Nosotros Radio, Inc. - Your Latino Voice (103.9 FM), started as a dream thirteen years ago and has today become a fantastic reality. Now that we are celebrating our incorporation as a non-profit organization, we want to share our history with you! Our story is told through some of our founder Fanny Villarreal’s favorite memories. It begins like this…
A while back, I began talking to people about my dream in the hopes that they could help me in some way. My dream was to have a quality Latino radio program that would be educational, informative, perhaps bilingual, and full of good music for the whole family. Everyone I talked to liked the idea. One person I contacted was Maria de Lourdes Fallace, who at that time was Director of Community Services during Roy Bernardi’s term as Mayor. I also contacted Miles Botrill, who at the time was the Common Council Representative for Area 2 of the City of Syracuse. I called them to see if they could help me formalize the idea of a bilingual radio program.
I remember that, in those days, I was new to the City of Syracuse. I had only been living in this country for about a year and it was a bit difficult for me to understand the politics of the City. Nevertheless, my persistence led to a formal meeting with the Maria, Miles, and Sam Velazquez, who at the time was the Executive Director of the Spanish Action League. Soon after, Nosotros Radio, Inc., Your Latino Voice, first transmitted on live radio on September 15, 1993, under the tutelage of the Spanish Action League. The Spanish Action League remained the program’s fiscal agent until May 20th, 2003.
The meetings we had at my house in those early days were numerous! The original group of volunteers met often to form a strategic plan for fundraising. We were very bold! They say that he who risks nothing has nothing to gain, so I decided to take a risk, and I don’t regret my decision for a moment, because my Latino community reaped the benefits!
I invited many members of the community to the first meetings, including Martha Vergara, Ofelia Anamaria, Tom Felasco, Elizabeth Ackerman, and Mauricio Castro, among others. The first meetings were an adventure. We had an hour every Sunday on live radio – how were we going to fill it? Thank God we had Elizabeth and Mauricio who had radio experience. We learned much from them. Elizabeth created the “La Tia Peluca” program for children. Mauricio was the sound engineer while the rest of us looked for news and local happenings.
During that time we received a contract from Niagara Mohawk thanks to Mayra Urrutia. We were also blessed to receive financial contributions from the Central New York Community Foundation, which was the leverage we needed to obtain more hours and more funds. We have gone through many different phases at Nosotros, and many new volunteers, but we have always kept our eye on education because we know that education is the key to success. Our team grew even more when Nancy Rodríguez-Walker, Hugo Anamaría Villarreal, Alexis Sanchez, Iván Anamaría, Randy Luna, José Miguel Hernández, Carlos Perez, Oscar Vergara, Engracia Schuster, Acela Soler, Juan Mejía, Frankie Colón, Carmen & Carmen, and a countless number of others contributed to the program. We are grateful to all those who helped throughout the years.
Although we have always had dedicated volunteers, we have gone through our difficult times like any other organization. Nosotros would have had to leave the air in 1998 had it not been for Senator Hoffman, who helped us secure funding that would prove necessary for our survival. They say that there are always little angels watching over us on earth and it’s so true! The good thing about difficult times like these is that they teach us something. In this case, we learned what a wonderful blessing it is to have these angels around to support us.
With so much to be thankful for, we decided to begin celebrating Father’s Day each year as a way to thank all our volunteers and continue to raise funds. We owe our success to our volunteers, supporters, and many of the area’s businesses mentioned here. In particular, we are grateful to Ramada Inn, who allowed us to use its home in Liverpool year after year for our celebration. It was Ramada Inn’s very own employees who donated their time and love for our program.
Due to the separation of Nosotros, Inc. and the Spanish Action League, 2003 was another year of challenges that almost caused the program to go off the air. Just then, another angel appeared: Paul Nojaim, president of Nojaim Bros. Supermarkets, who helped us with funding. Thankfully, we surged ahead with our new ideas and new volunteers who revitalized the program and gave it new life. Among them are: Jenny and Dominico Rodríguez, Dorothy and Eduardo Huertas, Dawaris Velásquez and Diana Perez. In 2004, Jeff DeFrancisco, helped us formally incorporate NOSOTROS, Inc. “Tu Voz Latina”.
NOSOTROS, Inc. has earned the support and respect of our listening audience as a program that brings important and necessary community topics to the airwaves. Some of these themes have included “Raising Your Child”, “How to Work With Stress”, “Find a Job and Be Happy”, and “Be Positive”, among others. Furthermore, the program frequently welcomes invited guests such as representatives of AIDS Community Resources (ACR), representatives of the Domestic Violence program, local and federal government officials, and even Dr. Alejandro Garcia. We also have transmitted “Learn Spanish at Home”, a program created by Dr. Engracia Schuster that teaches Spanish. In addition, for the last 8 years, we have celebrated important holidays such as Holy Week, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Voter Registration Drive, Hispanic Heritage Month, Christmas, New Year’s, and more!
NOSOTROS, Inc., Your Latino Voice (103.9 & 95.3 FM), has served as an example for other organizations that have developed their own programs based on the foundation we share: Education and Culture. Nosotros – Your Latino Voice is run by volunteer DJs who provide Spanish & English language live radio entertainment combined with on-air education. The Nosotros program strives to educate the community on pertinent health, social, and well being issues via radio waves. The radio program began as a venue for cultural recognition through music and continues with that objective as we look forward to the next ten years with enthusiasm, creativity, and love.
Our recent incorporation means that Nosotros Radio, Inc. is in a position to grow in exciting and unique ways. Recently, we received grant funding to teach young Latina women how to plan for and create quality radio broadcasting in Spanish and English. In addition, we received funding to expand our programming to include the following segments: Talk to the Medical Expert, From Woman-to-Woman, Educating Your Child, Know Your Community, and Embracing Diversity. Our current air time is Thursdays from 8:30 - 10:00 pm and Saturdays from 3:00pm – 7:00 pm.
We are very proud to be NOSOTROS, Inc., Your Latino Voice! Thank you to our volunteers and our community for their support throughout the years.
