Elba Rosario Armstrong on CHIP
Elba Rosario Armstong has played a key role in CHIP from the beginning and served as president of the organization after what she called its "rebirth" in 2000. In Armstrong's first oral history interview for the Latino Lorain project, she credits Maria Torress with being integral to the creation of the organization: "Maria Torress got the ball rolling for CHIP. She did a lot of research, brought in speakers and created workshops in order to implement an organization made up of Hispanics that would provide the population in all the different areas."
Armstrong recalls being in the room with other community members when developing CHIP's name and bylaws, and in her interview, she explains that CHIP was formed as a professional organization for Hispanics that would encompass social services, public health, legal and political issues, public service, and advocacy.
According to Armstrong, the organization "died down for a little bit," which she believes was due to the same community members serving in multiple organizations in Lorain. In her second oral history interview, Armstrong explains that when community members heard that the organization could potentially disband, people came together to honor the life's work of Maria Torress and discuss how CHIP could be revived: "People did get very upset, because this was an organization that we felt had been developed from the beginning with Hispanics in mind for all areas, for employment, entertainment, and everything else."
In a Lorain Morning Journal article published January 25, 2001 titled "CHIP is reborn for local Hispanic Community," Armstrong is quoted saying: "We had all these different organizations that had been formed -- the Hispanic Fund, El Centro, the Hispanic Political Voice, UMIAOP. There were a lot of organizations and the same people were all involved in them in one way or another...So we started to discuss how to unite, to be one umbrella organization that could address all the areas."
In this moment of revitalization, Armstrong was voted president of the organization, and in her interview, she recalls her time as president fondly: "It was a wonderful experience for me. It really was."
While CHIP's work has always been far-reaching, in her second oral history interview, Armstrong states that, "Basically, CHIP was formed as an advocacy organization." In this second interview, Armstrong covers eight specific issues involving a variety of important governmental and public institutions in the city of Lorain that she recalls working on with C.H.I.P.'s advocacy committee. The committee addressed discrimination in the Lorain City Schools, Lorain City Council, Cleveland Clinic, Lorain County Community College, Lorain County Board of Mental Health, Lorain County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Board, Lorain City Government Office, Lorain County Metroparks, and the Lorain Metropolitan Housing Board.
Though Armstrong resigned from her position as president, in her second interview she remarked on the future of CHIP: “It is still here. It is still a very effective organization, and hopefully, we will continue to have it and make it even better with years to come.”