Crawfordsville’s Hispanic community has a new resource in town — one that will provide translating services and referrals to other services in the county.

The Hispanic Center of Montgomery County, or Centro Hispano, has been in operation for almost three weeks at Wabash Avenue Presbyterian Church, 307 S. Washington St. The center was founded by Claude Johnson seven years ago, but closed due to problems on the board of directors. Now, Rachel Myhre, a senior at Hanover College, has reopened the center as an internship and a resource to the Hispanic population.

“I think it’s important that either new, arriving members of the community or those who have been here for awhile can take full advantage of the resources available in Montgomery County and be aware of what is offered,” Myhre said.

Johnson’s original plan for the center was to supply translators and a volunteer lawyer for members of the Hispanic community and also show them how to find a doctor, rent a home and receive worker’s compensation, among other necessities, Johnson said.

He is mentoring Myhre for her internship, which will help her in her Spanish and elementary education majors at Hanover.

“I thought it would be a wonderful idea to not only open the center, but to have an internship to have experience in the line of work I want to go into,” Myhre said.

Johnson said, “As long as we have an influx of Hispanic families, we’ll have a need for [the center] because they’ll need services.”

The center has helped a few families in the weeks it has been open, including one family looking for a notary in the community, Myhre said. It might take time to get people interested in the center and aware it is available, she said.

Myhre and Johnson are in the process of getting a board of directors together for the first board meeting next week. At the meeting, they will discuss hours for the coming fall and try to find volunteers for the center. Right now, the center is operating under summer hours: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 1-4 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.