On Sept. 13, 2025, the 2025 Culturas Unidas Festival was held in Marion on Main Street. Titled “United after Helene,” the festival was a tribute to the region’s resilience, culture, and community.
According to this video about “Project Jireh,” Helene was a “nightmare” for many in and near Marion, and the leaders of Centro Unido were “great heroes” to those they serve.
Jireh means “the Lord will provide.”
Centro Unido received two grants from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina: one for $25,000, which supported the distribution of essential items in Avery, Buncombe, Burke, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, and Yancey; and the other for $250,000 to provide direct housing assistance to individuals and families in Buncombe, Burke, McDowell, and Mitchell.
Held almost one year after Helene, the festival featured music, traditional dances, local vendors, and a vigil for lives lost, according to the website.
In a report to the Marion City Council, Centro Unido Executive Director Margarita Ramirez said more than 5,000 people are estimated to have attended.
“This year, the spirit of Culturas Unidas is resilience. After Helene, we came together more than ever, and in 2025, we want to celebrate culture, unity, and the strength to move forward despite the many storms our community has faced,” Ramirez said.
Marion Mayor Steve Little proclaimed Hispanic Heritage Month at the festival.
The leadership of Centro Unido and Margarita Ramirez
Since 2011, when it first became a nonprofit, many have known the work of Centro Unido by a different name: Centro Unido Latino Americano, or even more commonly, CULA.
In response to COVID and then Helene, the organization has been called on to expand its services and the counties it serves. Along the way, “the number of community members served by CULA skyrocketed from 300 to 2,500 per month.”
Since 2020, the organization as been called Centro Unido, and it now serves people in McDowell and surrounding counties across the following focus areas: the Jireh Project, established in response to the impact of Hurricane Helene; health; advocacy; workforce; art and culture; education; and leadership.
In 2021, Centro Unido, along with McDowell Technical Community College, Isothermal Community College, and other partners, launched a workforce development initiative called “Foothills Forward: Boosting Prosperity Through Inclusive Workforce Development” to help address regional labor shortages. The initiative is funded by a nearly $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Workforce Opportunities in Rural Communities program.
Ramirez said Centro Unido has a 360-degree approach with those it serves. A person may come in for one reason, she said, but the organization wants to be able to provide the whole network of resources needed to support the individual and their families in all areas of life.
“Our community’s voices, cultural strengths, values, and experiences are crucial to our mission and vision,” she said.
Last year, Ramirez was named Rural Leader of the Year by the NC Rural Center, who said her “strong leadership, hard work, and dedication, has enhanced the quality of life in rural North Carolina and significantly improved the community, region, and/or the state.”
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