March 17, 1999

Buckner volunteers help shelter residents
from life's bitter winds at Sparks colonia
___By Russell Rankin
___Buckner News Service
___The streets crisscrossing Sparks Community Center bear the names of deceased authors: Mark Twain, Darwin, Tennyson, Shakespeare and Dickens.
___Poetic, yet the names, conjuring images of masterpieces, instead lead to homes of cinderblock, rusting sheet metal and plywood.
___Located just outside the sprawling limits of El Paso, Sparks colonia is

A WOMAN takes advantage of a clothing sale to look for warm clothing at the Buckner-sponsored community center in Sparks colonia on the outskirts of El Paso.

one of more than 1,400 settlements along the Texas/Mexico border that are home to nearly 340,000 impoverished, isolated residents, each fighting for a piece of the American Dream.
___Residents of Sparks colonia fight for their dream of home ownership in the face of numerous obstacles, such as social and economic isolation, not to mention the lack of common amenities like running water, sewer systems, paved roads and transportation.
___In an extensive collaborative effort started by the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University several years ago, community centers were established in the colonias, with the goal of "community self-development" to give the residents a helping hand, but even more than that, hope.
___Buckner Children and Family Services, given the task of running the community center in Sparks, is striving to make a difference for residents by helping provide much-needed services.
___These include pediatric services, vaccinations and other medicalservices, educational and vocational assistance, life skills training, health classes, assistance with utilities, exercise classes, GED classes, children and youth activities, Girl Scouts, English classes and citizenship

DAMARIZ ZUVERZA Buckner coordinator for the community center, says her work keeps her moving 24-hours a day, but is the most rewarding job in the world.

classes.
___Damariz Macias Zuverza, a native of El Paso and Buckner coordinator of the Sparks Community Center, said in the year-and-a-half she has worked at the center, residents of the colonia have realized the benefits of the services.
___"When I first started working here, only a few hundred clients utilized the center. It was frustrating for me," she said. "Now, more than 4,000 are coming through each month. Sure, a lot of it spread by word of mouth, but it also took me walking through the colonia and knocking on doors, telling people who I was and what we had to offer here."
___The goal of the center is to allow the residents a sense of ownership, she said.
___"I'm just a facilitator," she said. "They need to feel the ownership for everything that goes on here."
___Facilitator or not, Zuverza, with energy and enthusiasm she said comes from prayer and a lot of deep breaths, embraces the residents' needs because "I'm a glutton for punishment," she laughed. Truthfully, it is a motivation she said comes from a desire "to make a difference for these people."
___As a bitter wind whips sand from the rolling landscape of dusty, brown sand dunes, the spirit inside the community center shows the fruits of Zuverza's labor.
___In less time than it took for Zuverza and her resident volunteers to set up the monthly food bank, grocery

A RESIDENT OF THE COLONIA reflects a lifetime of incredible hardships as she and other residents struggle to scratch out their part of the American Dream.

bags filled with canned goods, fruit, vegetables and bread are distributed to residents.
___"Much of this food came from a food bank in El Paso," Zuverza said. "But we get a lot of donations fromcompanies and people by sharing our needs."
___"Did she tell you she was willing to sell her own mother to get donations for the center?" Zuverza's mother quipped, passing by with an armload of clothes. A medical doctor who works across the border in Juarez, Mexico, Zuverza's mother also donates her time and talents at the center, teaching about health issues and being a friend to the women of the community.
___Outside, mountains of donated clothes are sold for a dime apiece to mothers looking for warmth for their children on an afternoon forecasting a cold snap.
___"This has to be the highlight of my time here," Zuverza said, looking over the dwindling pile of clothes. As time approached for the clothing drive, she explained, donations were down and her frustration was mounting.
___"Students in my GED class saw my frustration, and as a result, they pulled together and brought a lot of their own clothes to donate for the drive," she said.
___ "I don't think there are words to say about how they are working to make this center a success."

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