Page 48 - Wallingford Magazine Issue 56 Autumn 2025

A
SP
SPANISH by Steve Knight
NISH

COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY

OF WALLINGFORD

Answering the COVID-19 Challenge Made them Stronger than Ever

The “Our History” section of Scowinc. about as a result of the COVID-19 pan- Many had been laid off from their jobs,
org very succinctly introduces the orga- demic. As soon as the pandemic hit in and meeting the need to feed their fam-
nization this way: 2019, it quickly became apparent to ily, keep a roof over their head and find
Executive Director Adriana Rodriguez whatever employment might be avail-
“The Spanish Community of and her staff that they needed to do able was urgent. COVID-19 had also ex-
Wallingford (SCOW) was founded in two things: meet the huge increase in posed other barriers to achieving those
1972 by a small group of Hispanics demand for assistance throughout the goals, most especially language difficul-
in the greater Meriden-Wallingford entire population, and strengthen their ties (for immigrants and their families),
area who experienced difficulties already excellent relationship with oth- transportation, lack of knowledge of
finding translators, interpreters, er providers during this emergency. available medical help or even medical
employment, and medical assistance. coverage at any level.
The founders envisioned the Spanish In the previous decade or so, SCOW had
Community of Wallingford (SCOW) become a welcome partner in the deliv- SCOW staff had also determined that
to be the leading agency to help ery of social services, but the COVID-19 they themselves would be much more
develop and support Hispanics in the emergency forced all such providers to effective if they partnered with other
community.” “up their game.” In SCOW’s case, the agencies and sent clients to those en-
foundation of services was already in tities who presently supplied services
While their history is centered on serving place, but they needed to build the ca- rather than attempting to duplicate ser-
the Hispanic/Latino community, SCOW’s pability to serve many more people in vices already offered in the local area.
current status is as an active, multi-di- need. The collaboration became the key, and
mensional full partner among the social that cooperation among agencies took
service providers of our community. Of The entire staff quickly got down to a huge leap and transformed the local
course, they wonderfully represent and work, starting with an assessment of delivery of services.
serve Wallingford’s vibrant Hispanic/ what financial assets they could attract
Latino population, but today’s Comuni- and what the basic categories of ser- Because COVID-19 was, in essence, a
dad Hispana de Wallingford, Inc. (their vices they should emphasize. Within a health emergency, collaboration with
corporate name) has grown to welcome few weeks, they had determined their health providers took precedence. To
all residents seeking assistance to their path forward. this day, SCOW has held 120 Covid-19
offices at 284 Washington Street. vaccination clinics and many health
The obvious sudden need was, for many clinics since then. What began as pro-
This necessary transition largely came people in Wallingford, basic needs. viding a place where people could re-

48 WALLINGFORD MAGAZINE - AUTUMN 2025