Meet the YWCA’s 2021 Women on the Rise
Maria Cortez spends her days building bridges.
Working at the New American Welcome Center at the YMCA of Central Ohio, she connects immigrants to various resources, including legal services, employment and community activities. She has held the title of community outreach director for three years, but she has been an advocate for the underserved since her parents moved to the U.S. from El Salvador.
“My parents still don t speak English,” said Cortez, 30, of North Columbus. “I was that little 5-year-old at the doctor s office with them interpreting, filling out important legal paperwork that I probably shouldn t have. But it definitely molded me.”
When the $12.5-million Reeb Avenue Center opened in 2015, it was dubbed a hub of hope for the surrounding South Side neighborhood, a place where residents could go for job training, child care, fresh fruits and vegetables, or a snack at the Roots Cafe.
A year ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the world, the Reeb center was harshly affected like everything else. It closed for a time in March, then reopened in May. The café didn t reopen for sit-down service, though, and neither did the market.
But the nonprofit tenants remained despite financial strains, from the Boys and Girls Club and South Side Early Learning to the Godman Guild adult education and training center and Alvis, which works with people returning to the community after spending time in the criminal justice system.