In 1981 Sister Rose Marie Cummins, a Dominican nun, noticed an increase at St. Mary’s Church in Cambridge, of refugees from the Salvadoran and Guatemalan civil wars. She also noticed that they needed social and legal services. So with a few legal and religious community members, she founded Centro Presente, “dedicated to the self-determination and self-sufficiency of the Latin American immigrant community.” After 25 years, CP is Massachusetts’ oldest Latino-led immigrant rights organization. Its members and constituents are dispersed throughout Greater Boston, as far as Framingham, Everett, Revere and beyond. Its Legal Immigration Services help over 2,500 Latino immigrants annually. Its adult education program, “Education for Empowerment,” offers to another 400 students basic literacy courses in Spanish, English, and computers; as well as Civics and Citizenship. CP has organized its 1,200 members into five working groups in Community-Building, Education, and Political Advocacy. By integrating basic services with community organizing and leadership development, Centro Presente shepherds the integration of Latino immigrants into fully participatory American citizenship, and strives to give its members voice and build community power. The needs are greater now than they were 25 years ago, and so is the value to the Commonwealth of their success. Will you help?