The Grand Island Multicultural Coalition shares an office building with the Grand Island public schools' Outreach Center in the Old Walnut Apartments building at 504 N. Elm.

Opening its new office in April 2005, the coalition was formed in 2001 to respond to the needs of Grand Island's increasingly culturally diverse community. It seeks to ensure that local organizations integrate to meet the needs of Grand Island's citizens.

Odalys Perez, a native of Cuba, is director of the Multicultural Coalition, which is located in Suite 124 in Old Walnut. Verna Haberman, coordinator for the Grand Island School District's Outreach Center, is in Room 123, next door to the Multicultural Coalition.

Office hours for both the Multicultural Coalition and Outreach Center are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The coalition's phone number is 385-5242; the number for the Outreach Center is 385-5244.

The coalition has sponsored seminars and panel discussions on multicultural awareness and issues in the community. Its annual multicultural conference titled "The Different Faces of Diversity" is set for Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007, at the Mid-Town Holiday Inn in Grand Island.

The conference will feature three guest speakers this year including retired Lt. Col. Consuelo Kickbush who rose to senior officer position and became the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the Combat Support Field of the U.S. Army; Dr. Juan Andrade Jr., president and executive director of the U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute; and Michael Soon-Lee, president of Ethnoconnect. The Oct. 23 conference also will offer several breakout sessions dealing with multicultural issues. For more information on the coalition, check out its Web site at www.grandislandmulticulturalcoalition.com.