R.K. Laros Foundation Provides Grant to Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley

The R. K. Laros Foundation will deliver a check to the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley to support installation of an ADA-compliant ramp to the Basilio Huertas Senior Center.

What: R. K. Laros Foundation check delivery to the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valle

When: January 18, 8:30am

Where: 520 E. 4^th St., S. Bethlehem in the Basilio Huertas Senior Center

Who: R. K. Laros Foundation Trustees, Basilio Huertas Senior Center representatives, and Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley leadership. 

News media invited.  

The Basilio Huertas Senior Center assists nearly 100 senior citizens each year to stay active and independent by providing healthy meals, health screenings, social and educational activities, and help navigating health and human services. The center provides a safe space for Hispanic seniors to socialize with others who share their language and culture, avoiding the loneliness that can negatively impact health.

The R. K. Laros Foundation grant of $20,000 will support construction of a permanent ADA-compliant entryway ramp to improve access to activities and services for mobility-impaired senior citizens.  As part of broader exterior renovations at the center, the ramp will be complemented by an inviting garden space to increase the center’s public visibility. With these upgrades, HCLV aims to attract more senior citizens who can benefit from services.

“The Hispanic Center’s Board of Directors are honored by the generous gift from the R. K. Laros Foundation to improve access to services for our seniors,” said Donna Taggart, president of the center’s board. “The grant is also helping to close the final phase of our Vision for Renaissance Capital Campaign to complete long-needed renovations at the building the Hispanic Center has called home in Bethlehem’s south side since 1979.”

The Hispanic Center’s Vision for Renaissance Capital Campaign has raised $2,823,000 of the $3,100,000 required for all three phases of renovations:

1. Interior renovations to the Basilio Huertas Senior Center, completed March 2017
2. Renovations to create the Fowler Community Wellness Center, completed May 2018
3. Securing funds for exterior capital needs at HCLV’s senior center and operations facility, with a targeted completion by fall 2019.

Vision for Renaissance Capital Campaign co-chairs are St. Luke’s University Health Network CEO and President Richard A. Anderson, Lehigh University Professor Emeritus W. Beall Fowler, and Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph Roy.

About Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley

For the past 50 years, our mission has been to improve the quality of life of Hispanic and other families by empowering them to become more self-sufficient, while promoting an intercultural understanding in the Lehigh Valley. At HCLV, we believe in a community that embraces economic opportunity for all and sees its cultural diversity as a foundation for building a stronger society and a more vibrant economy. We also believe at the heart of change is the individual’s desire and willingness to pursue a path toward their own independence and self-sufficiency. Our senior citizens are valued members of society that deserve to live in an environment of dignity and respect. Progress is dependent upon the ability to form effective partnerships with others in the community. All HCLV staff and Board Members are accountable to our constituents, our donors and our community.

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 14,000 employees providing services at 10 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient sites.  With annual net revenue greater than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes 10 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.  Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.  In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first and only regional medical school campus.  It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 28 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 226 residents and fellows.  St. Luke’s is the only health care system in central-eastern Pennsylvania to earn Medicare’s five-star rating (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.  In 2018, St. Luke’s was named a Top Hospital in the Teaching Hospital category by the Leapfrog Group.  It has repeatedly earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health (formerly Truven Health Analytics) – six times total and four years in a row including 2018.  It has also been cited by IBM Watson Health as a 50 Top Cardiovascular Program.  Utilizing the EPIC electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.  St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers.