OLA Opens Office in East Hampton Village

Andrew Strong, OLA's general counsel, will work primarily out of the nonprofit's new office at the corner of Newtown Lane and East Hampton Main Street.

Carissa Katz

Jan. 22, 2019

Organizacion Latino-Americano (OLA) of Eastern Long Island has opened an office in East Hampton Village, giving the 17-year-old nonprofit a dedicated space to continue its community advocacy work.

OLA's general counsel, Andrew Strong, will now work primarily out of that office, which is at the corner of Newtown Lane and Main Street. The organization will also be able to train volunteers there, hold conferences with outside lawyers, and meet with community members seeking guidance and referrals.

"I think the location, being that accessible, is important for us," Minerva Perez, OLA's executive director, said Tuesday. "Being on Main Street in East Hampton Village is kind of a big deal."

Long a voice for the East End's Latino community, OLA has shifted from being an all-volunteer organization to a professionally staffed one. Ms. Perez became executive director three years ago. Mr. Strong was hired last spring, and Sandra Dunn, an early leader of OLA, signed on as part-time associate director this fall. The nonprofit also has a part-time outreach and transportation advocate, Alma Tovar.

The office space will help the organization "to really focus on things in a way that has a vision connected to it," said Ms. Perez. While OLA aims to be a resource for Latino community members in times of crisis, she is also looking forward to "focusing past the crisis" to the "language and cultural exchange" that could "be a focal point on the East End in a really positive way. . . . There's a whole other cultural piece of this that I'm so excited to get to."

In the near future, the nonprofit will work to "build a stronger network of legal counsel, especially for some of our most vulnerable community members," Ms. Perez said, pointing to immigration, wage-theft, and housing issues as some of the most pressing.

Part of what Mr. Strong does is look at the trends and "see where the deepest and the worst of those trends are" so that OLA can work with partner organizations or "the powers that be" to make up the difference, Ms. Perez said.

Consultations with OLA representatives are by appointment at 631-899-3441.