Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey

Central El Paso Community Organization's (CEPCO) mission is to serve as a safe haven, promote education and provide spiritual development whereby youth can reach their full potential, empowering individuals to increase their quality of life in the community. 

 

CEPCO serves as a grassroots coalition in partnership with Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey and supports faith-based Youth Prevention and After School Programs, which target the central El Paso area. Many health, social, and educational issues are addressed through the After School Program at Cristo Rey. 

 

CEPCO's goals are:

• To minimize the risk factors and maximize the protective factors, seek and develop resources and alternatives for prevention and education for children, youth and the family as a whole. 

• To decrease school drop-outs and teen pregancy, and to motivate the youth to graduate from high school. 

• To get the community involved in the After School Program and other prevention efforts to encourage youth to pursue higher education goals. 

 

History of CEPCO

        CEPCO's involvement with Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey started officially in 1993. Back in the early 90's, a group of professionals in the substance abuse prevention and social services area conducted a community assessment with very interesting findings. This specific neighborhood lacked of social services offered to the community. No recreation places for the children, and high incidence of alcohol and substance abuse, plagued with gang members and its related consequences. Residents from this area needed to go either to the Segundo Barrio or to other distant places to seek any type of help. With this in mind, we had a dream. We wanted to create a one stop type of center where people would be able to be helped in a holistic manner.

 

            Because problems in a community cannot be addressed and solved by one single group or organization, the idea of partnership emerged. We encouraged individuals, organizations and other groups to join together and to identify commmunity needs and concerns. At that time, a Community Partnership Program funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention through the Community and Human Development Department of the City of El Paso called for the formation of city-wide task forces to address the problems we were facing. Central El Paso Community Organization was born (1992) as a task force in the central area.

 

           We approached Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey to be our fiscal agent and thanks to this partnership, we have been very active since that day. All members of the task force worked tirelessly on a volunteer basis, including Saturdays and Sundays implementing awareness education, outdoor and sports activities, always giving the opportunity to talk about alternatives in order to decrease the negative behaviors related to substance abuse issues. Currently and thanks to the patronage of the Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey, I (Ceci) am still serving as the Director on a volunteer basis to continue with the project that started as a dream, and as a result, I found it to be my life project. I still attend continuing education classes and annual conferences such as the Community Anti Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Forum annually to keep abreast of trends in this subject, so we can provide better services by implementing science-based programs. This is the legacy that I want to leave behind me, so others can give back to this great community. I feel very proud about the results when youth come to us and we see them now as individuals fulfilling their full potential and professionals with a purpose in life. Now, after twenty one years of CEPCO's inception in the community, I can assure that partnerships in prevention work!