Meet Vanessa Sarazua! Vanessa is the executive director of the Hispanic Alliance in Hall County, formerly was a volunteer for C.A.S.A. (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and was the Migrant Program Facilitator at Hall County Schools. She married, a mother of five and originally from Argentina.
“When I worked for CASA I was one of the only ones that was bilingual. I got to work with a lot of Hispanic families and children in foster care…that’s when I began realizing that there are gaps in serving the Hispanic community. It took me about three years to get from realizing that to forming the Hispanic Alliance.”
Vanessa added that the mission of the Hispanic Alliance is “education, one is financial stability, one is health and immigration resources.”
Recently, we caught up with Vanessa to find out more about her life and love of Hall County.
Q: What is favorite thing about Hall County?
A: “I love the kind, generous spirit that there is in Hall County. I have a big heart and I love what I’ve seen lately of people wanting to make a connection with our community.”
Q: Who is one of the most interesting person that you have met in Hall County?
A: “There’s a few that I really enjoy working with and that I’ve met. One of the most interesting people that I never thought that I would meet is Dr. Perren. I think he’s a very generous man. As soon as we were organized he wanted to meet with us. I think he’s very, just very generous.”
Q: What are some things that are going on with the Hispanic Alliance that you would like Hall County residents to know about?
A: “We provide English classes, we provide different services or a discounted fee for the community and make it more accessible to them. We’re going to have a job fair coming up soon and it will be the first Latino job fair in Gainesville.”
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County?
A: “You know, the other day I went to Avocados and I enjoyed it. But my favorite, my favorite is called Los Carillos.”
Q: What’s something on your bucket list?
A: “I want to get to Italy one day because my great grandparents and grandparents are from there…I’ve been to Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico.”
Q: What’s one of your favorite childhood memories?
A: “I loved going to my grandmother’s house because she painted and I would see her paint or she talked to me about things or she’d cook me something. I moved back there shortly after high school for a couple of years before getting married. I have very good memories of that.”
Q: What three words mean HOME to you?
A: “I guess the gardening, family and food, those three things are always good.”
The Faces of Hall County is a project to showcase the amazing people that live or work in our community. If you would like to nominate an interesting person to be featured please email babernathy@gonorton.com.