Dahlberg enters Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame
Oct. 20—PAINESVILLE — Personal experience and compassion for those less fortunate led Ashtabula resident Veronica Dahlberg into a career of advocacy for the Hispanic community.
More than three decades of work led to her recent enshrinement in the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame.
"The history behind the annual Ohio Civil Rights Commission's Civil Rights Hall of Fame seeks to acknowledge Ohioans who are recognized as pioneers in human and civil rights and who have furthered the goals of civil rights laws." said Melissa Wulliger, interim director of Public Affairs and Civic Engagement for the organization.
"A call for nominees is sent out to organizations all over the state, it is noted on our website and the call is sent through a media release. Certain criteria must be met, and each nominee is researched and vetted before going before the commission as an official nominee," she said.
"Ms. Dahlberg is a wonderful addition to a very prestigious class of inductees, and we congratulate her," Wulliger said.
Other members of the 2023 class were Sundance, Joseph Robinson Patterson (1918-1996), Dr. Lavaughn Venchael Booth (1919-2002), Charity Adams Earley (1918-2002), Penelope "Penny" Wells, Margaret "Peg" Rosenfield (1931-2022) and Lt. Col. Harold H. brown (1924-2023).
Dahlberg said she became sensitive to the needs of immigrants such as her parents, who came to the United States through Hungary and Mexico.
She said she saw the challenges they faced and has tried to reach out to those needing assistance.
"My dad had to flee his country [Hungary]," Dahlberg said.
He found his way from a displacement camp in Austria to Venezuela, where he became a citizen, and then met his wife Udalia and came to the United States, Dahlberg said.
"I was very much immersed in [the immigrant experience]," she said.
Dahlberg said she wishes her parents were still around to see her receive the award.
"It was very humbling, but also validating. You deal with a lot of rejection and a lot of hardship," she said of the advocacy work.
Dahlberg is executive director of HOLA and was able to open the HOLA Hispanic Community Center in Painesville earlier this year.
She said the new facility is used daily for tutoring and education opportunities as well as larger group activities.
Dahlberg advocates on behalf of those needing legal assistance as they seek to maneuver through the system to become citizens. as well as other barriers.
"In the beginning I just had a heart to help my community," Dahlberg said. She said most of her work has been in northeastern Ohio assisting workers in the agricultural community.
Dahlberg came to Ashtabula in the early 1990s to be closer to her parents and worked as a reporter at the Star Beacon before moving on to her advocacy work.
Dahlberg helped start HOLA in 1999 to help address the needs of the Hispanic community in Lake and Ashtabula counties.
HOLA still works with Ashtabula County residents as well. Iris Arrieta, a 2020 graduate of Lakeside High School, works at the community center and remembers a trip to Washington D.C. that changed her life.
Arrieta said she was 7 or 8 years old during the trip that helped her understand it was OK to work on behalf of her community. She said she learned, 'It is OK to speak out."
