Celebrating Latino American culture: ‘Great communities don't happen by accident’

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ottawa News Network is a proud media sponsor of LAUP's annual Fiesta celebration.

HOLLAND — As the local nonprofit Latin Americans United for Progress gears up for its 62nd annual Fiesta! celebration, Executive Director Alejandra Guillén is reflecting on why the summer tradition is more than just a party.

For LAUP, the state’s oldest Latino-serving organization, the five-day festival running July 15-19 represents the public-facing edge of a year-round operation focused on local civic policy, workforce development and educational access.

"What we do goes beyond just programs and services," Guillén said. "We create opportunities. We invest in people. We celebrate culture, we build partnerships, and we help individuals and families thrive."

The organization’s roots date back to the 1950s and 1960s, when grassroots networks formed to support Latino agricultural and manufacturing workers settling in West Michigan. In 1975, four of these advocacy groups merged to form LAUP, establishing a formalized voice for a demographic that lacked institutional representation.

In the decades following the merger, the coalition served as an incubator for the region's broader social safety net. LAUP’s early initiatives directly led to the formation of Community Action House, a major area provider of food and housing assistance, as well as local chapters of TRIO Upward Bound and the Children’s After School Achievement program, which targeted academic performance among first-generation college students.

LAUP officially incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1986. It opened its first physical office in 2003 to provide direct casework and English-as-a-second-language classes, appointing its first paid executive director in 2007.

Currently, the organization provides programs like:

• ¡Adelante! Youth Program: Designed for eighth-11th-grade students to improve college and career readiness, students are able to learn life skills, learn more about and how to apply to colleges and receive tutoring with classes.
• ¡Más Adelante! Youth Program: Designed for 12th-grade students, this program helps students improve college and career readiness. Students work on their writing skills, explore career opportunities and volunteer opportunities in the community.
• ESL & Digital Literacy Program: LAUP partners with Zeeland Adult Education to help students learn the basics of computer usage, working their way through file navigation, browsing the web, emailing and using a computer for bills. While navigating technology, students will also learn English vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation from a proven and effective curriculum. 
• Workforce Development Program: For adults 18 and over, participants work to build an empowering career for themselves using proven strategies and training. 
• Citizenship Program: Overcome obstacles to citizenship in 10 weeks. Learn what you need to apply for citizenship and receive knowledgeable support as you prepare to pass the citizenship exam.
• Salserines: Health Through Salsa: Staying fit and healthy can be fun. Enjoy the numerous health benefits of salsa dancing 7-9 p.m. on Thursday nights. Learn different dance moves in this group dancing environment where partners are not required.
• LAUP Spanish classes: Did you take Spanish in high school and then let the skill fall out of practice? Or maybe you’re planning a trip to Mexico and want to know some Spanish. Whether you are an employer or looking for work, speaking Spanish will set you apart from the competition.
• Small Business Hub: The LAUP Small Business Hub is a dedicated resource center designed to empower and support Latino and underserved entrepreneurs in our community.

New leadership

For Guillén, who took the helm in August, the organization’s mission intersects with her own background as an immigrant who arrived in Michigan without professional connections or financial assets.

"That's a shared lived experience that I relate to the people that we serve," Guillén said. "The mission of LAUP is personal to me. I deeply believe in the work that we do because I've experienced firsthand what the power of opportunity can do."

LAUP’s current operational goals focus heavily on workplace equity and systemic advocacy, shifting from basic community accommodation to ensuring permanent structural access within local corporations and municipal bodies. According to organizational leadership, these initiatives are increasingly tied to the economic stability of the region.

"Latino culture is an important part of West Michigan's identity and economy," Guillén said. "Rather than seeing diversity as something to accommodate, we see it as one of our region's greater strengths."

While the daily operations of the nonprofit center on long-term systemic programs, Guillén acknowledged that Fiesta remains an essential civic bridge for the broader public, designed to foster community cohesion across demographic lines.

"While it celebrates Latino heritage, Fiesta is truly for everyone," Guillén said. "It's an opportunity for neighbors that live in the same community but come from different backgrounds to find a space to feel that they belong."

The event “breaks down barriers.”

"Culture has a very unique way of bringing people together," Guillén said. "I think it's events like Fiesta that break down those barriers, create that space, that understanding, and it's an opportunity for neighbors for people that live in the same community but come from different backgrounds to find a space to feel that they belong and celebrate that diversity that makes our community so special."

New services

Currently, the organization provides services, including:

• Document translation and interpretation: LAUP offers document translation from Spanish to English and English to Spanish as well as interpretation of documents that are short in length.
• Language services: LAUP offers English and Spanish interpretation services, in person, over the phone or over Zoom/Teams. This service is available both for individuals as well as organizations and companies who wish to better connect with their Spanish-speaking staff. 
• Mexican Mobile Consulate (Consulado Movil): The Mexican Consulate in Detroit occasionally brings its mobile consulate to Holland in partnership with local organizations.
• Referral Assistance: LAUP seeks to keep up to date with the organizations serving Latinos in Ottawa County and can help persons find the right organization to meet their needs.

As LAUP navigates its next phase of programming, its leadership maintains that sustaining regional growth requires deliberate, continuous civic investment rather than passive reliance on changing demographics.

"Great communities don't happen by accident," Guillén said. "It takes time, it takes effort, it takes resources, but more importantly, it takes people that want to be part of that change."

Learn more at laup.org or follow LAUP on Facebook or Instagram.

— Heather VanDyke covers northern Ottawa County for the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at hvandyke@ottawanewsnetwork.org. Sarah Leach is the executive editor of the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at sleach@ottawanewsnetwork.org. Follow her on Twitter @ONNLeach.