Success Story

Jesus Mosquera and his wife, Lucinda, operate one of the largest Spanish language newspapers in Southwest Michigan. Nueva Opinion's mission statement is simple; they want to “transform information into solutions that meet the needs of the community.” The paper is published twice a month and circulated in more than four Michigan counties. Filled with local and international news, Nueva Opinion is also online.

Nueva Opinion's mission statement even spills over into the mundane like an out of the way flea market. While browsing for bargains the couple spied a Latino family purchasing a computer for their son. Jesus said, “What was so sad was that they were going to pay $300... for a junk computer. I said nothing to them but I felt bad about that.” This single purchase sparked an idea; a solution for the community. Why not take 10 percent of their paper's advertising revenue and purchase a brand new computer for a worthy Latino family?

The driving force behind the program was the couple's desire to see “the Latino community get something good. And many of them don't have the resources.” The couple knew that a new home computer would open up the world to any family and especially to a family facing language barriers. “If people can not get it [information], they can't understand what is going on. If I read something and I can't understand what it says, I don't care about it. Put it to the back. If we have resources in our language, if we have everything in our language, we can benefit.”

Jesus and Lucinda partnered with the Battle Creek Public School System (BCPS) to target worthy families in Battle Creek. After they confirmed that the family was a worthy candidate they used a complicated selection system; they drew names out of a hat.

Jesus and Lucinda reached out to One Economy in Battle Creek to purchase the first computer. Together, One Economy and the Mosqueras gave the first computer went to the Hurtado family, formerly of Guanajuato, Mexico. Since moving to the area less than five years ago, the Hurtado children have done wonderfully in their academic pursuits. However, they didn't have the advantage that an updated home computer supplies. Their computer was good for practicing typing, but not for some of the homework they were being assigned.

On many occasions the children had to use a computer at Willard Library. Their daughter Rebeca said, "We were surprised to have this. We don't know (Jesus) and never expected anything like this. Now we don't have to go to the library all the time."

Lucinda and Jesus also get feedback from the community. Jeanne Miralrio, a Bilingual instructional specialist for BCPS, was visiting with another teacher when the discussion soon changed to her students. Jesus recalled, “[the teacher] was so happy that her students wrote their homework on the computer and Nueva Opinion gave it to them. We were happy with that.” Such a simple thing as a homework assignment leads to beaming smiles from both Lucinda and Jesus. Their idea had worked.

To date, Lucinda and Jesus have given new computers to four Latino families in Southwest Michigan. They have started the process of selecting another family for the program, a sure sign of many happy homework assignments ahead.