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Local nonprofit CAFE pitches multicultural community center, asks Wenatchee leaders for $100,000 gift
Summary
Community for the Advancement of Family Education (CAFE) representatives described plans for a multicultural multi-service community center, said they have identified an initial facility (the Community Action building) for phase one, and asked the council to consider a $100,000 cornerstone gift toward an $800,000 capital campaign goal.
Representatives of CAFE (Community for the Advancement of Family Education) asked the Wenatchee City Council on Sept. 11 to consider a $100,000 gift toward a capital campaign to create a multicultural multi-service community center.
Donancitla Ortona Chacon, CAFE executive director, told the council CAFE began in 2005 and has grown to a staff of 25. She said the organization provides language-access services, housing and employment referrals, youth programming and a recovery navigator program for Chelan and Douglas counties. Chacon said the organization serves more than 10,000 families a year and relies on partnerships with local nonprofits and regional groups.
Dulce Negrete, board chair and clinic manager at Columbia Valley Community Health, described the center as a “sanctuary for all” and formally asked council members to consider supporting the campaign. "We'd like to ask, for you to consider a gift, of a $100,000 towards the capital campaign," Negrete said. She said CAFE was close to a $700,000 fundraising milestone and hoped to reach an $800,000 target with additional gifts.
Chacon said CAFE has identified a Phase 1 site in the current Community Action building and expects to receive furniture from another local organization when that group moves to a new location. She described Phase 1 as an opportunity to provide a "one-stop shop" for services—housing and utility assistance, attorney referrals, and CAFE programs—so families do not have to make multiple appointments across agencies.
CAFE asked the council to consider partnership and financial support; no formal city funding decision or vote on the request took place during the Sept. 11 meeting. Council members praised CAFE’s outreach and programming during the public remarks period and thanked staff and volunteers for their work.
CAFE said it will continue fundraising and has a facilities committee planning a long-term goal (Phase 2) to build a larger community center by 2030.
