Awards

IU Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award - 2024

About La Plaza, Inc.

As Central Indiana’s longest standing Latino nonprofit, La Plaza was established in 1971 as El Centro Hispano to address the needs of the growing Latino community in Central Indiana. In 2004, the Hispanic Education Center, FIESTA Indianapolis and El Centro merged into La Plaza, Inc., bringing together three separate long-standing resources into one organization to provide better and more efficient support to the Latino community. La Plaza continues proudly provides educational programs, workforce development support and access to healthcare and human services for over 3,000 Latino children and families annually.

La Plaza’s Summer Discovery, a five-week program for 1st-7th graders is designed to prevent summer learning loss while encouraging positive personal development and healthy living; and Tu Futuro supports 9th -12th graders, ensuring that they complete high school and pursue college through college prep workshops for students and parents, campus visits, mentoring, community service and guest speakers. Ninety-five percent of Tu Futuro seniors graduate from high school! High school students learn skills to succeed in college, their chosen careers and in life in La Plaza’s Leadership Institute for Latino Youth (Lily) which focuses on improving study skills; increasing STEM aptitude; exploring college and financial aid options, etc. In support of students going on to university, La Plaza provides six $2,000 four-year scholarships to deserving Latino students from across Indiana. These scholarship dollars have supported La Plaza students for the last decade, with many of the students ending up at Indiana University Indianapolis.