Located at 635 Main St. in the Glebe House, sharing the space with Fall Kill Creative Works, Casa Comunitaria de Recursos (CCR) works with local Hispanic and immigrant communities to help them navigate life in the City of Poughkeepsie and the surrounding region.
Gabriella Vega-Matthews, the organization’s founder, formally established the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2022.
In the early days of what would be CCR, in 2020, Vega-Matthews began working to educate and connect the Hispanic and immigrant community to information and resources, especially as they navigated the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We want them to have a hub or a place where they can be able to connect,” Vega-Matthews said.
The Holiday Helping Hand campaign, a collaboration between the Poughkeepsie Journal and the United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region, has assisted CCR this holiday season. CCR is one of many organizations supported by the campaign.
How to donate:Holiday Helping Hand is assisting Dutchess residents this season: How to help
Gift cards provided by Holiday Helping Hand are being delivered to families in need of the Hispanic and immigrant communities so the children can “buy something positive for themselves” this holiday season, Vega-Matthews said.
Casa Comunitaria de Recursos, a ‘connector’
Vega-Matthews, who moved to the United States from Mexico, has called Dutchess County home for the past 30 years. For 20 of those years, she has advocated and been a liaison for the local Hispanic community at the Department of Behavioral and Community Health.
Working for DBCH afforded her the support to connect with government agencies and non-profit organizations to bring the resources necessary for the immigrant community, as well as to have her voice be heard.
However, “working in government has allowed me to see that disparities exist,” Vega-Matthews said, and there is more work to do to properly allocate services and funding to the immigrant community. She noted a disconnect between the Hispanic and immigrant communities and the county at large, with a language barrier being one of the contributing factors.
She’s beginning to see change happen in Dutchess County, but she is always going to push for more.
More:Yvonne Flowers connects with Latino-owned shop owners on Main St. in Poughkeepsie
Vega-Matthews hopes CCR can bridge the gap, through education, assistance with paperwork and communication and setting up the Hispanic and immigrant communities for continued success.
“We are a connector more than anything,” she said.
With the help of Samantha Romero, they’re working to ensure the CCR website, casacomunitariaderecursos.org, which is entirely written in Spanish, has a list of the resources that already exist by the time the new year rolls around.
Romero also moved to the United States from Mexico, and is working toward her GED. In only one year, she has become proficient in English.
“The people don’t know all of the opportunities they have here in the United States,” Romero said. Half the battle is ensuring they understand the opportunities, she said, and she’s going to continue working on the website, community outreach and whatever else is needed at CCR.
Around Election Day, CCR held an educational session for 35 adults and seven kids, explaining the roles of a council member, legislator or senator, and brought elected officials into the meeting to talk about their responsibilities and answer questions.
“For us, it was huge,” Vega-Matthews said.
In 2025, the organization has a goal to target its support to immigration, civic and health education.
“This Latino community needs a center, and it will make a big change,” Vega-Matthews said. “It’s been very difficult to open a door, even to have a space.”
How Poughkeepsie works to bridge the gap
Julie Melina, who is Spanish public information officer for the City of Poughkeepsie and the District, said her position was born out of the growing population of “not just Spanish speaking, but Latino people coming to the City of Poughkeepsie.”
Melina said since the last census in 2020 the Spanish-speaking population in the City of Poughkeepsie has increased from one-fifth to half of the population.
Education, not only in the form of a GED or secondary education, but tactile learning such as computer literacy, translation, classes from the district or library, BOCES and DCC, as well as helping with job placement or even purchasing a home are all a part of the work Melina does.
“I am here to bridge the gap between all of those audiences, between each other, between the district and the city, and between the community partners that we work with,” Melina said.
How Holiday Helping Hand helps Poughkeepsie community
Each year, the Poughkeepsie Journal and United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region raise funds for Dutchess County programs that assist local kids and families in having a happy holiday season through the Holiday Helping Hand campaign.
To donate, visit uwdor.org/HHH24 or mail a check to Holiday Helping Hand, United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region, 75 Market St., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. Checks should be made payable to Holiday Helping Hand.
All donations go directly to Dutchess County organizations to serve those in need.
From Dec. 13 to Dec. 19, the following donations have been made to the 2024-25 Holiday Helping Hand campaign, totaling $3,772.48:
- Michael Blake, $256.64
- Lewis Wrobel, $25
- Maureen Logan, $513.29
- Rita Banner, $102.65
- Anonymous, $100
- David Dengel, $25
- Anonymous, $50
- In Loving Memory of Joanne. Missing You-SJ & Bob, From Robert & SaraJane Inglis, $100
- Charles Carnell, $100
- John & Barbara Marmillo, $100
- In Memory of Pam Johnston Moguet, From Maryann Lohrey, $50
- In Memory of Mary & Richard W. Booth, Sr and Rachel Cusher Vittone, From Linda and Gerald Vittone, $150
- In Memory of Lorraine & Bob Goewey and Michael & Bee Grega, From Linda Stow & Vinnie Grega, $100
- Anonymous, $14
- In Memory of Brian McGrath, From Kenneth McGrath, $50
- James & Linda Slater, $25
- In Memory of John C Ritchie, From Diana Ritchie, $100
- In Memory of Melissa D Ritchie, From Diana Ritchie, $100
- In Memory of Tony Buccelli From Allison & Dwight, $100
- In Memory of Nathan Lawrence-Paine, From Anonymous, $100
- Rose Farrell, $20
- Judith Perlmam, $50
- In Memory of Sister Anna Bernard, $100
- Diane Fiscina, $200
- In Memory of George Beckman, $100
- Rebecca Wisniewski & William Lewis, $120.24
- Anonymous, $100
- Anonymous, $100
- Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Mallozzi, $100
- In Memory of Our Dad, Chuck, From James Collins Construction, $50
- Clay & Lorraine Hughes, $100
- Glenn Hoagland, $100
- In Memory of Raymond & Shirley Sabellico, From Peter Sabellico, $300
- Rudy & Sina Macak, $50
- Frank & Doris Navarra, $20
- Anne Thomas, $25
- Joanne & Mark Chitjian, $50
- Diane Kloosterman, $25.66
