREATE JOBS AND NOT TO GIVE
HEALTHCARE BENEDITS TO ILLEGALS, KILL BABIES BECAUSE
LIBERALS WANT TO ENJOY SEX AND DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.
As the attorney who is representing NALA on a pro-bono basis in the bankruptcy, I'm frankly shocked at the racist tone of most of the comments I've read here. NALA served (and was open to) all members of the Las Vegas community==and there was no requirement that one be Latin American in order to receive day-care services there. Whatever the organization's problems, it saddens me that so many people would cheer for the demise of a group which was providing a badly needed service (child care) to working men and women of Las Vegas at affordable rates.
LasVegasLawyerGal: "Hispanic Advocacy Group," "never asking immigration status," "Nevada Association of Latin Americans." What else is one to think? Ok, open your registration numbers over the years to the public by numbers, ages, and race. Kind of like the 2010 Census where we all have to catagorize ourselves by race.
Doesn't really matter, though. You can't afford to stay open. Stand in line with a large number of Vegas businesses today.
lawabidingcitizen: As it happens, there are Hispanics and Latin Americans (particularly some who can trace their residency back to the Spanish land grants in parts of California and New Mexico) who have been in this country longer than my family (Italian side got here in 1919, Canadian side in the 1960s) so your premise that "Latin American=undocumented immmigrant" doesn't hold water. Moreover, there is frankly no reason for an agency which offered day-care services to *care* about the immigration status of its clients. Finally, NALA was not a business, it was a nonprofit.
Las VegasLawyerGal: I'm well aware of the history of this region, but we're not really addressing Hispanics who have been citizens for generations. If there were no reason to "care" about the immigration status of its clients, Maze Johnson shouldn't have been so pointed in her comment to the Sun: "She said MANY of the families and individuals served by NALA were comfortable going there because NALA never asked about their IMMIGRATION status." By your avoidance of the request that you give the public a breakdown of the numbers, ages, and races serviced by the center and by the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority complaint against the association, what else is one to think?
Again, this article has appeared because the center can't afford to stay open.
lawabidingcitizen: The issues between NALA and the Authority have nothing to do with the immigration status (or lack thereof) of NALA's clients and Ms. Johnson's quote merely stated the obvious--imagine for a moment if *you* were hispanic and you encountered someone who shared the set of stereotypes you have displayed here. I sense you'd get tired of everyone assuming you were undocumented simply by the color of your skin or by the spelling of your last name and you'd feel more comfortable with people who didn't feel the need to ask.
LasVegasLawyerGal: Just have the Sun post the numbers, ages, and race stats of the clients served by this center for the last 5 years, and if equally distributed, maybe more people would be willing to support your endeavor with donations. If you truly want to serve the community at large, it would be helpful for these agencies to stop using terms like "Hispanic advocacy," and "Nevada Association of Latin Americans" that are race-based; they are not "community-at-large" friendly. Looking forward to seeing the stats for 2004-2010. But again, the article is about an entity that got itself into a heap of debt and wants a bailout by someone.
Boy,lawabidingcitizen
really showed you LasVegasLawyerGal.
By the way LasVegasLawyerGal are you Hispanic?
how about STOP making more babies
"i love get drunk and make da babies"
@lasvegaslawyer
The sad reality of this situation is that many people are defending these breeding like pigs illegals draining local resources because they cannot support their own family. Speaking from experience having a brother in law of Hispanic origin, what a lazy ass depending on my sister for pretty much most if not all of their financial needs. This guy does not want to work a decent job to help support his family but would rather work menial jobs. Sad!!! Wake up America do not defend and support any of these losers.
The sentimentality isn't necessarily racist, the vast majority of disgruntled citizens over topics such as this just don't like Mexicans that come here illegally. There is no such race called Mexican, therefore anyone that would make a blatant remark like "I hate all Mexicans" cannot by definition, be a racist based on that. Mexican is a nationality, it is no different than people fearing or hating Russians during the cold war or the Japanese during WWII. A business such as this that caters primarily to that nationality, regardless of the business name is therefore a representation of what many citizens consider an unwelcome affliction upon our society. Although "Hispanic" is such a broad, generic term I doubt they service any children from Spain, Belize, or Peru.