WATERLOO - A battle over how to best serve the needs of the Cedar Valley's growing Latino population has spawned a competition for limited resources between an established nonprofit and an upstart organization founded by its former employees.

When Nuestra Raza Community Center, Spanish for "Our Race," opened its doors this week at 630 Sycamore St., it promised more accessibility and responsiveness than the Hispanic community has seen from a Latino resource center.

The new organization makes clear it intends to do everything the older and more established El Centro Latinoamericano does, only better.

Nuestra Raza staffers find the initial results promising: In its first few days of operation, Nuestra Raza has signed up more than 100 people - about one-third of El Centro's monthly client list - many of whom have used El Centro's services in the past.

Three former El Centro staff members, among them its most recent executive director, Mario Basurto, founded Nuestra Raza.

El Centro fired Basurto several weeks ago, he said, after differences of opinion over the direction of the organization led to a breaking point. El Centro refused to comment on the circumstance of his departure, though several board members verified Basurto's account.

The competition leaves both Nuestra Raza and El Centro on unstable ground.

Nuestra Raza has yet to secure reliable funding and is operating on a month-to-month basis.

El Centro lost nearly all of its staff in recent weeks. Board members, volunteers with full-time jobs, are now charged with day-to-day operations.

The cold, hard reality is there may not be enough money to support two Latino organizations in a community this size, said Mark Grey, a University of Northern Iowa professor who works with Hispanic communities around the state.

"I think there's plenty of demand for the things that (Nuestra Raza and El Centro) are doing. But this is a relatively small community, and I can't believe we're going to have enough resources to sustain both," he said.

El Centro board president and founder Carole Gustafson described the staffing changes as "minor" and said El Centro Latinoamericano is strong and thriving.

"We are doing great," she said last week.

Privately, however, several board members said the organization is examining its actions to see if it can do anything differently to hire and retain quality employees.

Seeing a need

Basurto; Shantel Leary, a recent Wartburg College graduate who served as El Centro's program director; and Justin Kader, a Wartburg instructor who also worked at El Centro, envision a grass-roots philosophy of empowerment and public service for Nuestra Raza.

In keeping with the mission, none keep official titles, though each offers different areas of expertise.

They work at least 14-hour days, eat meals of rice and beans, and have even donated plasma in Cedar Rapids to cover startup costs.

One of the most visible differences between the two organizations is accessibility. Nuestra Raza is open until 10 p.m., seven days a week. El Centro, in contrast, operates during normal business hours and closes over the lunch hour and on weekends.

"It's not about El Centro or Nuestra Raza, it's about serving the people," Leary said.

In a statement, the board of El Centro said it exists to serve the Latino community and possesses valuable community partnerships.

"People who have nonprofit experience understand that you cannot be everything to everybody. El Centro has grown over the years as both needs have warranted and funding has allowed."

Still, some in the Hispanic community have taken notice.

Last week, Nuestra Raza received $800 in client donations. Two workers walked into Nuestra Raza, located on the ground floor of 630 Sycamore St., after seeking help at El Centro. The workers, who answered questions in Spanish, put the reasons for their visit bluntly: They thought El Centro only helped when it was convenient.

Javier Gonzalez, 24, of Guatemala, said he visited El Centro several times looking for a job, and walked away empty-handed.

"They don't serve people very well. I asked for a work application, and they told me to come back tomorrow. I don't think they have the urge to help the Mexican people," said Salvador Jimenez, 22, who is Mexican.

Basurto said he had grown frustrated over the culture at El Centro, which he said is out of touch with the Hispanic community.

When he proposed new programs, the board told him not to duplicate services already in the community, he said, even when it was clear Latinos were not using them.

El Centro, he said, seemed more concerned with making clients come to it than bringing its services to the people.

His organization, he said, also is more willing to confront the politically explosive issue of illegal immigration.

The organization invites undocumented workers to its center by saying in all its materials that it serves everyone, regardless of legal status. At El Centro, he said, his ability to serve people without papers was limited.

For him, the decision to support all immigrants is an easy one: His parents, who are legal residents, immigrated from Mexico illegally.

"It'd be like turning my back on my own parents," he said.

Basurto's family has deep ties in the Cedar Valley. Today, hundreds of Hispanics attend Waterloo schools, but he remembers being one of three Latinos at West High in 1996.

He does not mince words about what he sees as the root problem at El Centro: Not a single board member is Hispanic.

"It's a white board for the Latino resource center," he said.

The board of El Centro said it has always provided services with the best interest of Latino immigrants in mind.

"Our board and staff bring diverse skills, ideas, and cultures to the table. Additionally, we are fortunate to have a positive reputation in the community that allows us to collaborate with other organizations in order to meet our clients' needs," the board said in a statement.

Uncertain future

El Centro, founded early this decade, has cycled through at least five executive directors; one was accused of stealing money from the organization. The unstable leadership has hindered the organization's ability to grow and land important grants, several people familiar with organization said.

Even so, with seniority comes benefits. El Centro has established a reliable stream of funding, though it operates on tenuous financial ground. In 2007, it spent about $100,000 and operated with a $16,625 deficit.

El Centro also possesses expertise navigating the nonprofit world and established connections in the non-Hispanic community.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to self-sufficiency is self-imposed: Basurto decided not to seek nonprofit status for Nuestra Raza. It limits fundraising options and hurts the organization's credibility in the community.

"People I know will ask why we're not a nonprofit. Are we trying to make money off of this?" he said.

He said the decision is solely based on his experience with his previous employer: He wants full control over the direction of the organization.

To compensate, he said, he promises financial transparency. He also has not ruled out finding a board and making the organization a nonprofit sometime down the road.

Basurto said the center has opened promising talks with local funding agencies. But until then, he said, he and his founding partners will do whatever it takes to keep the center open.

"If that means we take two jobs and work mornings before we open here, we'll cover our overhead," he said.

Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.