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Tanna Kinnaman/DN
Children play in the brief sunshine outside the Malone Day Care Center, 2032
U St. Pictured from left are Jennilyn Malicaden, 3, Preston Payne, 3, Trevino
Brown, 3, and Kayla Quick, 2.'
The Malone Community Center, established
in 1932 as a black youth center, has been trans
formed in recent years.
Because of demographic changes, the cen
ter now provides services primarily aimed at
the low-income families of Lincoln, said Glenn
Payne, assistant daycare coordinator for the
center. 4
“One would like to think that it’s a black
center, but it isn’t. We target low-income fami
lies,” Payne said.
The black community in Lincoln was once
concentrated in the downtown area of Lincoln
that surrounds the center, but now has spread
throughout all areas of town, he said.
There are low-income families of different
races in those areas that take advantage of the
center’s programs, primarily their daycare.
Daycare is provided to children of any race,
many of whom pay for their care from Medi
care of Title 20 supplements, and some who
pay a minimal fee.
There are advantages for children who use
the Malone daycare, Payne said.
The children are exposed to many different
cultures at the center, and are taught about black
history, which in turn will make them more
“culturally balanced,” Payne said.
The main focus of the center is educating
people about black history and traditions, and
planting self-esteem in black teenagers who,
unlike other cultures, lack rites of passage that
help them along the path to adulthood, he said.
Classes highlight black community leaders
and scientists, so students become “enlight
ened” as to how blacks have contributed to the
community.
For instance, the holiday “Juneteenth” is
being promoted by the Malone Center.
The Juneteenth celebration, a holiday long
celebrated in the South but often forgotten in
the North, remembers Civil War-era blacks
from the North who traveled to southern states
to inform black slaves of their freedom.
The center also distributes food boxes from
the Lincoln Food Bank to families in immedi
ate need of food, often after a cycle of food
stamps has run out.
Also affiliated with the Malone center is a
retirement home, which provides services for
the senior citizens.
The center is supported by funds from the
United Way-CHAD and with block grants to
cover the bare minimum costs of running their
programs.
Fund-raisers and voluntary membership fees
from families of $25 also help support the cen
ter.
Volunteers from local colleges, universities,
and high schools help with the daycare pro
gram, mostly during the school year.
Lincoln high schools have required 20 hours
of community service for Citizen Issues classes.
Many classes at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln also require volunteer hours.
By Tanna Kinnaman
Staff Reporter
The services and activities at the Hispanic
Community Center, 2300 O St., reach a
broad spectrum of people in the Hispanic
community and the Lincoln community-at
large.
Young mothers and pregnant women
have become regular visitors to the center
since it opened the Teddy Bear Clinic in
April.
The purpose of the clinic is to encourage
lower income and unwed mothers to get care
early on in their pregnancy.
Women in the program receive teddy
credits for such practices as attending
parenting classes, keeping their WIC ap
pointments, prenatal visits to their doctor
and getting their children immunized.
Women can then exchange their teddy
credits for baby items such as baby clothes,
diapers, bottles, cribs and strollers.
“The shelves of merchandise had to be
restocked the first three weeks the Teddy
Bear Clinic was open,” said G. Elliot Rivas,
assistant director of the Hispanic Commu
nity Center.
Some people, like Rick Harder, a nurse
at Goodyear Tire
and Rubber Co., come to the Hispanic Cen
ter to leam Spanish.
“I wanted to leam the second largest lan
guage in the United States,” Harder said.
“It may also help me in my job down the
line.”
Ester Pence, who works at the department
of social services, said she planned to travel
to South America someday and thought it
would be helpful to know how to speak the
language.
Pence also said it was important in her
job to speak Spanish.
Harder said he was impressed by the qual
ity of instructors and the informal atmo
sphere of the classes.
“That’s because the teachers come from
South American countries and can give their
students a cultural perspective,” Rivas said.
The 8th annual Hispanic Heritage Festi
val at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds was
attended by more than 15,000 people last
year.
This year it will be held September 16,
Mexican Independence Day.
The festival features native food, music,
dance, and artifacts from Hispanic cultures
around the world.
Traditional dishes from Chile, Mexico,
Argentina, Puerto Rico, Republic of the
Phillipines, Colombia and Guatemala were
offered last year, Rivas said.
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