Tanya Gonzalez is the executive director of the Sacred Heart Center in Richmond, VA, which serves the growing Latino community through collaborative partnerships offering medical, consular, and tax preparation services as well as food assistance and referrals for a variety of basic needs. This month she received a Changemaker award from Initiatives of Change USA and a Community Educator Award from the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Richmond. Tanya is a long-time member of the IofC team and earlier this year was in Brazil facilitating an initial training for the Americas Trustbuilding project. These are her remarks at the IofC award event:

Community means we care for one another, no matter the borders that try to divide us.

I stand before you today deeply humbled to receive this Changemakers Award. For me, this recognition is not just about one person—it is about a journey, about a community, about a calling that began long before I had a title or a role.

I was born in McAllen, Texas, right on the border. From the very beginning, I was an in-between, in between two countries, two cultures, two languages, and two peoples. Half of my family came from Mexico, the other half were also immigrants, but from Italy and Slovakia. And they came through Ellis Island, not walking. Two ancestral immigration experiences. So, this “in-betweenness” has shaped who I am. It taught me that my calling in life is to GO BETWEEN—to build bridges, to create spaces of welcome, to walk with families and individuals as they find strength and belonging even in challenges.

I carry memories of a home on the border that was always open. My grandmother from Mexico would live with us, and her presence ebbed and flowed. Cousins who came to study or work in the US that stayed with us, foster children that we welcomed—our house was never just my immediate family. From those early days, I learned that community means we take care of one another, no matter the borders that try to divide us.

Later, as a college student at Brown University in Providence, RI, I volunteered teaching English to immigrant adults when I was 20 years old. I’ll never forget the day two men from Guatemala sat side by side in my classroom—one had been in the military, the other with the rebel forces. Each carried unimaginable pain from the war, and they had, in fact, fought on opposing sides. Yet here they were, in my classroom, in a new country, both trying to heal, both trying to begin again.  Sitting next to each other and dialoguing about what all of this meant. That moment revealed to me the strength of the human spirit—and the honor it is to serve alongside it. For the last 25 years in Richmond, and almost ten years as Executive Director of the Sacred Heart Center, I have witnessed that same strength daily.

Families who cross borders to give their children hope. People who risk everything to build a better life.  Trailblazers who rise from struggle to guide others. A dedicated team, my team at Sacred Heart Center, most of whom are immigrants themselves, who pour their brilliance into building something bigger. This vibrant and amazing community center that so many people call their home away from home.

Together, we have faced pandemics, economic hardships, anti-immigrant policies, and racism – and still we keep going. Still our community shines. Estamos presente.  Aquí estamos y no nos vamos. Si se puede. We are present. We are here and not going anywhere. Yes we can.

We cannot ignore this moment that we are in. Immigrant and Latino families face devastating challenges: policy changes that threaten our safety even more than before, rhetoric that seeks to divide us, and so much more.  And so, in this moment, when my very existence is being attacked, when my people, my community, my team, my organization, I could go on…when we are having to defend our right to exist and our right to do this work of being welcoming, of building bridges among communities, receiving an honor like this is amazing, but also bittersweet.  Sentimientos encontrados. Mixed feelings.  

I do feel the weight of “not enough”, of all that is left to do, the rage at the cruelties I am witnessing daily.  The suffering, fear, and anxiety that we are experiencing every day.  It is mixed in with gratitude. I also feel the weight of my upcoming transition as both Sacred Heart Center as I prepare for a next chapter.  And I will tell you that weight is so very heavy.

But tonight, just for this moment, I will choose to honor what is: the over 9,500 lives impacted just last year alone, the 25 staff members who give their hearts every day, and the countless families whose courage inspires me to keep walking in this calling.  I will continue on the road ahead that we will still walk – together, even if the next chapter looks a little different.

As we sit here and enjoy this beautiful meal and fellowship, the Sacred Heart Center in south Richmond is buzzing with activity.  Today is Wednesday, so we have adults in GED classes in Spanish as we speak.  We have our team caring for the children of the families in our classes, offering a bilingual quality program that gives academic support, as well as arts and crafts activities.  We have a special workshop about income taxes happening right now in Spanish, and also a grief support group meeting in Spanish.  Last night we had ESL classes for adults. On Monday our Immigration Legal Services Program was in an immigration court assisting in defending a community member.  And, even with all this activity, we have a sign in our hallway that says, “Your goals are bigger than your fears.”   And yes, that is true, and I say to you here tonight, I look forward to the day when we can take that sign down. 

A call to action So here I get to the place in my talk where I give you my call to action.  To be honest, I grappled so much with this, in this moment in our country’s history. ICE, detentions, family separation, the deportation industrial complex, the criminalization of just existing y cas an immigrant, discrimination, racism, our broken immigration system, none of that is new. But the terror and devastation that I am witnessing in our community currently is more than I have seen in the last 25 years. So, this is what I can say to you now:

In this moment, it is crucial that we remain steadfast. We must continue to defend and stand up for safe spaces in community, like the Sacred Heart Center. We must advocate for policies that seek to fix our broken immigration system, and we must stand up against injustice. We also need to continue to seek joy and love and hope. We must continue to envision the type of future that only our communities can dream of.  We need to be both vigilant and compassionate, ensuring that our community has the resources to not just survive, but to thrive and flourish, as our mission at Sacred Heart Center says. 

Thank you, Initiatives of Change, for this recognition. And I close with the simple phrase, Si Se Puede. Yes, we can.