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A Public Opinion Digital Project focusing on the changing faces of Chambersburg

Noelle spent 10 weeks making connections and building trust in the Latino-owned  businesses in downtown Chambersburg

In the early morning at La Michoacana, Paulino Herrera starts out by preparing a cup of coffee.

 

He turns on the news or music that fills up the market, bringing it to life.

 

Herrera makes a quick inspection of the store. He checks products and stocks shelves. When he is done, he goes behind his counter -  ready to take on the world. Herrera smiles and greets each customer walking through his door. His big smile and laughter is contagious.

 

Herrera didn’t always own a business in downtown Chambersburg. In 1984, he came through town looking for work in the fields. He would go to Florida to North Carolina to Pennsylvania following the harvests for over 15 years. Herrera says he liked working in the fields, but it was hard work and “you could never get ahead.”

 

In 1992, he moved to Chambersburg and in 1994, married Veronica, who works with him. The couple has three children.

 

“When I started my business, there wasn’t anyone selling Hispanic products. I thought to myself, ‘well, the few of us (Hispanics) here need these products,’ then I started to sell it,” Herrera said.

 

Herrera has noticed the growth within the Hispanic community. He says when he first lived in Chambersburg there were very few Hispanics living in Chambersburg. El Gallo, another market, was the only other business at the time.

"I met many amazing people, but only one story was really able to fully come together and it was the story of Paulino Herrera, the owner of La Michaocana."

In his own words ...

“To me, Chambersburg is a great place to raise children,” Paulino Herrera said. Family is important to Herrera - when he isn’t working, he is spending time with his wife and three daughters.

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The CREW

Noelle Haro-Gomez is a senior studying journalism and Spanish at the University of Arizona. She was selected as a 2014 Spring Chips Quinn Scholar. Haro-Gomez just finished  her internship as a photographer at the Public Opinion.

Becky Metrick has been with the Public Opinion for seven months as the crime reporter. Working in journalism at the University of Oregon reinforced her elementary school dreams of telling stories through writing.

Ryan Blackwell is a staff  photographer with the Public Opinion. Originally from Washington, D.C., Ryan studied photography at Kent State University before moving to Chambersburg eight years ago.

Markell DeLoatch - Public Opinion

Ryan discovered a happy ending to a love story

After several years of living in Mexico due to immigration issues, Pennsylvania native Alicia Rice de Escobar and husband Fabian Escobar Cholico, are now back home in Chambersburg. They returned in November 2013. They recently announced more good news: Baby Escobar is on the way. Public Opinion featured their story in 2009, and how what they were told when they married about her husband getting citizenship proved to be false, and resulted in them both going to Mexico: He having no other choice, she choosing marriage over country. He was banned from the U.S. – Fabian was an undocumented immigrant. When they tried to follow the proper channels to legally keep him in the U.S., he was punished because of his status, and banned for a decade from returning to this country. Alicia said that it was a punishment that also affected her by forcing her to choose between her country and her husband.

 

Después de varios años de vivir en México, debido a problemas de inmigración, Pennsylvania nativa Alicia Rice de Escobar y su esposo, Fabián Escobar Cholico, están ahora de vuelta a casa en Chambersburg. Regresaron en noviembre de 2013. Ellos anunciaron recientemente más buenas noticias: Baby Escobar está en camino. Public Opinion contó su historia en 2009, y contamos cómo ellos fueron dicho que en cuanto se casaron se suponía que el marido de Rice de Escobar podía conseguir la ciudadanía pero resultó ser falso. Esto resulto en que los dos volvieron a México: El que no tenía otro opción, y ella escogiendo su matrimonio sobre su país. Él fue expulsado de los EE.UU. - Fabian era un inmigrante indocumentado. Cuando trataron de seguir los canales adecuados para mantenerlo legalmente en los EE.UU., fue castigado por su estatus, y fue prohibió regresar a los EE.UU. por una década. Alicia dijo que se trataba de un castigo que también la involucró a ella obligándola a elegir entre su país o su marido.

In their own words ...

He also  explored immigrant healthcare

As more people make the United States, and Franklin County, their home, the demand on the heath system also grows. The county's largest health care provider, Summit Health, has made an effort to accomodate immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries. According to their patient rights, immigrants can expect, "medical and nursing care no matter what your age, race, sex, religion or beliefs, color, sexual preference, country of birth, or how your bill is being paid."As part of this effort, they maintain an interpreter service that operates around the clock and can be reached at 267-7156.

 

At right: Miguelina Martinez uses interpreter Beth Shetter-Ray to give her instructions from a physical therapist at Summit Health.

 

"There are about 15 business that are Latino-owned in the community and most of them that I am aware of have a Main Street presence with a few business adjacent to the Main Street corridor that include King street, Washington street and Southgate Shopping Center."

 

- Noel Purdy, vice president of Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce

 

Latino – owned Businesses in Downtown Chambersburg

 

DINING (and grocery)

 

Ester Kitchen (restaurant)-

12 W King Street (formerly Nina’s Kitchen - NEW owner)

Contact – Osania – 504-8820

 

La Caribena Grocery & Convenience

49 N Main St.

Contact – Eusebio Flores – 261-1002

 

Checkos Restaurant – 46 S Main Street

Contact – 264-1717

 

Lily’s Taqueria

175 S. Main St. 263-0656

 

El Gallo Garcia Mexican Restaurant & Grocery   145 S. Main St.       Gregor Garcia – 263-3336

 

Broskis Subs & Slices    40 W Washington St.    Albert Martinez - 446-0586

 

Las Palmeras (restaurant) & Mercado Latino (grocery store)– 209 Southgate Shopping Center  446-0857·

 

La Michoacana (grocery)  200 S. Main St.  261-4868

 

SHOPPING/RETAIL

 

Cellular Market – 55

N. Main St.

Contact  Alberto Penchi:   446-0790

 

Chambersburg Wireless    166 S. Main St.

Contact  Carlos Perez:

809-7432

 

Farah’s Boutique            183 S. Main St.

446-1085

 

SERVICES

 

Annie Gomez Law

151 S Main St.

Contact – Annie Gomez:  414-7302

 

Jasmine’s Beauty Salon 

157 S Main St.

Contact  Johana Aplicano: 262-2145

 

Pompey’s Barber Shop 

11 N. Main St.

 

Mattie’s

Hair Salon

176 S Main St.

Contact – 264-1770

Downtown businessman Perez shares his observations with Becky

Born and raised in Trenton, N.J., Carlos H. Perez III was used to a different world than Chambersburg.

 

The owner of a Boost Mobile Exclusive store in downtown Chambersburg, he sees some similarities, but sees more potential for community growth than what he experienced in New Jersey.

 

In Trenton, he was raised in a mixed community. He considers himself “Guatarican-American” a blend of his Guatemalan father and Puerto Rican mother. He does seem a small percentage of the problems that he was seeing in Trenton.

 

“I still see the same problems, the same attitude,” Perez said “It’s a lot less. Instead of dealing with 50 people that are a certain way, here I probably deal with five people. It’s just, being from the city, I’m more aware of my surroundings.”

 

Other things he has noticed about Chambersburg is that it’s a extremely diverse, family-oriented area. He called the people honest, and that while there are crimes that happen in town, they’re not as severe as what he saw in New Jersey.

 

To Perez, the non-Latino community is welcoming enough, it’s others who have to take the next step.“I think there really hasn’t been that bridge between the American community and the non-American community,” Perez said.

 

“People wanna see change, the Americans, they wanna build a relationship with the Latino business owners and the Latino community and it really needs to be that the Latino community needs to come out of their shell.”

 

The diversity in the area is what really shocked Perez. He finds that many people stereotype the Latino community to be Mexicans, and while he agrees there is a large Mexican population, he knows there is much more. To him, realizing that the second largest Latino population was Guatemalan was the biggest surprise

 

.Perez said that he has learned so much about working with other Latino cultures from living in this areaPerez sees growth for the future of Chambersburg, believing that its location on I-81 will enable it to grow quickly and immensely.

ueno de Chambersburg ve potencial para crecimiento de la comunidad Latino

Nacido en Trenton, NJ, “Guararican” Carlos Perez, conocía un mundo diferente antes de mudar a Chambersburg. El dueño de la tienda Boost Mobile Exclusive en el centro de Chambersburg ve algunas similitudes, pero más potencial de crecimiento en la comunidad de lo que vivió en Nueva Jersey.Cuando Pérez partió de Nueva Jersey, encontró Chambersburg y lo relacionó con un barrio con el mismo nombre de vuelta a casa. Dijo que se sentía en casa.“Caminé por el centro, vi lo limpio que estaba, lo tranquilo,” dijo Pérez. “La gente está alegre. Era una tarde de domingo en el verano. Era un pueblo fantasma, pero era bello.”Después de un año, Pérez aún ve la belleza pero ve problemas similares que vio cuando llegó.“Es mucho menos,” dijo Pérez. “En lugar de tratar con 50 personas que son de cierta manera, aquí probablemente trato con cinco personas asi. Como soy de ciudad, estoy más consciente de mi ambiente.”Pérez ve que Chambersburg es un área muy diversa, orientada a la familia.La que él más se da cuenta de es que hay una gran parte de la comunidad quienes no son latinos que quieren servir y ayudar a la comunidad latina y son proactivo al respecto.“Las personas (de la comunidad) son más abiertas, más de bienvenida,” Perez dijo sobre la comunidad no latina quien ha conocido. “Sólo depende de las personas (l “Si todos darían 30 segundos más y decir, ‘lea lo, haga esto, haga eso,’ todos beneficiarán.” Perez dijo, que cree que si sus clientes son más educado, que él tendría un mejor negocio. No es ser egoísta, es decir déjame hacer mi parte pequeña para que todos como un grupo pueden hacer más. atinos) que quieren ser bienvenido, que le guiará a través y dicen, ‘¿cómo estás?’”Sin embargo, Perez piensa que la comunidad Latina necesita tomar sus propias medidas. “La gente quiere ver cambio, los americanos quieren construir una relación con dueños latinos de negocios y con la comunidad latina,” Perez dijo, “Realmente tiene que ser que la comunidad latina.”Perez cree que los dueños de negocios necesitan ayudar la comunidad educarse y influir el desarrollo.

Carlos H. Perez III owns a Boost Mobile Exclusive store in downtown Chambersburg.

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