NY Secretary of State Tours New Rochelle Community Center

The New York secretary of state stopped by New Rochelle's Office of New Americans Opportunity Center to see the operation and hear how successful it was helping immigrants.

Speaking to a English as a second language class, Secretary Cesar A. Perales said he thought the program was working and impressed by work of the students and volunteers.

"I wanted to see is what we hoped to do is happening here," he said.

The Office of New Americans Opportunity Center is housed in the United Community Center of Westchester, which is located on North Avenue. It serves residents of New Rochelle and surrounding communities. The closest other office is in White Plains.

The community center's executive director, Jackeline Agudelo, said that in the six months the operation has been in effect more than 100 people became naturalized citizens.

"That's incredible," Perales said. He explained that the people in the program have to learn English in order to take the citizenship exam and use computer software to practice for the test.

"The cost of becoming a citizen has triple since 2008," Perales said.

Perales oversees the state Office for New Americans, a network of 27 neighborhood-based Opportunity Centers. The ONA was established in March by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Louis Iacopetta, a board member of the community center, said it helps to have something like the Office for New Americans in a community center rather than a government office building.

"Jackie (Agudelo) and the staff make the people feel comfortable and help them through the process" to become citizens," Iacopetta said.

Maria Galvan of New Rochelle is originally from Mexico. She and her son come to the center to learn English.

Galvan said the center was a comfortable place to come to and is very important to her.

"Everybody's nice," she said, "and now I try to speak English."

The hotline number for the Office for New Americans is 1-800-566-7636. The Web site is www.newamericans.ny.gov.