Big things often start from the humblest of beginnings. For the Hispanic Alliance it started with a handful of people asking a simple question: “How can we help?”
That question was born from the observation that the growing numbers of Spanish-speaking people moving to the Greenville area often lacked the knowledge of where to go for essential services.
None of that first group who gathered to answer a question imagined their efforts would evolve into an institution dedicated to building bridges of understanding, dignity and community, said Wilfredo León, one of the alliance’s founders.
The circle
It was more than 20 years ago when the members of St. Francis Episcopal Church on Edwards Road felt called to minister to their Spanish-speaking neighbors. As part of that effort, their minister, the Rev. Kathryn Tiede, invited a group of people who were already working with that community to brainstorm and provide guidance…