For now, the center has an office at Suite 410 in the Markle Building. Volunteers chipped in to pay rent at first, but more recently partnered with some property developers who share the suite.
On Tuesday evening while the property developers conferred at a table, Collado and another center volunteer, Alexandra Mendez, sat in chairs with a man who seeks disability benefits because he is going blind. They helped him read and understand documents from the Social Security Administration and can get him other help through a legal services agency.
Collado said a friend of the man with failing vision needed help at home, which the center helped obtain through the state Agency on Aging.
The center also has referred people to Divine Providence Homeless Shelter in Hazleton, a women's shelter in Wilkes-Barre and developed ties with other agencies that can help clients such as Maternal Family Health Services and a Penn State nutritionist and Hazleton Integration Project, which serves community dinners.
The center would like to offer classes for people who want to speak Spanish, become citizens or learn to eat healthy on a budget, Collado said.
So far, the center hasn't received grants, but is applying for funds and happy to receive help from others, he said.
A person will do clerical work for the center while rehabbing from an injury through a program that Corrado learned about at Hazleton Art League, where he is a board member. When workers are hurt or sick and can't do their regular, physically demanding jobs, a company called ReEmployAbility arranges for them to do lighter-duty work with community groups while receiving their regular salaries.
People ordered to do community service by the courts also can put in hours at the center.
Collado hopes people whom the Hazleton Community Resource Center helps now will volunteer to help others through the center later.
"We don't want people to feel about receiving assistance," he said.
The main goal, he said, is enabling people to become self-sufficient.
"We try to ask them, 'Why do they need the food?'" Collado said.
Last month a man taking food said he wanted a job, but didn't know how to apply.
After checking with some job agencies, the center found the man work driving a forklift.
"That's basically ending his issue," Collado said.