(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A career pathway program for adult Latino immigrants that has served the Chicago area for more than 25 years opened an official headquarters on the Southwest Side Friday.
Independent investments, state and federal funding and a $2.75 million grant from the Chicago Recovery Plan makes a total of nearly $6.5 million that has gone into the creation of a new Poder headquarters in Gage Park.
At the ribbon cutting ceremony, Mayor Lori Lightfoot invoked the name of a previous Mayor who in 1983 signed the first executive order making Chicago a welcoming city.
"I think we are seeing manifest, the vision that Harold Washington had even in those early days of what we must do to make sure we are welcoming for people coming from all over the world," she said.
Poder's English and job training program over the years has served more than 15,000 adult Latino immigrants with an 84 percent job placement rate.
The new Poder HQ in Gage Park will create an economic ripple effect, according to founder and executive director Daniel Loftus.
"But more importantly and more impactfully, the building now brings curiosity," he emphasized. "It brings hope. It brings excitement-opportunity and with that and with time, it will build community."
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