Reaching Many

Wesley serves diverse community

By KATHIE GREER
The Amarillo Independent

Wesley Community Center has been dedicated to serving Amarillo residents and providing minorities with opportunities for personal and professional advancement for more than half a century.

Courtney Dowd, tutor, visits with Araceli Terrones (left) and Jocabco Catalan during snack time at the Wesley Community Center. (Photo by Ralph Duke)

Although founded by women from Polk Street United Methodist Church in 1951, the Rev. Jacinto Alderete, a Methodist minister, played a pivotal role in the center's development.

Alderete arrived in Amarillo in the early 1950s to do mission work. Initially, he focused on providing immunizations and preventive medical care for children in the Hispanic community.

Alderete also became involved in an outreach program directed toward older children.

Robert Ruiz, the current assistant director at Wesley, remembers Alderete talking to kids on the streets and gathering them together to play ball. As the youngsters played, Alderete provided encouragement, inspiration and education that prepared them for productive and successful lives.

The gathering place eventually became Wesley Community Center.

"Rev. Alderete introduced me to wrestling," Ruiz said. “He believed in putting words into action."

Alderete was a contemporary of Boys Ranch founder Cal Farley. The two men shared a concern for young people, and Farley knew the benefits of an organized program like wrestling to build confidence and self-esteem.

Ruiz, who says he “grew up at Wesley," eventually moved away. When he and his family returned to Amarillo, he approached current Executive Director Belinda Gonzalez Taylor about volunteering at the center.

In 1999, Ruiz began the Wesley wrestling program with 12 wrestlers and the help of Caprock wrestling Coach Scott Tankersley, who provided both inspiration and coaching help.

Ruiz expects to have almost 100 kids in this year's program, which begins this week. The program costs $35 for six months of training.

"This program runs because of the volunteers," Ruiz said. “We have 15 to 20 certified coaches. That doesn't include the 30 to 40 parents and other volunteers who provide us with funding and help us work the tournaments."

Wesley's wrestlers belong to the Texas chapter of the United States Association of Wrestling. That enables them to participate in sanctioned tournaments and ultimately to earn a spot to compete for national titles.

Last year, two members of the Wesley team earned national championships. Eight other youngsters won state awards.

Wesley began as a faith-based organization, and today it's no different.

"Our core principles for our wrestlers begin with two knees bent in gratitude every night," Taylor said.

The program also teaches good nutrition and emphasizes achievement.

“'No pass, no play' is the rule they have to follow when they get into middle school and high school," Ruiz said. “It's no different here. We want them to learn leadership skills, to become good role models and to develop self-discipline and self-esteem."

While Ruiz is focusing on those principles with boys, Serena San Miguel is working on the same principles for a slightly different group.

In addition to her responsibilities for the center's funding and development, San Miguel also sponsors a modeling program. Last spring her middle school program included 17 girls. In the fall, the high school program included 20 girls and two boys. The 12-week curriculum-based program emphasizes commitment, attendance and leadership and includes a component on alcohol and drug prevention. Kohl's, the department store, partners with Wesley to produce two shows each year. Participants also get to work with a professional photographer to develop individual portfolios. The cost is $20 per student.

Wesley has one of the most affordable day-care facilities in town, providing opportunities for mothers who want to work or continue their education.

"Our greatest enemy here is poverty," Taylor said. “When there's not enough food, or money or time, people — and especially kids — begin to internalize that they aren't enough. Poverty encourages people to use violence to get what they need. By focusing on education and success, we can teach alternate methods of behavior."

Senior members of the community aren't overlooked at Wesley. A senior day-care program provides social and emotional outlets for older people.

Transportation to and from the center is provided across Amarillo.

"It's a little surprising," Taylor said, “but we actually have more men in this program than we do women."

Wesley's kitchen prepares hot meals daily to feed the seniors and the children.
A joint project with Amarillo Independent School District uses funding from a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant to provide an afterschool program for students from Glenwood and Sanborn elementary schools.

Students from Our Lady of Guadalupe School also participate.

Los Barrios de Amarillo meets at Wesley at noon on Wednesdays. The center also is involved with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; members of U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry' staff visit the center once a month to discuss issues and answer questions. Legal assistance resources are available through the center and Un Día a la Vez, a Spanish-speaking Alcoholics Anonymous group, finds meeting space there. An interfaith prayer and meditation room is a new center additions.

Six years ago, Taylor, who is a licensed professional counselor, began offering individual and family counseling at Wesley. Most of the Wesley staff is bilingual, including Taylor, whose first language was Spanish. In cooperation with Region 16, the center offers English classes.

"This is just one more benefit we try to provide to the community," Taylor said.

Wesley depends upon donations for most of its funding. Its two main fundraisers are a spring golf tournament and “Una Gran Cena" in the fall. The fiesta dinner celebration and silent auction for 2007 will be Thursday, Sept. 27, at the Amarillo Civic Center. The featured speaker will be West Texas A&M University Lady Buffs head basketball coach Krista Gerlich. Tickets for the dinner and the program are available at the Wesley office, 1615 S. Roberts.

Even with its multitude of activities and efforts to benefit the community at large, at the end of the day Wesley's activities are still focused on young people. In the truest spirit of a community center, the Wesley gym is open every evening. It provides a safe place for young people to gather, to play basketball, to wrestle, to socialize and to develop the skills to help them lead better lives and, in turn, to make their own contributions to the community.

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Posted: September 13, 2007