HELPING PEOPLE CONNECT AND THRIVE STRENGTHENING INCLUSION Engaging Hispanic/Latinos In Your YMCA YMCA OF THE USA
2 © iStockphoto
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...... 1 About This Resource ...... 2 Understanding Terminology ...... 2 Getting Started ...... 3
A POPULATION IN PERSPECTIVE ...... 4 A Growing Population, for Hundrends of Years ...... 5 Origin and Culture ...... 6 Location ...... 7 Children and Youth ...... 8 Family ...... 10 Foreign Born ...... 10 Citizenship and Language ...... 11 Health ...... 12 Education ...... 13 Economic Indicators ...... 14 Civic Participation...... 17 Conclusion ...... 17
MAKING THE CASE ...... 18
STRATEGIES TO STRENGTHEN INCLUSION ...... 20 An Inside-Outside Process ...... 20 Familiar strategies but with a new focus: Latinos ...... 21 Strategy 1: Mobilize a Task Force to Steer Planning ...... 22 Whom should your task force involve? ...... 22 What if your Y does not have contacts with Latino community partners? ...... 23 Strategy 2: Get to Know the Community ...... 24 What does your YMCA want to know and why? ...... 24 Strategy 3: Prepare the Organization to Serve ...... 30 Staff who reflect the community ...... 30 Recruitment and retention ...... 31 Facilities and environment ...... 32
Membership ...... 32 Strategy 4: Develop Targeted Programming ...... 34 Health programming ...... 34 Educational programming ...... 36 Financial literacy and wealth-building programming ...... 37 Or, collaborate with partners to bring in targeted programming and services ...... 37 Strategy 5: Market and Reach Out to the Community ...... 37 Go to the community ...... 38 Marketing venues and tips ...... 38
Y VOICES AND EXPERIENCES ...... 40 How to Start from Scratch ...... 42 Board Development ...... 43 Building a Foundation of Trust ...... 44
INTERNATIONAL Y-TO-Y PARTNERSHIPS ...... 45
MEASURING PROGRESS AND SUCCESS ...... 47 Step 1: Define “Success” ...... 47 Step 2: Choose Your Measurement Tools ...... 49 Step 3: Know Where You Started ...... 49 Step 4: Communicate Your Findings ...... 49 Monitoring Methods ...... 50
RESOURCES AND LINKS ...... 51 YMCA of the USA Resources ...... 51 Other Resources ...... 51 Data and Trends Resources ...... 52
APPENDIXES ...... 54 Potential Community Partners ...... 54 Create a Community Profile Using Census Data ...... 55 Sample Latino Member Survey...... 56 Glossary of Terms Related to Hispanic/Latino Communities ...... 58 Works Cited ...... 62
Copyright © 2013 YMCA of the USA. All rights reserved. Cover photo copyright iStockphoto.
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STRENGTHENING INCLUSION INTRODUCTION
At the Y, we are committed to working together with our communities to effect meaning, lasting social change. To deliver on our promise to strengthen community, Ys understand that we must be able to reflect, engage, and connect with diverse populations at home and around the world. By working together with different segments of our communities, notably Hispanic/Latino communities, cause-driven Ys significantly strengthen their impact, community relevance, and sustainability.
Latinos number more than 50 million in the U.S., and are one of our nation’s fastest growing populations. Today, one in every six people in the U.S. is Latino. By 2050, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, one in every three people in the United States will be Latino.
Latinos represent an enormous diversity of cultures and identities, needs and interests. They also represent an enormous opportunity for the Y. Latino inclusion is crucial to the Y’s growing relevance in a shifting demographic landscape.
Despite their numbers, Latinos remain underserved and underrepresented in many of our communities, including in the Y Movement. Does Latino inclusion in your Y reflect the makeup of your community? Are your programs and services reaching Latino children, who now number one in every four American children? Are Latino men and women your colleagues and leaders? Does your Y understand, address, and strengthen the diversity of Latino groups, needs, and assets in your community?
This guide has been created to help your Y respond to these questions, and to catalyze and provide support to your Y’s inclusion efforts.
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ABOUT THIS RESOURCE
Latino families and communities in the United States are incredibly diverse. Strengthening Inclusion: Engaging Hispanic/Latino Communities in Your Y was developed with great consideration to this extensive diversity. This resource is intended to foster reflection, ideas, dialogue, and collaboration that will lead to increased participation of diverse Latino communities at all levels of your Y. Based on the experiences of Y leaders and Ys that are successfully working with diverse Latino populations, the guide presents an adaptable framework to initiate or expand your Y’s engagement and inclusion strategies. It also suggests ways to tailor that framework to suit the unique needs, interests, and assets of Latino populations in your community.
YMCA of the USA promotes building community among the diverse and global constituencies or populations in the United States and abroad through innovative strategies that leverage the Y’s international network. The meaningful engagement of newcomers and immigrant populations in the Y is central to Y-USA’s strategic plan. In late 2005, Y-USA created a resource titled Strengthening Inclusion: Engaging Newcomer and Immigrant Communities in Your Y, followed by the first edition of this resource in 2008, and then Strengthening Inclusion: Engaging Asian Communities in Your YMCA in 2009. Thousands of local Y staff and volunteers have used these resources and accompanying workshops to successfully respond to the changing demographics in their communities.
The development of this resource drew upon the vast experience and knowledge within the Y Movement. After reviewing the original Strengthening Inclusion resource and workshop on newcomers and immigrants, the YMCA Hispanic/Latino Leadership Network approached Y-USA about the need for a resource specific to engaging and serving the growing numbers of Hispanic/Latino communities in the United States. The network is composed of Hispanic/Latino Y professionals from across the country who are committed to genuine and meaningful engagement of Hispanics/Latinos in the Y. The Y-USA responded by reaching out to Ys across the country that had implemented strategies to increase the involvement of Latinos in their associations. Y-USA also tapped its long-standing relationships and experience with international Y movements in the home countries of many of today’s Latino immigrants. YMCAs in Mexico and Central America provided valuable cultural and socioeconomic context to this issue.
UNDERSTANDING TERMINOLOGY
Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race. The terms Hispanic and Latino refer to ethnicity and are two of the many terms used by these diverse communities. Many Hispanics/Latinos, particularly young adults, refer to themselves based on their family’s national origin, such as Mexican or Mexican-American. Those who are not newcomers to the United States may simply refer to themselves as American. The Latino communities that your Y serves may have a preference for terminology, and it is important that they be included in identifying
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the terminology that your Y adopts. You will see both terms, Latinos and Hispanics, in this manual. These names mean different things to different people; our goal is to maximize inclusion.
Briefly, Hispanic refers to anyone who can trace their roots to Spanish speaking countries, including people from Spain. The term Latino is more relevant to our purpose here because it describes people from Latin America (i.e., Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean), who constitute the majority of Hispanic/Latino growth in U.S. communities. Use the terminology most appropriate for your community. For more on common terms used by Latinos or to refer to Latinos, see the overview of related terms in the appendixes.
Another distinction in this guide is the emphasis on Latino communities—plural. This reflects the significant diversity among these populations in the United States. As you’ll read in “A Population in Perspective,” some Latinos are newcomers and some are not. Newcomer Latinos were born outside the United States, while many Latino families in the United States have resided for centuries in what today are the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. The Latino communities you serve and engage are likely to include both people whose families have lived in the United States for hundreds of years and newcomers to this country. They are from distinct countries and backgrounds, including Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and many others—as well as from distinct cultures within those countries. One of the important steps your association will need to take is to get to know the different Latino communities in your service area and understand their unique cultures, needs, and interests.
GETTING STARTED
Strengthening Inclusion: Engaging Newcomer and Immigrant Communities in your Y will help your YMCA better understand, reach out to, and include Latinos at all levels. The information in this guide and the rich experiences of Ys across the country—the majority of which could not be profiled here—are best understood when accompanied by a tailored, hands-on, participatory workshop available from Y-USA. We also encourage you to connect with Y colleagues at other associations across the country to learn more about what they’re doing and to continue the dialogue. Contact details for Ys profiled in this guide are listed in the appendixes. For more information on the accompanying workshop or other resources on engagement and building global community, see the “Resources and Links” section or contact YMCA of the USA at 800-872-9622.
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STRENGTHENING INCLUSION A POPULATION IN PERSPECTIVE
Strengthening your Y’s inclusion of Latinos increases your Y’s capacity for impact, relevance, and value to MORE ON DEMOGRAPHICS your community. Choosing the best methods to build greater inclusion requires first understanding your U.S. Census Bureau local Latino communities: their diverse strengths and www.census.gov resources, as well as their different areas of need. Pew Hispanic Center www.pewhispanic.org To help you do that, this section provides a snapshot of the Latino population today, along with future trends. It looks at education, health, Population Reference Bureau economic well-being, and civic participation of these growing www.prb.org communities, and looks specifically at the lives of Latino children and youth. It also highlights the diversity within this population, particularly national background, which will help build your awareness of the different Latino cultures you may find in your area.
Knowledge of general Latino demographics helps set the stage for the community-specific information you will gather as part of the community inventory (see “Strategies to Strengthen Inclusion”). These demographics provide a broad national context. As you read these statistics, keep in mind that your Y will need to understand the makeup and characteristics of the unique Latino population in your area to plan inclusion efforts that will be effective for your Y and the community.
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A GROWING POPULATION, FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS
The Latino population is often associated with contemporary immigration. But not all Latinos are newcomers. There are records of Latin American’s living in Louisiana and Florida since the 16th century. Many of today’s Latinos can trace their roots in the United States back to when much of Mexico’s territory and, later, Puerto Rico were incorporated into the United States.
Today’s Latino population is the country’s largest minority group. Latinos numbered more than 50 million The U.S. Census Bureau uses the term in the 2010 Census, and accounted for more than half “Hispanic or Latino” to refer to a person of the growth of the total U.S. population between of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South 2000 and 2010. During this decade, the Latino or Central American, or other Spanish population grew by 43 percent, more than four times culture or origin regardless of race. the growth rate of the total population (9.7%), and was (Humes, Jones, and Ramirez 2011) exceeded in rate of growth only by the Asian population (43.3%) (Humes, Jones, and Ramirez 2011).
The Latino population is projected to more than double between 2000 and 2050. Latino growth is a major contributor to the “majority-minority crossover” (expected to occur between 2040 and 2050) when minority groups will collectively outnumber the current majority, non-Hispanic whites. Based on current trends, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2050, over 30 percent, or nearly one in three Americans, will be Latino (Ortman and Guarneri 2009).
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS For Ys across the country, Latino population growth is an opportunity to expand the base of members, donors, volunteers, and staff currently involved in the Y. Success in tapping this resource will depend on Ys’ abilities to
• create an environment that encourages the involvement of diverse Latino populations; • partner with Latino leaders to build credibility and support; and • develop and competently deliver programs and activities that enrich Latinos’ lives.
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ORIGIN AND CULTURE
Latinos in the United States trace their roots to many countries. Country of origin, or heritage, is an important component of personal identity for Latinos. By far, the majority of U.S. Latinos are of Mexican descent (63%), followed by Puerto Rican (9%) and Cuban (4%) (Ennis, Rios-Vargas, and Albert 2011).
U.S. HISPANIC/LATINOS, BY NATIONAL ORIGIN
Other Hispanic/Latino 8% South American 5%
Central American 8%
Dominican 3% Mexican Cuban 63% 4%
Puerto Rican 9%
Source: Ennis et al. (2011), in works cited, p. 3, based on 2010 Census.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS The Latino population in your area may also be varied by national background. Distinct populations of Latinos (for example, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban) may not think of themselves as a single, cohesive Latino community. They may have different needs and respond differently to your Y’s efforts to engage them. This is one reason it is so important that you create engagement strategies grounded in relationships with, and knowledge of, the unique communities your Y serves.
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LOCATION
In general, Latinos are concentrated in what are known as “gateway” counties and states: those bordering Mexico as well as Florida, New York, and Illinois. Nearly half of all Latinos live in California and Texas (28% and 19%, respectively).
However, it is not these gateway areas that are experiencing the fastest Latino growth. The five top counties with the fastest growth (over 300%) between 2000 and 2009 were in Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Illinois (Pew Hispanic Center 2010). The states with the largest Latino population growth between 2000 and 2010 were South Carolina (148%), Alabama (145%), Tennessee (134%), Kentucky (122%), Arkansas (114%), North Carolina (111%), Maryland (106%), Mississippi (106%), and South Dakota (103%) (Passel, Cohn, and Lopez 2011).
Over the last decade (2000–2010), the Latino population grew in every region of the country, and, in each case, much faster than the rate of growth of the total population.
Region Latino population growth (2000 Growth rate compared to total population growth to 2010) in the region (2000 to 2010)
Northeast 33% More than 10 times faster
Midwest 49% More than 12 times faster
South 57% More than 4 times faster
West 34% More than 2 times faster
Source: Ennis, Rios-Vargas and Albert 2011.
In 2010, Latinos were the majority in over 80 counties across the United States (Ennis, Rios-Vargas and Albert 2011).
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS This demographic shift has significant implications for Ys that have had little experience with Latino communities in the past. Several Ys in small- and mid-sized communities across the United States have contacted Y-USA about serving local Latino populations that have grown by as much as 300 percent in the past few years. Staying deeply connected to all segments of the community will help your Y meet future changes, whether the changes are in demographics, economics, environment, or other areas.
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PERCENT CHANGE IN LATINO POPULATION BY STATE, 2000−2010
Source: Ennis et al. (2011), in works cited, p. 6, based on Census 2000 Summary File 1 and 2010 Census Summary File 1.
CHILDREN AND YOUTH
Latino children have an even greater presence in the U.S. population than their parents: nearly one in every four U.S. children is Latino (23.1% in 2010) (Passel, Cohn and Lopez 2011). Alarmingly, Latino children living in poverty (over 6 million) outnumber poor children of any other racial or ethnic group. Of these, more than two-thirds are children of immigrant parents (Lopez and Velasco 2011).
While the recession of 2007–2008 hit Latino families hard, children and youth of immigrant parents are achieving more and more over the generations. Second- and third-generation Latino youth have higher rates of high school attendance and enrollment in postsecondary education, higher levels of bilingualism and English proficiency, and lower levels of poverty than first-generation (foreign-born) Latinos (Batalova and Fix 2011).
On the other hand, first-generation Latino youth remain highly vulnerable. Of today’s Latino youth (aged 16 to 26) who arrived in the United States at age 16 or older, more than 70 percent are unauthorized (and therefore are
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ineligible for employment and educational assistance), two-thirds have low to very low English proficiency, and many have limited or interrupted education. While many find and maintain employment, jobs tend not to offer family- sustaining wages or prospects for higher income (Batalova and Fix 2011).
A national survey of Latino youth (ages 16 to 25) found that more than half prefer to self-identify with their family’s country of origin versus being identified as Latino/Hispanic or simply American. Half said they had no preference between the terms Latino or Hispanic, while of those who did have a preference, more preferred Hispanic (38% compared to 11% for Latino). A majority (64%) saw more cultural differences than commonalities between Hispanic groups in the United States. Almost 90 percent believe that a college education is necessary “to get ahead in life,” but less than half expected to attain a college degree. Latino youth are more likely than any other racial and ethnic group to drop out of high school, and Latino girls are the most likely of all American female youth to become mothers by the age of 19. Nonetheless, 95 percent of Latino youth surveyed reported being very or mostly satisfied with their lives and 72 percent were optimistic that they would be better off financially than their parents (Pew Hispanic Center 2009).
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS As the nation’s leading nonprofit dedicated to building confident, healthy, connected, and secure children and youth, Ys are positioned to address the needs and support the aspirations of this growing population—young Latinos. National-level data highlights the considerable challenges young Latinos face, particularly immigrant youth, as well as the strides second and third generation Latinos are making. It also points to the importance of diversity and identity among Latino youth, and therefore the need for your Y to listen to Latino youth in your area.
HISPANIC/LATINOS AS PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION BY AGE GROUP, 2010
Total Population
Under 18
Hispanic Non-Hispanic 18-65
65+
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, 1-year estimates (Tables DP05 and B01001).
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FAMILY
Regardless of national origin, Latino cultures share a strong commitment to family. Latinos tend to have what others consider extended families, with large numbers of people involved in caring for children. This may include grandparents and people not related by blood who are considered family, such as godparents, neighbors, or longtime friends. In 2011, the average Latino family The Y’s commitment to helping families household size was 3.96, compared to 3.06 for non- be healthy, secure, and connected Latinos (U.S. Census Bureau 2011). Cultural norms resonates with the value of family among Latino families include valuing interdependence shared by many Latino communities. and support, a contrast to the tendency to value independence and autonomy among the broader society.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS These same cultural norms also influence expectations that may affect your Y’s attempts to build relationships: personal relationships and trust are important to Latino communities. Latinos commonly expect to get to know someone personally if they are to interact regularly, including work relationships, community partnerships, and volunteerism. Personal relationships with Y staff may be a strong factor for Latinos when it comes to creating a sense of belonging at your Y.
FOREIGN BORN
Over half of all foreign-born residents in the United States are from Latin America (21 million). In 2010, over two- thirds of Latino newcomers were settled in the gateway states of California (26%), Texas (14%), Florida (13%), New York (10%), New Jersey (4%), and Illinois (4%) (Acosta and de la Cruz 2011).
Naturalization rates vary considerably among country of birth groups. Over half (56%) of the foreign born from Cuba were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2010, compared to just 21 percent of Hondurans and 23 percent of Mexicans (Acosta and de la Cruz 2011).
Latino newcomers who arrived before 2000 are somewhat different from those who arrived more recently. Before 2000, foreign-born Latinos
• were dominated by migrants from central Mexico; • held jobs that were largely agricultural; • tended to settle in the Southwest; and • had less education and lower incomes than the native born and other immigrants.
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In comparison, those who arrived between 2000 and 2010
• originated from a broad range of communities in Mexico and Central America; • went to new destinations throughout the United States; • worked in a broader range of occupations (construction, maintenance, food service, and manufacturing); • still had less education and lower incomes than the native born and other immigrants; and • were more likely to be unauthorized than previous immigrants because of fewer legal visas available (Rosenblum and Brick 2011).
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS If a large proportion of the Latino population in your area is foreign born, consider also consulting the complementary Y-USA resource Strengthening Inclusion: Engaging Newcomer and Immigrant Communities in Your Y.
CITIZENSHIP AND LANGUAGE
Contrary to widely held perceptions of Latinos, the majority (63%) of Latinos in the U.S. were born in the United States. In addition, of the foreign born, many are U.S. citizens through naturalization. As a result, three out of four Latinos (74%) are U.S. citizens (U.S. Census Bureau 2010). The additional 26 percent who are not citizens include Legal Permanent Residents (immigrants), students, temporary authorized workers, undocumented residents or migrants, and refugees, among others.
Three-fourths of Latinos speak a language other than English at home (U.S. Census Bureau 2010). Latinos from different backgrounds and origins value Spanish DID YOU KNOW? as an important component of their cultural identity and heritage. English proficiency across the Latino Language skills are identified by population varies according to a number of factors, Latinos as the primary cause of including immigrant generation, citizenship status, discrimination against Latinos, ahead educational level, and country of birth or origin group. of immigration status, skin color, or Only 12 percent of native-born Latinos speak English income and education. (Hakimzadeh less than “very well,” compared to over two-thirds and Cohn 2007) (68%) of foreign-born Latinos (U.S. Census Bureau 2010). In a Pew Hispanic Center survey, over 70 percent of Mexican immigrants reported being able to speak English just a little or not at all. Nearly half of all Latino adults (both immigrants and native born) and more than two-thirds of adult children of immigrants reported being bilingual (Hakimzadeh and Cohn 2007).
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LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME AND ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH
100%
75%
50% Total U.S. Population Hispanic (born in U.S.) Hispanic (born outside U.S.) 25%
0% English Only Language Other Than English
Source:CONSIDERATIONS U.S. Census Bureau 2010. 2010 FOR American YS Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Tables B16005I, S1601.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS Depending on who your Y is trying to engage, linguistic competence in Spanish may be a must for (at least some) staff and volunteers. Adult children of Latino immigrants are strong potential candidates for staff and leadership roles at inclusive Ys as they have high levels of bilingualism and can move comfortably between cultures.
HEALTH
The nation’s crisis levels of obesity and chronic illness are alarmingly evident among Latinos, who are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes than non-Hispanic whites.
Of particular concern is childhood obesity among Latinos. Forty percent of Latino children are overweight or obese (National Council of La Raza 2011), while, at the same time, a third of Latino households with children are food insecure (Lopez and Velasco 2011). Families which experience food insecurity and have low incomes tend to consume foods with lower nutritional value and higher calorie and fat content, putting them at increased risk for chronic health conditions. An important factor in healthy lifestyles is access to nutritious foods and safe and accessible community spaces for physical activity (National Council of La Raza 2006).
Many Latinos lack adequate health care and insurance and do not have access to preventive care. Latinos have the highest rates of being uninsured of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States: in 2010, 31 percent of Latinos
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were uninsured, while 21 percent of blacks and 18 percent of Asians had no health insurance (U.S. Census Bureau 2011). As a result, many Latinos rely on emergency care or public clinics as their primary care provider.
OBESITY AMONG CHILDREN AND YOUTH
50%
45%
40%
35% Children Ages 6-11 Overweight 30% Children Ages 6-11 Obese 25%
20% Children Ages 12-19 Overweight 15% Children Ages 12-19 Obese 10%
5%
0% Mexican-American Black (non- White (non- Hispanic) Hispanic)
Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Ogden et al. JAMA. 2002; 288: 1728-1732.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS Clearly, there is a significant opportunity for Ys to make a positive impact on the health of Latinos. As more YMCAs focus on the needs of health seekers, cultural factors need to be considered as part of the response. Y staff who understand and can effectively communicate with Latino communities are well positioned to provide health education and promote access to appropriate preventive care for communities in need. As Ys gain the trust of the community, they can play a critical role in strengthening Latino health.
EDUCATION
Educational achievement differs significantly between Latinos who were born in the United States and those who were not. However, overall, Latinos are less likely to have completed high school or college than white, black, or Asian populations: four out of 10 Latinos aged 20 and older do not have a high school diploma. Similarly, fewer Latinos than other groups (only one in 10) have a General Educational Development (GED) credential, which provides a means for entering college, vocational training, and military service for those without a high school diploma (Fry 2010).
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On the other hand, Latino educational attainment and college enrollment is on the rise. In 2010, the share of Latinos aged 18 to 24 who had completed high school rose to 73 percent (from 70% in 2009), of which 44 percent went on to attend college (compared to 39% in the previous year). In part because of increased numbers of high school graduates, Latino enrollment in colleges increased by 24 percent between 2009 and 2010, an actual increase of nearly 350,000 Latino students. Latino completion, however, remains low: in 2010, only 13 percent of Latino young adults (aged 25 to 29 years) had at least a bachelor’s degree, the lowest among all major race and ethnic groups (Fry 2011).
Latino children participate less than other groups in early learning programs: only one-third of Latino DID YOU KNOW? children under five are enrolled in early childhood education. Participation in early childhood learning has Once employed, Latino GED holders been shown to result in higher cognitive and social earn similar wages to Latino high skills, especially for dual language learners and children school graduates. (Fry 2010) from low-income families (Benavides and Lopez 2011).
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS These statistics point to the opportunity to support the educational needs and aspirations of young Latinos. As one of the nation’s largest providers of early childhood and afterschool programming, and with strong teen leadership and college-readiness programs, Ys are uniquely positioned to reach out to Latino youth and families to improve educational outcomes. Furthermore, the Y legacy as an innovator in English as a second language (ESL) instruction highlights Ys’ ability to help strengthen the English skills of young Latinos, further increasing their capacity to achieve their educational goals.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Latino workers are entering the U.S. labor force in increasing numbers at a time when the (mostly non-Latino) baby boomers are beginning to retire. Latinos now make up 15 percent of the total labor force, and, despite setbacks during the recession, have higher rates of labor force participation than non-Latinos. Foreign-born Latinos have the highest rates of labor force participation of all groups: 71 percent of all ages 16 and older at the end of 2010, compared to the national rate of 64.5 percent (Kochhar 2011). Undocumented workers (Latino and non-Latino) made up only 3.7 percent of the country’s population in 2010 but accounted for 5.2 percent of the labor force, or 8 million jobs (Passel and Cohn 2011).
Latinos are increasingly becoming business owners. Between 2002 and 2007, the number of Latino-owned businesses in the United States grew at more than double the national rate, to 2.3 million—however, still only 8 percent of all businesses. Latino businesses generated $345 billion in sales and employed almost 2 million people (U.S. Census Bureau 2010).
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BUSINESS OWNERSHIP
Hispanic-owned businesses
Non-Hispanic-owned businesses
Mexican 47%
Cuban 11% 8% Puerto Rican 7% 92% Other Hispanic 35%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2010, 2007 Survey of Business Owners, Table B & SBO700CSA01.
Despite high rates of labor force participation and an increasing impact in the U.S. marketplace, more Latinos live in poverty. According to a new poverty measure developed by the U.S. Census Bureau, 28 percent of Latinos lived in poverty, higher than the proportion of whites, blacks, or Asians (Lopez and Cohn 2011).
Latino households were hard hit by the recession: Latinos’ median household wealth fell by 66 percent (from $18, 359 in 2005 to $6,325 in 2009), compared to a 53 percent decline for black households and 16 percent for white households (to $113,149 in 2009). Household wealth measures the sum of assets (e.g., houses, cars, savings, investments, retirement accounts) minus the sum of debts (e.g., mortgages, loans, credit card debt). As a result of these declines, almost one-third of Latino households had no or negative net worth at the end of recession in 2009, and one quarter had no assets other than a vehicle (Taylor, Kochhar, et al. 2011).
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HOUSEHOLDS’ MEDIAN NET WORTH, 2005 AND 2009
$134,992 Whites $113,149
$18,359 Hispanics $6,325 2005
2009 $12,124 Blacks $5,677
Source: Taylor, Kochlar, & Fry 2011.
Cultural norms among many Latinos that lead them to prefer cash transactions over owning bank accounts and credit cards limit opportunities to build wealth. This is especially true among new immigrants and Latinos who are undocumented. For many Latino households and individuals, this leads to
• insecurely held savings (e.g., cash kept in the home); • fees for check cashing and international money transfers; and • limited or no credit history, which is needed to qualify for loans and mortgages.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS With their growing strength in the workforce, Latinos represent a growing, and sometimes new, pool of staff for Ys. Their growing power in the marketplace means that Latinos could become, and in some cases already are, a significant philanthropic resource for YMCAs, especially as Ys build credibility as a force for good in Latino communities. Meanwhile, opportunities abound for Ys to strengthen financial skills, thereby improving economic stability for Latino families. Ys also need to be aware of cultural norms that might affect Latinos’ comfort level with Y operations involving financial transactions. Flexibility will be needed to remove obstacles and create a welcoming Y environment for all Latinos.
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CIVIC PARTICIPATION
Latinos are participating in increasing numbers in U.S. political life, both as elected representatives and as voters. Over 6.6 million voters, or 7 percent of all voters, were Latino in the 2010 congressional elections, the highest proportion recorded since the Census Bureau began collecting these records (U.S. Census Bureau 2011). SEEKING: NATIONAL LATINO While overall Latino participation is increasing, the LEADER proportion of eligible Latino voters who actually vote remains low compared to other groups. In the 2010 In a 2010 national survey, 64% of adult congressional elections, less than one-third of eligible Latino respondents said they could not name the most important Latino leader in the Latino voters cast their vote, a decline from 2006. As country, and an additional 10% said there young Latinos come of age, more than 600,000 eligible wasn’t one. (Taylor and Lopez 2010) voters will be joining this group each year (Lopez 2011).
CONSIDERATIONS FOR YS Like all people in the United States, Latinos’ engagement in civic life enriches both their own communities and the country as a whole. By connecting Latino youth and families to opportunities to participate in the broader community and increase their skills and comfort with civic engagement, Ys can strengthen their ties with Latino communities and contribute to community strengthening. Ys are well positioned to develop and support leadership skills among Latino youth, and to build commitment to social responsibility and civic participation among all age groups.
CONCLUSION
Latino’s are this country’s largest minority group. Like other minority groups, many Latinos face barriers to adequate health care, education, and living wages, and experience limited upward occupational and wealth mobility. Nonetheless, Latinos from all backgrounds have made, and continue to make, enormous contributions to our country’s well-being and play a critical role in shaping its political, social, and economic future. Latino communities are not only a source of new members, volunteers, and staff, but also of new donors and partners in business and advocacy. This guide will help your Y play a greater role in this common future by engaging and building stronger Latino youth and families to play a part in building stronger communities. The next section lays out the case for why it is important for Ys to act now to strengthen Latino inclusion.
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STRENGTHENING INCLUSION MAKING THE CASE
As the prior section demonstrates, the United States is benefiting from a period of rapid demographic change. This changing community landscape calls upon Ys to change too.
This is not new for the Y. Through its 160-plus years of service, the Y Movement has witnessed enormous changes in the United States. Ys have changed with, and sometimes in advance of, shifts in the social, political, economic, and demographic landscape.
Being rooted in our communities, Ys are well positioned to identify and respond to community changes as they The Latino community, and Latino youth happen. Ys’ ability to adapt and proactively respond to the in particular, are a critical target group changing needs of families and communities has allowed for the Y. Latino communities bring the movement to grow to become what it is today: the growing numbers, extensive cultural and nation’s leading nonprofit committed to strengthening economic assets, and links to future communities through youth development, healthy living, newcomers. and social responsibility.
Latino communities are leading today’s changes. In 2010, at the last national census, one in six Americans was Latino. By 2050, every third American will be Latino. If the Y Movement is to stay relevant—both to communities and to its own mission as an organization for all—it will be necessary for the Y to become part of Latino communities, and for Latinos to become part of the Y.
Strengthening Latino inclusion helps in each of the six areas of opportunity:
• Membership: Develop and sustain membership by tapping into growing populations whose interests align with the Y’s strengths;
• Program: Design innovative programming that is driven by Latino interests, needs, and talents; • Leadership: Build leadership by bringing new faces into the Y family and cultivating culturally-competent leaders and staff for the future;
• Collaboration: Collaborate with new partners, including local businesses and community-based organizations, and open doors to new opportunities;
• Financial Development: Mobilize financial resources from new supporters and donors, by demonstrating commitment to and success in working with Latinos, and from Latinos themselves, by demonstrating relevance and value to their lives and communities; and
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• Visibility: Strengthen branding and visibility as a non-profit leader and organization of choice by reaching and reflecting everyone in our communities and making a lasting impact in more lives.
As Latino communities expand, they are looking to Ys to support their communities’ and their families’ growth and development. Without bold moves by Ys to step up and respond to those requests, Latino communities can be sure to develop their own responses.
Catching up to and getting ahead of the demographic trends in our communities, as well as demonstrating we have the skills and drive to change with our communities, requires a strategic approach. Ys need to be ready to change and have the leadership in place to lead this strategic shift. And Y leaders, in turn, need to call on community leaders for help.
The next section describes tested strategies your Y can adopt and adapt to get started on strengthening Latino inclusion, including how Ys can recruit Latinos to lead and advise Ys through this change. By strengthening our efforts now to genuinely and meaningfully involve Latino communities, Ys will continue to build trust, credibility, and bridges to a population that is driving growth in our towns, cities, and counties, and across our country as a whole. Through successful inclusion, Latino growth will help fuel the Y’s growth and viability for years to come.
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STRENGTHENING INCLUSION STRATEGIES TO STRENGTHEN INCLUSION
Strengthening the inclusion of Latinos in your Y is a process. It does not happen overnight. It requires time, planning, and leadership commitment to achieve the sort of organizational and cultural changes that will effectively welcome and engage Latino communities today and in the future.
AN INSIDE-OUTSIDE PROCESS
Strengthening your Y’s ability to include Latinos is an inside-outside process. On the one hand, it requires Ys to look internally to think about and adapt how we design and deliver programs and services that are relevant to Latinos. It requires Ys to consider how our internal operations, especially staffing and membership, either support or hinder Latino inclusion. It also calls on Ys to look outside to critically reflect on how we are understood by Latino “Inclusiveness goes beyond communities and what we can do to build trust, participation and numbers. It’s how credibility, and shared experience and futures. people interact and it’s building The strategies in this section address both sides of this bridges. It’s accepting people into inside-outside equation. They emphasize the importance your hearts that don’t look like you of Ys’ readiness to serve this growing constituency, a and didn’t grow up with you.” readiness that begins with executive commitment. YMCAs report that one of the most essential ingredients for —Tony Shockency, CEO, success is securing the commitment, and ideally Ed & Ruth Lehman YMCA, involvement, of their CEOs. As with any change process, Longmont, Colo. leadership must model the inclusive behaviors and cultural competence required to create the welcoming environment and inclusive community that will engage Latinos. It is critical for the CEO and key volunteers to participate in building strategies for increasing Latino inclusion.
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FAMILIAR STRATEGIES BUT WITH A NEW FOCUS: LATINOS
This section aims to answer the question, "What do we need to do differently to strengthen Latino inclusion?" The five tested strategies outlined in this guide are based on the experiences of YMCAs. These strategies will be familiar to readers of Strengthening Inclusion: Engaging Asian Communities in Your YMCA and Strengthening Inclusion: Engaging Newcomers in Your YMCA. Through experience, Ys have found that general steps toward strengthening inclusion can be consistent across populations. However, how strategies are implemented is unique to each population, each community, and each Y. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to engaging Latino communities. It is crucial that your Y adapt these strategies and recommendations to suit your particular community and its Latino populations. Strategies 1 and 2 will help you do just that.
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STRATEGY 1: MOBILIZE A TASK FORCE TO STEER PLANNING
Mobilizing a diverse, representative, and committed group of leaders to steer your Y’s planning process is the first step toward greater Latino inclusion. Some Ys may choose to involve their entire board in this process; others may choose to create a distinct task force.
Whatever the form, the primary role of this working group of leaders is to steer your Y’s inclusion efforts through each stage of the process. This includes providing guidance and interpretation to the community inventory (strategy 2), institutional readiness (strategy 3), targeted programming design (strategy 4), and outreach (strategy 5). In addition to these strategies, the task force members are also crucial participants in measuring and communicating progress.
WHOM SHOULD YOUR TASK FORCE INVOLVE?
The Latino inclusion task force should combine representation from your Y—including staff, volunteers, members, and senior management—and community partners. Strive to ensure that your task force is representative of the Latino community in your area and diverse in its membership. Factors to consider for this type of task force include age, gender, national origin and cultural heritage, resident history (i.e., newcomers and multigenerational residents), citizenship status, and economic status.
A diverse and representative task force is important for
• understanding the diverse perspectives, resources, needs, and interests of members of your community; • enhancing the credibility of the Y’s outreach and inclusion efforts within the Latino community; • gaining access to, building credibility, and catalyzing partnerships with community groups and organizations; • bringing community resources to support outreach and inclusion efforts, such as access to local media outlets; • bridging gaps and building trust between Latino communities and your Y.
FOR EXAMPLE… A newcomer Latino family with low household income may have quite different resources, needs, and interests from a Latino family that has been living in the United States for more than five generations. The newcomer family may have a strong interest in your Y’s educational and recreational programming but may face unique financial and language barriers that are preventing or discouraging the family from participating in your Y. Representation from both of these groups on your steering committee will help you learn more about and develop appropriate methods for responding to the unique needs and resources of each target group.
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Task force members should also be drawn from among your current Latino members. Consider, for example, the parents of Latino children you already serve. Community partners and representatives can be invited from leading Latino organizations and institutions or from organizations that currently serve or wish to serve the Latino community.
WHAT IF YOUR Y DOES NOT HAVE CONTACTS WITH LATINO COMMUNITY PARTNERS?
For Ys without existing partnerships in the Latino community, this task force is even more important, though also harder to get started. You will need to think creatively TIP about who these partners might be and how to reach out Facilities and relationships with to them. Ask your other partners for ideas or referrals. institutional donors are two assets Participate in community meetings and approach local school boards. Meet with the Hispanic chamber of Ys can bring to the table when commerce, if there is one, or approach individual small brokering new partnerships. businesses that are Latino owned or Consulates. See if the National Council of La Raza has a Latino-serving affiliate in your area (see www.nclr.org). Volunteer at Latino community festivals, or visit places where Latinos worship.
See the Appendixes for community partner ideas.
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STRATEGY 2: GET TO KNOW THE COMMUNITY
Before reaching out to Latinos in your community, you need to know a bit about them:
• What proportion of your community is Latino? • Is it growing, and at what pace? • Where do Latinos live and work? • What do Latino families or households look like? • What national origin groups are most prevalent?
The more you know about the specific Latino populations you are trying to engage, the more targeted your outreach strategies and program responses can be.
The easy three-step process described below is called a community inventory and will help your Y get to know Latino individuals, families, and prospective partners in your Y’s service area.
It is good to do this at the outset of your inclusion initiative. First, what you learn from the community inventory can inform your choice of outreach and marketing efforts as well as program and service adaptations. Second, this information becomes part of your baseline, against which you can later take stock of progress toward achieving Latino inclusion at your Y (see the “Measuring Progress and Success” section). Third, having data which shows the discrepancy between the number of Latinos in your Y’s service area and their level of engagement in the Y can be a powerful tool for securing the commitment of your Y’s leadership and staff to intentional inclusion efforts.
We recommend that you conduct an inventory at the beginning and again periodically throughout the process, for example every 12 to 24 months, so that your Y maintains up-to-date knowledge about the community.
WHAT DOES YOUR YMCA WANT TO KNOW AND WHY?
Community information can help your Y tailor its programs, facilities, outreach methods, and marketing messages for the Latino communities in your area, so that they address what you have learned about Latino interests, needs, resources, and perceived or real barriers.
Inventories can be very detailed or more generalized profiles of the target community. The level of detail of your inventory will depend on the amount of time and resources available and on your information needs. The three steps for gathering information—analysis of census data, observation, and interaction—each produce increasing levels of details.
The following table provides a sampling of questions your Y may want to consider and why. It shows how the community inventory tools described in steps 1 through 3 can be used to find the answers you need.
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GETTING TO KNOW LATINO COMMUNITIES IN YOUR Y’s AREA Questions you’d like to Implications Community inventory tools answer you can use
How many Latinos are in your Compare these numbers with • Census or municipal data community? What proportion of your Y’s current statistics for the total population do they members and program represent? Is their proportion participants and staff, and then growing? What is it projected to ask if your Y reflects the makeup be in 5 or 10 years? of the community. This information can help boost your rationale for strengthening Latino inclusion. It is also important for setting quantitative inclusion targets and measuring how well Latinos are being engaged over time.
What national origin groups are As you read in the section “In • Census or municipal data present? How long have they Perspective,” social and • Interviews with community been in the U.S.? What economic indicators for Latinos organizations and leaders proportion are newcomers, and in the U.S. frequently vary by where are they from? What national origin group, citizenship • Latino member survey proportion are citizens? status, and length of settlement • Focus group discussions with in the U.S. (i.e., number of Latinos generations).
What languages do they speak Outreach, marketing, and • Census or municipal data and what is their level of English services need to be targeted to • Observation proficiency? people’s language skills. It is important to know if a • Interviews with community proportion of the population you organizations and leaders are targeting is not comfortable • Latino member survey in English and/or prefers to engage through Spanish. • Focus group discussions with Latinos
Where do Latinos live? In which These answers will inform not • Census or municipal data neighborhoods? Is there only where your Y needs to • Observation convenient and safe public outreach, but also the best transportation between these location for off-site programs • Interviews with community areas and your Y? and services. organizations and leaders
• Focus group discussions with Latinos
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GETTING TO KNOW LATINO COMMUNITIES IN YOUR Y’s AREA (CONT’D)
Questions you’d like to Implications Community inventory tools answer you can use
Are there undocumented Latinos Undocumented people residing • Interviews with community residing in the community? in your community may be organizations and leaders intimidated about approaching • Focus group discussions with the Y because of their Latinos immigration status. Your Y may need to review its registration and membership procedures to ensure accessibility to those who need it most. If transportation or registration is an issue for prospective members, consider providing services off site in locations where members feel safe.
What services, businesses, Consider core services such as • Observation institutions, or places of grocery stores and markets, • Interviews with community worship do Latinos frequent? schools, health or legal clinics, organizations and leaders and financial services. Do these present opportunities for • Focus group discussions with partnership and/or outreach and Latinos marketing? Do they do things differently from the way your Y does? Look for consistent elements in places where Latinos gather. Notice any qualities that welcome and connect people.
What barriers or factors might Common barriers include fees for • Interviews with community prevent or discourage Latinos membership and services, organizations and leaders from participating in the Y? transportation, lack of child care, • Latino member survey language, unwelcoming environment, fear of the • Focus group discussions with registration process, and lack of Latinos required documents.
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STEP 1: LOOK AT LOCAL CENSUS DATA Once you have determined what your Y wants to know, you can start RESOURCES NEEDED FOR STEP 1 gathering information. Consulting government census data is the easiest and quickest way to gather preliminary information about the People: 1 population living in your service area. Census data can answer some Time: 1-2 hours of your key questions, such as the size of the Latino population in your community, where Latino households are concentrated, national Tools: Internet access origins, proportion of foreign born, and the prevalence of Spanish spoken. See “Create a community profile using census data” in the Money: No cost appendixes for information about how to find this data online.
You can do a number of things with this data: You can begin to set targets for the level of Latino involvement your Y seeks to achieve (e.g., for the proportion of Latino members to be equal to or exceed the proportion of Latinos in your community). You may also be able to identify potential barriers facing Latinos, such as language, income, and documentation. For example, if a high number speak Spanish at home, and a large proportion of these speak English “less than very well,” this is a strong indicator that language may be a barrier for many Latinos in your community.
Census data is much more than the decennial census. The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey now provides detailed demographic and socioeconomic information, updated every year, on hundreds of small and large communities across the country. See page 55 for five easy steps to extracting the information you need. www.census.gov
While this step is an excellent place to start your inventory process, its ease and speed come at the expense of detail. Step 1 should be complemented by more information-rich inventory methods, such as observation (step 2) and interaction (step 3), to develop a full profile of your community.
STEP 2: OBSERVE YOUR COMMUNITY This is your chance to get out into the community to listen and observe. Observing your community directly can provide additional RESOURCES NEEDED FOR STEP 2 insight into the information you gathered from the Internet. A move- about is a simple inventory tool that can generate more detailed and People: 1-3 up-to-date information about the Latino population in your Time: 2-4 hours community. Tools: Notebook, map First, find out if there are areas where higher proportions of Latinos live. Ask Latino families in your Y for advice. Also ask Latino small Money: No cost business owners or community partners for ideas.
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Move-abouts take you into your Y’s service area to personally observe community patterns, languages, meeting points, and institutions. A move-about is intended to remove you (the observer) from your normal route, encouraging you to experience the community differently.
Think in advance about what you want to learn, but also keep your ears and eyes open for unexpected information or observations. Look for information that can help your Y develop targeted outreach and engagement strategies, adapt or develop new programs and services, and implement operational changes to better attract and serve Latinos. The questions in the chart below can help you get started.
EXAMPLES OF THINGS TO LOOK FOR YOUR NOTES TIP: Take a map and notebook to jot down observations and key locations, such as community bulletin boards, schools, and places of worship. At the end of the day, summarize and record your observations so that they can be shared with colleagues and your task force.
What types of businesses, services, and associations do you see? How do they target or serve Latinos? What types of marketing or advertising styles do they use? What hours are they open?
Do you hear Spanish being spoken? Where? Are signs and advertising also in Spanish?
Where do people congregate and socialize? Is it different for women and men? What about older adults?
Where is community information posted? Are there bulletin boards on the street, at community centers, at businesses, or in places of worship? What type of content is posted, and in which languages?
Are there open community spaces for gathering and recreation? If yes, are they being used? Do they look family friendly and safe?
What can you infer about the socioeconomic status of the community? What type of housing is visible?
Is public transport available between this area and your Y?
Be sure to share and discuss your findings with other members of your task force, and especially with Latinos familiar with the area you explored.
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STEP 3: INTERACT WITH YOUR COMMUNITY The third step, and richest source of information, is listening to and speaking with Latino members, communities, and leaders. Interaction tools will be familiar to Y leaders and staff, and include
• meetings or interviews with community leaders and associations, as well as with Latino-serving agencies; • focus group discussions with Latino individuals and families; and • Latino member or participants surveys.
Start by requesting to meet with recognized Latino community leaders and with agencies and businesses already working with the Latino population. One contact will likely generate several more, but if you’re having trouble getting started, look up Latino-serving agencies or businesses using the Internet, a phone book, a directory of social services, or the chamber of commerce. Also, Y-USA’s International Group and Diversity and Inclusion departments can help identify and facilitate contacts with Latino agencies, leaders, and businesses.
This step goes beyond information collection and enables your Y to start establishing relationships and developing a network of community partners. Whenever possible, involve your leadership in meetings and outreach to demonstrate the depth of your Y’s commitment to strengthening Latino inclusion.
These contacts and conversations will help you
• understand perceptions of the Y (or your Y in particular) within Latino communities;
• identify existing service or resource gaps; • identify the unique interests, needs, and assets of Latinos in your area; and
• start building credibility and trust with Latino communities and families.
Focus group discussions, at times and locations convenient to participants, are excellent tools for meeting with and listening to newcomers. Consider meeting with different sub-groups separately to be able to understand and explore their unique perspectives, needs, and interests. For example, parents with young children may have different needs than older adults and young adults. Women may have different interests than men. Different national origin groups and citizens versus non-citizens are also likely to have varying perspectives, needs, and interests. It may be helpful (and necessary) to have a translator assist some groups.
Existing Latino Y members or program participants can also provide invaluable feedback and insight into how your Y is doing and what it can do better. The sample Latino member survey (see page 56) can be tailored to your Y’s context and completed by members independently or through interviews with staff.
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STRATEGY 3: PREPARE THE ORGANIZATION TO SERVE
Y leaders and staff who contributed to this guide all agreed: Ys need to have the capacity to serve Latinos before attracting greater numbers. Inclusion begins from Once identified, barriers are often within your Y. easy to change to support inclusion. Your Latino inclusion steering Institutional readiness includes getting your Y’s staffing committee, as well as findings from and leadership, membership, facilities, and environment the community inventory, can help prepared to attract, serve, and retain Latino members. It identify existing barriers to inclusion also includes adapting existing programming or and solutions for Latinos. developing new programming to serve the target community, a topic that is addressed under strategy 5.
Inclusive Ys around the country recognize that reflecting community demographics is inherent in our mission and an important step in modeling that the Y is for all.
“I encourage staff not to focus so much on the business case, but on understanding people who are different from them. This is not a hard sell for most Y people.” —Tony Shockency, CEO, Ed & Ruth Lehman YMCA, Longmont, Colo.
STAFF WHO REFLECT THE COMMUNITY
Like other groups, Latinos feel welcome and at home when they can identify Y staff and volunteers who look and sound like them. Latino inclusion is important at all levels, from program staff to senior management, from the board to the front desk. Y staff and volunteers who share the cultural, linguistic, and social background of your current or prospective Latino members are critical resources for connecting, listening to, and communicating with Latino families, communities, and leaders.
Developing your Y’s overall linguistic and cultural competence to serve Latino communities is an important early step toward strengthening inclusion. Competent staff and volunteers provide inclusive service, better understand cultural perspectives and potential barriers, and once again demonstrate your Y’s commitment to strengthening Latino inclusion. Ys can strengthen competencies by training and coaching existing staff and volunteers, or recruiting new personnel who already have the competencies you need. Many Ys do both. Y-USA’s Diversity and Inclusion team can help your Y to develop Latino-serving competencies at all levels.
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Existing Latino members or participants are another resource to tap for staff and volunteer leadership TIP opportunities. These are individuals and families who understand your Y, value what your Y has to offer, Some Y staff believe that culturally and have committed in some way to making the Y a and linguistically competent front desk part of their life. If they are not interested in or suitable staff have a much greater impact than for employment or leadership, Latino members and any number of translated materials. participants can promote Y opportunities among their networks.
FOR EXAMPLE…
The staff of the YMCA of Greater Long Beach’s early childhood education department are 80 percent Latino, reflecting the makeup of the families that they serve. Just five years earlier, the workforce was almost entirely non-Latino. By focusing on service quality and connections with families, the staff team began to change toward increasingly reflecting the community. Emilio Sosa, Executive Director of the program, explains: “There was a big gap between the workforce and the families, which were low-income, minority families. As we began to raise expectations for staff about how to engage with families and kids, staff either left on their own or we felt that it wasn’t a good fit. And through the hiring process, we began to shift what we were looking for. We want our staff to engage families and children and build relationships where they feel trusted.”
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
Increasing the recruitment and retention of Latino staff at all levels of the Y is one of the strategic priorities of the YMCA Hispanic/Latino Leadership Network. The network can provide support and ideas to your Y if this is a challenge you are facing. Ys that have been successful in increasing Latino staff and leadership suggest establishing relationships with colleges and universities from which prospective staff and leadership graduate, as well as with Latino affinity groups, such as the National Society of Hispanic MBAs.
Y-USA Diversity and Inclusion department is available to connect you to the YMCA Hispanic/Latino Leadership Network and to support your Y through consultation, cultural awareness training, and facilitated linkages with community partners and relevant international partners.
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FACILITIES AND ENVIRONMENT
To many longtime Y members, the Y is a home away from home—a safe, friendly, and familiar community space. Latino leaders in the Y suggest that a Latino-friendly Y “Signage in Spanish and forms of includes communication in Spanish helps • a friendly and lively social environment; families feel welcome.” • family-friendly spaces; — Emilio Sosa, Executive Director, • colorful décor that reflects and celebrates the Early Childhood Education, YMCA of community’s diversity; Greater Long Beach, Calif. • Spanish signage and materials; • Latin music; and • a place to celebrate, share, and learn about Latino culture and holidays.
Information you gathered through the community inventory should also provide ideas for creating a Latino-friendly space within your Y.
MEMBERSHIP
Making small changes to your Y’s membership structure can go a long way toward strengthening Latino inclusion. The experiences of Latino-inclusive Ys around the country have shown that the following changes can make a real impact on removing barriers to membership in the Y.
• Definition of family. A Latino understanding of family may include more adults than two parents. It Inclusive membership policies may include grandparents or aunts and uncles, recognize and value Latino families as especially when they share the same household. they are. Inclusive Ys have found that Many Ys have changed their definition of family adapting membership categories to membership to accommodate the realities of families reflect the reality of how Latino in a changing society. For example, some Ys define a communities are living is a powerful family as all related members living within the same tool for increasing accessibility and household. Others charge a small fee (i.e., less than growing Latino inclusion. an individual adult membership) for additional adult family members beyond the parents.
• Cash payment. Latino communities frequently use a cash economy. Ys can introduce pay-per-visit, monthly, or three-month memberships payable by cash in order to keep the door open for those who only use cash.
• Short-term membership. Some Latino individuals and families are highly mobile, particularly new-growth communities whose workers move to where jobs are available. Short-term memberships (e.g., monthly or three-
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month memberships) are more attractive to highly mobile individuals and families. The YMCA AWAY program is a selling point, and many Ys offer assistance in contacting Ys in the communities to which families move.
• Financial assistance. In addition to cost being a barrier, providing traditional documentation of income in order to be considered for subsidized membership can be a further stumbling block for some. To increase accessibility to all, some Ys offering income-based sliding-scale fees ask prospective members for a statement of income or an employer letter rather than requiring a government-issued tax document or a W2.
FOR EXAMPLE…
The YMCA of Greater Houston’s Membership for All policy includes:
• A sliding-scale fee based on household income. A letter rather than a W2 or a government statement is required.
• Cash and pay-as-you-go payment options.
• Flexible definition of family in which additional adults can be added to a family membership.
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STRATEGY 4: DEVELOP TARGETED PROGRAMMING
Now that you have readied your Y to serve Latino members, what about demand? Do Latinos have an interest in what your Y has to offer? Do your programs and services build on Latino strengths and interests or address outstanding needs? Or, are new or adapted programs needed?
The experience of successful Latino-inclusive Ys tells us that new or adapted forms of programs are needed to DID YOU KNOW? attract and retain Latino involvement. Information gathered through your community inventory, especially In a study exploring childhood obesity from interviews with community organizations and and food insecurity, the National leaders, should point your Y in the direction of what is Council of La Raza found that needed, what is wanted, and what is not being provided • meal times are an important part elsewhere. What your Y invests in developing should be of Latino family life and culture; responsive to the needs and interests of your Latino community. • families often have insufficient income to buy healthy foods; Latino Y leaders point to three high-need areas that YMCAs are well-positioned to address. Some or all of • families have no access to these may be good matches for your community. resources about health eating; • Health programming, including health promotion • families have limited access to and referral to health services health care; and • Educational programming, in particular English as a second language (ESL) and early childhood • transportation and time are education additional barriers to purchasing and preparing healthy food. • Financial literacy programming, such as the basics of financial systems in the U.S., how to open (National Council of La Raza 2011) a bank account, preparing tax returns, etc.
Programming examples and key issues related to each of these high-need areas are described in more detail below.
HEALTH PROGRAMMING
The nation’s health crisis has had great impact in Latino communities. High rates of obesity, chronic health conditions, poor nutrition, and lack of physical activity are compounded by the barriers to proper health care facing many Latinos, including lack of health insurance, inadequate supply of language services, and other factors.
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Ys’ capacity to provide health-related support to Latino communities is an opportunity for building relationships and trust with this growing population while making a significant impact on health outcomes in areas with some of the greatest need.
Examples of Y health-related programming and services for Latinos include
• engaging Latino children in Y physical activity, sports, and aquatics programs, with an emphasis on sports that are popular among Latinos, such as soccer;
• providing nutritional information; • offering information about and referral to health services and health providers in the community; • creating a directory of Spanish-speaking health providers;
• supplying information regarding eligibility requirements for public health insurance programs;
• accompanying Latinos to health services, serving as interpreters and cultural “brokers” for those seeking care; and
• promoting health by providing workshops or information sheets that address key health issues and are accessible to Spanish speakers.
WHAT ARE WE AIMING FOR? Here are some sample results: • Latino children will be better prepared to succeed as learners upon entering school. • Latino parents will be enabled to play a more active role in supporting their children’s education. • Latino youth will have access to information and support to assist them in making sound and strategic decisions regarding their careers and employment training. • Latino children, youth, adults, and families will be better equipped to navigate essential and everyday services, such as health care and banking, and to play an active part in civic life.
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EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING
Statistics show the need to support and encourage Latino children and youth toward improved educational achievement. Ys are well positioned to strengthen educational outcomes by addressing root causes, such as the need for greater English proficiency and access to early childhood programs.
Examples of Y educational programming and services for Latinos include
• early childhood education programs, such as preschool; • afterschool programming to supplement core education; • parenting skills or parent/grandparent support groups and networking; • General Educational Development (GED) certificate courses; • YMCA education programs and college counseling; • work-related skills development and career counseling; • English as a second language (ESL) courses and conversational groups; and • computer training in both English and Spanish.
When designing new or adapting existing educational programming, consider the following factors and their implications for Latino inclusion:
• Women and ESL. Women, especially mothers, who have lower rates of participation in the labor force and therefore may experience greater isolation, DID YOU KNOW? frequently have a greater need for ESL than their children or husbands. If this is the case in your ESL programs are a historical part of community, schedule classes to accommodate the Y. The first known ESL class in the mothers’ needs. U.S. was held at the Cincinnati YMCA in 1865 for German newcomers. • Child care. Mothers may require affordable and quality child care to enable them to participate in Y Limited English proficiency creates programs and services. In addition, affordable child barriers for some Latinos in many care offered by a trusted source, like the Y, also areas, such as access to health care, increases women’s ability to participate in the work financial services, employment, and force. career advancement. • Programs. Family programs and activities (i.e., those offered to adults and children and youth at ESL programs are an opportunity for the same time) are important to the Latino Ys to build an asset that is key to community, especially for working parents seeking achieving positive outcomes in quality time with their families. education, health, employment, and • Information in Spanish. Information and civic engagement. registration for ESL and children’s programming should be provided in both languages. Even if children’s programming will be conducted in
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English, information should be made available in Spanish so that Spanish-speaking parents feel comfortable registering their children.
• Affordability. Programs and services should be affordable for the target group. Income-based enrollment or service fees are important for some Latino families and populations.
FINANCIAL LITERACY AND WEALTH-BUILDING PROGRAMMING
In addition to ensuring that your Y is accessible to low- and moderate-income Latinos, your Y can offer a range of services to help build Latino financial literacy and wealth, including
• banking referrals and information such as account holders’ rights, the benefits of bank accounts, and what is needed to open a bank account;
• business development information and advisory and referral services; • homeownership information and advisory and referral services; and • taxation information services and assistance with preparing tax returns.
OR, COLLABORATE WITH PARTNERS TO BRING IN TARGETED PROGRAMMING AND SERVICES
Latinos in your community may have a range of interests and needs that your Y is not yet equipped to address. If your Y doesn’t yet have the expertise or staff to offer targeted programming or initiate new strategies, you can develop collaborations with other agencies that offer these services or have the capacity to do so. Without significant cost to the Y, YMCAs can offer their facilities free of charge to agencies providing targeted services for the Latino community.
Such collaborations have multiple positive impacts for Ys seeking to strengthen Latino inclusion.
• Your Y establishes a productive and mutually beneficial partnership with a leading Latino-serving agency. • Your Y becomes a familiar place and safe space for the Latino community. • Your Y increases its visibility and credibility in the Latino community. • Your Y has the opportunity to develop in-house expertise in a new area of programming. • Your Y can build its own institutional competencies by working with Latino communities and modeling best practices of collaborative partners.
FOR EXAMPLE…
Offering his Y’s facilities to other Latino service providers opened multiple doors into the Latino community for the Y. Tony Shockency, CEO of Ed & Ruth Lehman YMCA in Longmont, Colo., explains: “Latino leaders felt that the Y was a resource to their communities. They appreciated that we were taking on their causes with them. The trust breakthrough was huge.”
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STRATEGY 5: MARKET AND REACH OUT TO THE COMMUNITY
As part of the largest community-based human services organization in the United States, with over 160 years of service, Ys are experts in community outreach. This guide does not reintroduce the basics, but lists outreach tips and strategies that work in the Latino community, as suggested by Y staff and leaders from across the movement.
GO TO THE COMMUNITY
Y experience indicates that traditional marketing strategies may not be enough to bring new Latino communities on- board. Ys need to build trust and credibility with Latino communities by being present, by demonstrating a commitment to serve, and by showing what we have to offer.
Latino-inclusive Ys started by going to the community. They built relationships and networks through which to spread the word. They were persistent, and patient. What does “going to the community” mean? It means
• Y leaders going to schools, markets, health fairs, churches, and other community places and events; • Y leaders supporting Latino community causes by getting involved in civic initiatives affecting the Latino community, serving on other boards and task forces, and actively participating in civic clubs;
• engaging a group of recognized community leaders, “With the Latino community, it is more such as a founders committee or the task force established in Strategy 1, to strengthen the visibility about word of mouth than advertising and presence of the Y in the community; and and billboards.” • listening to and reading local Latino news sources — Tony Shockency, CEO, Ed & Ruth and becoming familiar with leaders, organizations, Lehman YMCA, Longmont, Colo. and events.
MARKETING VENUES AND TIPS
• Advertise in local Latino newspapers and on Latino radio stations • Advertise in bulletins of houses of worship. • Target sporting events that are particularly popular in this community, such as soccer and baseball • Ensure that advertising reflects the Latino community, including photos of Latino families • Ask current Latino staff or members about additional popular Latino venues that the Y can target for outreach and marketing efforts
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For some Ys, marketing to the Latino community meant bringing programs and services into the community first, whether organizing popular sports in the community or forming partnerships with schools. Once community members began to understand and trust the Y, they were more willing to use Y facilities and become members.
“The biggest challenge was really the trust building in the community and getting branding into low-income communities. Our success had to do with our workforce transition and strategic marketing in locations where Latino communities congregate, such as at church. We did trust by association.” — Emilio Sosa, Executive Director, Early Childhood Education, YMCA of Greater Long Beach, Calif.
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STRENGTHENING INCLUSION Y VOICES AND EXPERIENCES
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE COMMUNITY
The YMCA of Greater Long Beach’s early childhood education (ECE) program is a model of inclusiveness. Participating families—75 percent Latino—reflect the makeup of the community, and ECE staff—nearly 80 percent Latino—reflect the program’s participants. Each day, 600 children attend seven YMCA preschool locations.
Emilio Sosa, executive director for early childhood education, oversees the Y’s state-funded program which provides subsidized preschool to qualifying low-income families. “It is not by design that the program serves primarily Latino families. It just happened by virtue of where the Y has preschools and the makeup of those communities.”
Despite having two of the key ingredients of inclusion—a service accessible and well matched to what Latino families were looking for, and a culturally-competent and reflective staff team—Emilio still had to work intentionally and strategically at cultivating a strong relationship with the community.
The first step was getting basic information about the Y into the community. And that meant changing how the Y branded and marketed itself. When Emilio joined the ECE program at the Y, he immediately recognized that existing marketing efforts were targeting the wrong sources: English language newspapers and neighborhood newsletters. So, the first thing he did when he started was stop existing efforts and developed a new strategy.
Emilio and his staff started by looking at where Latino families congregate, what their routines are, and where they get most of their information from. He replaced existing marketing with a grassroots campaign, including flyers delivered to local markets where Latinos shop, to low-cost or no-cost health clinics, and to other small businesses. “It made a big difference right away for the community to now know something about the Y. But there was a trust issue. There was still a kind of fear or lack of trust around whether the Y is a safe place for us. Latino families were still wondering, would we be welcome?”
That’s when Emilio decided to turn to the radio for help. He approached the largest, most listened-to, Hispanic radio station in Long Beach. “It was a risky strategy because marketing on radio is very expensive, but we needed that next level to get the word out.” And it worked. Emilio was able to negotiate a preferential price for 38 short radio spots with simple messaging about the Y. He pursued this strategy for three years, and every year the Y generated more
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and more interest from the Latino community. “In the community’s eyes, if we were on a radio station that they trust and is one of their main vehicles for information, then we were trustworthy. It was trust by association.”
The business community was another avenue for building trust and relationships in the Latino community. Emilio partnered with larger businesses that were serving the Latino community, and, for the first time, the Y joined the regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Relationships with businesses opened new doors for the Y in unexpected ways: State Farm, for example, linked the Y to one of its other community partners working on citizenship and naturalization, and now the Y is able to bring in and offer services that address an expressed interest of the program’s participating families.
The toughest relationship to forge at the community level was with community-based organizations (CBOs). “There was a little bit of push back from CBOs who have been doing this work for years. There was almost a kind of anger. They were asking, why is the Y here, why now, and where have you been for the last 20 or 30 years?”
Emilio reached out to directors and CEOs, formally and informally, to make the Y’s case: He explained why the Y cares about these communities. He emphasized that the Y is here to support communities, not to build the Y’s business. And he asked them for help.
“One of the biggest things I had to do, several times, was tell CBOs that they’re right—we haven’t been doing this. They wanted us to say that, to acknowledge it. Being honest with them deflated the issue a bit and helped build trust between them and the Y.”
Reaching out through radio, through other service providers, and through small and large businesses, enabled the Y to capture the eyes and ears of the community. The community “The focus has to start with started to understand and believe that the Y was there to relationship building. You have to put support, strengthen, and invest in their families. For Emilio, the Y’s needs aside while building that this has to be the starting point and the focus before even relationship. They have to know that thinking about resource mobilization. “The focus has to start the Y cares about their communities…” with relationship building. You have to put the Y’s needs aside while building that relationship. They have to know that the Y cares about their communities before you turn on ‘How can you help the Y?’”
With time, though, giving levels of participating low-income families has doubled, and then tripled. Emilio waited several years before introducing the Strong Kids Campaign. In its first year in the community, the Y raised $15,000. Last year, the same number of families contributed $45,000.
The YMCA of Greater Long Beach’s early childhood education program is thriving in Latino and low-income communities. Emilio sees his program as an entry point to new communities and to new ways of working. “It’s a great way for us to brand ourselves in inner-city and low-income communities. We can’t expect our existing brand to get us in. We have to resell ourselves.”
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HOW TO START FROM SCRATCH
When Tony Shockency joined the Ed and Ruth Lehman YMCA as CEO, he joined a Y with no connections to the Latino community. Even though Longmont city is 25 percent Latino, and as many as half of the families residing in a mile or two radius of the Y are Latino, the Y had no Latino board members and no partnerships with Latino organizations. Tony had to start from scratch.
“I asked my maintenance guy, who is not Latino but grew up in the community, where do Latinos hang out here? He mentioned a bar. So I went there and I met the leader of a local Latino organization, El Comité.” El Comité, he soon discovered, was an important and well-respected organization in the Latino community. His linkages with other Latino leaders snowballed from there.
Tony met with as many Latino leaders as would listen. He used the opportunity of being new to the community and new to his role as CEO to request introduction meetings. Taking on new community causes He laid out his vision of being a community resource to means learning from others and the Latino population, and of reaching a place where reaching out for help. “When I met with Latinos feel that the Y is their own. He was also honest Latino leaders, I asked for their help, about where his Y was starting from. “I said to them, I and they said sure. They said no one want to be inclusive and more cause-driven, but I also had approached them like that before.” laid out that we are not culturally-competent and we don’t know what we’re doing. We need help.”
One of Tony’s entry strategies for building rapport with Latino organizations was to offer the use of his Y’s facilities. He opened the Y to any nonprofit that wanted to use it, and especially encouraged Latino organizations. His stipulated that current Y members also had to have the opportunity to benefit from services being offered in the facility. Within six months, four Latino-serving programs were on offer at his Y, including popular citizenship and ESL classes. “All of this over a year period jumped our credibility and trust in the community. They now knew that everyone was welcome here.”
The next step for the Longmont Y was developing Latino-relevant programming of its own. The Y partnered with several Latino organizations to develop and deliver early education and youth development programming for Latino children and youth, an ongoing initiative. Some of these partners, after having worked collaboratively with the Y to bring accessible and quality services to the Latino community, agreed to join his Y’s board. “Latino leaders now have a reason to be on our board because our work aligns with their causes. We didn’t start with volunteer representation; we started with programs and activities. We asked them to be on our board once we had trust and synergies.” The Y now has three Latino board members and Latino representation across its committees.
Weaving together Latino-relevant programming, relationships with Latino organizations, and board-level Latino representation was one part of Tony’s efforts toward inclusion. The other, equally important part was strengthening staff and leadership competency for inclusion, a cause Tony is passionate about driving forward at his Y and throughout the Y Movement.
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For Tony, an inclusive staff team is more than balancing Latino and non-Latino staff. It is building a team that can work comfortably within multiple cultures, that is comfortable with people who are different from them, and who can really listen. The ability to move between cultures is an under-valued skill set, and one that all Y professionals should have, like fundraising skills. In Tony’s experience, it is minority staff who frequently have these skills. “The Latino community is probably one of “Minorities have a distinct advantage because of their the most welcoming communities I have upbringing, by virtue of having grown up in multiple ever met. If someone cannot engage in cultures. They don’t have to be trained in cultural that community, you really have to ask competency, and, because of this skill set, they work well what is missing in their skill set.” in communities.” The challenge for the Y is attracting passionate, committed candidates who are seeking a truly inclusive workplace, and often find the Y lacking.
Changing this starts from the top. Tony advises other Y leaders to work on being inclusive themselves first. “Forget about what you know. Understand that you’ve probably got a lot to learn. It’s a personal thing, not a book you read about culture. It’s about building relationships, something we’re supposed to be good at as Y leaders.” Model that behavior at your Y, and others will follow.
Becoming inclusive and relevant to the Latino community was absolutely critical to the survival of Tony’s Y. Before Tony introduced inclusion efforts, the Longmont Y was functionally excluding over half of its surrounding community, a recipe for disaster. But with intentional relationship building, staff development, and partnership, the Y has been able to change its direction within just a few years, from a position of no engagement or entrée with the Latino community to Latino inclusion and involvement at all levels.
BOARD DEVELOPMENT
Recruiting Latino leaders to a YMCA board or task force can be challenging, according to René Brizuela, executive director of the Southeast-Rio Vista YMCA in Los Angeles. “When I came to this Y, the board was majority non- Hispanic and older. We’ve gone through a transformation since then, but it was very difficult to recruit Hispanics to the board.”
Ninety-eight percent of the Southeast-Rio Vista YMCA members are Latino, and census data for the area indicates that Latinos make up over 97 percent of the population. Nevertheless, available leaders were hard to find. Prospective board members needed to be well-known and established in the community. But established and recognized leaders already had multiple demands on their time and had to be sold on the YMCA’s mission.
Brizuela attributes his YMCA’s success in developing a board that reflects the community to connections he has established and cultivated with other groups active in the Latino community. YMCA leaders were identified and recruited from among those already active in community groups such as local Rotary and Kiwanis clubs. Like his YMCA’s membership and community, Latinos now make up the majority of the Southeast-Rio Vista YMCA board.
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BUILDING A FOUNDATION OF TRUST
“Elgin is a community going through dramatic change,” says Rick Reigner of the Greater Elgin Area YMCA in Illinois. “As a community, we are 44 percent Latino now, but we were not attracting Latinos to the Y, including into our workforce. As a CEO, I needed to look at that seriously.”
Initial outreach efforts, even using Spanish media, had limited success. “People were asking, Why should we embrace the Y? Where are the Latinos in staff and leadership?”
Reigner quickly realized that strengthening Latino numbers would require more than targeted outreach. The “Many other institutions and groups are YMCA needed to earn the trust of the community by seeing Latinos as an untapped market and demonstrating genuine commitment to Latino inclusion. asking what can we get from them, not “Many other institutions and groups are seeing Latinos as what can we give them.” an untapped market and asking what can we get from them, not what can we give them.”
The Greater Elgin Area YMCA looked to strategic partnerships to start building this foundation of trust and demonstrate the Y’s unique value to the Latino community. A Latino community leader survey identified health, physical fitness, and education as key issues and possible entry points for the Y. Mutual interest from Highland Elementary, where 70 percent of the students are Latino and a majority of students live at or below the poverty line, provided a timely and strategic opportunity for entry. The Y and Highland Elementary are partnering to strengthen Latino parent involvement in their children’s education by addressing identified barriers to participation. The partnership is using the Y as a more neutral site to bring parents, students, and educators together and, in the process, introduces the Y to new families and prospective members, staff, and leadership.
The Greater Elgin Area YMCA has called on Y-USA’s International Group throughout the process. International Group members were brought in to educate staff and leadership about the Latino community and were able to facilitate local linkages between the Y and Elgin-based Latino organizations and institutions such as the Elgin Recreation Center (ERC), a Latino-serving and Latino-led gym. Reigner also participated in the International Leadership Institute immersion trip to Latin America to gain a deeper understanding of the Latino community in Elgin and to demonstrate that the Y has an interest in and commitment to getting to know their community. For Reigner, the International Group and the resources, knowledge, and networks it leverages help differentiate the Y from other community-based organizations and recreation centers reaching out to the Latino community.
Asked what he would do differently if he were starting again, Reigner responded:
• “Take the time to develop an action plan first. To have been able to say that we already had a process in action, as well as Latino representation on the board and staff, would have cultivated trust in our initial meetings with prospective partners.”
• “Take the YMCA Diversity Initiative training at the beginning of the process to better position your team.”
• “Plan a half-day retreat or dedicated meeting for board members to ensure that your leadership is on board and invested.”
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STRENGTHENING INCLUSION INTERNATIONAL Y-TO-Y PARTNERSHIPS
Sometimes reaching out to international Ys in countries of origin can help your Y open doors to hard to reach groups in your own community. International Y-to-Y partnerships strengthen Ys by enabling learning and exchange around engagement strategies. They have enabled Y leaders in the United States to show local Latino populations that we are serious about understanding Latino backgrounds, cultures, and histories. Staff exchanges and shared learning around topics like program or service models, outreach strategies, leadership recruitment, or philanthropy can bring geographically distant Ys together in mutually beneficial ways to strengthen inclusion efforts.
An international Y-to-Y partnership can help your Y to
• better understand the cultures and histories of Latino populations in your area; TIP demonstrate commitment to understanding, • The Y is active in over 130 countries. adapting to, and forming lasting relationships with Newcomers may therefore already know Latino communities; about the global Y movement. The Y • strengthen inter-cultural competencies of Y staff might have been a part of their life and leadership, as well as members; before coming to the United States. Y- • learn about and test different approaches to USA can tell you more about the types of achieving the global Y movement’s shared goals; services and programs YMCAs provide in • become a platform for building global community a particular region or country. and meaningful linkages between diverse Y communities.
Y-USA International Group can help you access and leverage the global Y movement to inform and shape your engagement strategies. The International Group and Diversity and Inclusion departments are also available to
• work with your Y to develop a plan to strengthen inclusion and measure its success over time; • provide tips for engaging Latinos in particular Y programs; • assist your Y to adapt or develop new programs and service models that are inclusive of Latino communities;
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• share information about U.S. and overseas Ys demonstrating success in Latino and newcomer outreach and help you to contact them for more information;
• identify an overseas Y staff or volunteer to assist you with developing an outreach plan for Latino communities; • assist you in beginning an international program that will help your Y learn new outreach and services approaches and see your own community from a new perspective;
• explore or initiate an international partnership or a relationship to help your Y gain greater understanding of and access to a particular Latino population;
• share information and external resources and organizations that may support your Y initiatives; and • provide guidance and tips for elevating your YMCA World Service annual support strategies.
For more information, contact YMCA of the USA at 800-872-9622.
TIP Y-USA International Group offers a variety of resources and services to help Ys maximize their global engagement.
YMCA World Service (part of the International Group) raises awareness of and financial support for the powerful work of the global Y movement. Each year, U.S. Ys are instrumental in mobilizing support for World Service-funded programs around the world. Hosting a World Service fundraising event is a great way to build awareness of the Y as a global organization and to strengthen the engagement of your staff, volunteers, members, partners, and community.
For more information, call 800-872-9622 or visit the DIG community on Link.
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STRENGTHENING INCLUSION MEASURING PROGRESS AND SUCCESS
Strengthening Latino inclusion will change your Y. Capturing and communicating that change as you go will help consolidate support—both internally and externally—for your Y’s inclusion strategy. Being able to demonstrate tangible results and progress toward a collective goal shows people that the Y is serious about inclusion and helps them see and understand what inclusion means in action.
STEP 1: DEFINE “SUCCESS”
The first step to measuring progress is defining success. What is your Y’s purpose in strengthening Latino inclusion? Or, put in another way, what will your Y look like when it is newcomer inclusive? What are the signs of success?
Your Y’s Latino inclusion task force is your best resource for defining success, choosing indicators and determining ways to measure them, and setting milestones or targets for progress along the way.
Combining quantitative and qualitative indicators of success will provide a rich story about how your Y is changing. Quantitative inclusion indicators could include the following:
• Number or percentage of Latino members • Number or percentage of Latino program participants • Number or percentage of Latino staff • Number or percentage of Latino board members • Number or percentage of Latino volunteer hours (per month)
Quantitative indicators are usually easier to collect and understand, but they don’t always tell the whole story. To gather qualitative information on results, you will probably also want to ask questions like the following:
• What kinds of positions do Latino staff hold? Are Latinos represented in management and leadership?
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• Do Latinos feel more welcome than before? Do they believe the Y is as much for them as it is for others? • According to Latinos, are there fewer barriers than before to being part of the Y? What barriers remain and how can they be addressed?
• How do Latinos participate in decision-making at your Y? • Are the cultural competencies of your team suited to the Latino groups your Y is trying to engage? • What do Latino community partners think about your Y’s inclusion strategy and results? You may also want to measure progress against the business case for strengthening inclusion. The table below provides sample indicators for Y-USA International Group’s six areas of opportunity.
MEASURING PROGRESS AGAINST YOUR Y’S BUSINESS CASE FOR STRENGTHENING INCLUSION
Six Areas of Opportunity Sample Indicators
Leadership Development • Percentage of board members and senior management who are Latino • Percentage of board members and senior management with strong cultural competency to engage and serve Latinos • Percentage of board members and senior management with linkages to Latino communities (e.g., board positions with Latino community organizations)
Program Innovation • Number of programs/services that are new or have been adapted to strengthen Latino inclusion • Latino (and non-Latino) enrollment in new or adapted programs/services
Membership Development • Percentage of members who are Latino • Rate of Latino membership growth versus overall membership growth
Collaboration • Number of new and ongoing partnerships (including international Y-to-Y partnerships) that contribute to Latino inclusion
Financial Development • Grant revenue as a result of or in support of Latino inclusion • Percentage of individual donors who self-identify as Latino • Percentage of individual donor revenue from Latinos
Branding and Visibility • Percentage of new members or program participants referred by a Latino member or Latino community organization • Improved response ratings on the Latino member survey • Number of new approaches (donor, media, organizations seeking collaboration) as a result of or in support of Latino inclusion
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STEP 2: CHOOSE YOUR MEASUREMENT TOOLS
The tools you use to measure progress can be as simple as comparing Y statistics (e.g., member, participant, and staff numbers) to your area’s census figures to TIP determine whether Latino numbers in the Y are Monitoring doesn’t need to be equivalent to their proportion in your community. But for complicated. Simple measures can other measures, such as Latino attitudes, staff cultural generate the answers you need to competency, or reputation among Latino organizations evaluate progress and assess your and businesses, tools such as surveys, focus group inclusion efforts. Good monitoring is discussions, one-on-one interviews, and observation can taking the time to listen, understand, be used—the same tools you used in the community and reflect on how your Y is doing and inventory. A sample Latino member survey is found in the appendixes. Your Latino inclusion task force can help what it can do better to strengthen you adapt these questions to be appropriate to Latino Latino inclusion. members and targeted to the information you need.
STEP 3: KNOW WHERE YOU STARTED
The first and most important measure of progress is before you even begin: your baseline. Knowing where you started is crucial for being able to confidently say what change has occurred. Your baseline should be as comprehensive as possible so that as new information needs emerge, your Y is equipped to respond.
STEP 4: COMMUNICATE YOUR FINDINGS
Finally, put your results to work. Communicate your Y’s progress to your inclusion stakeholders: your staff, your board, your membership, your community partners, and, most importantly, Latinos themselves. Providing evidence of positive change expands support for inclusion, from both internal and external audiences, and demonstrates once more that your Y is serious about strengthening Latino inclusion.
FOR EXAMPLE… Success or goal statement: Our Y is Latinos’ organization of choice. Indicator: Percentage of Latino members and program participants. Means of measurement: Membership and program participation statistics and census figures for your area. Target: Latino participation and membership levels in our Y meet or exceed their proportion of the service area population by 2020.
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MONITORING METHODS
Learning what monitoring methods work for your Y and in your community can take some trial and error. The Southeast-Rio Vista YMCA in Los Angeles has experimented with several methods. Initially, the annual membership satisfaction survey was contracted out to an external firm. Twelve hundred paper surveys were mailed to members and only 84 came back. Even with incentives and follow-up phone interviews, the return rate was low.
Recognizing that this method was not yielding results, Executive Director René Brizuela decided to try an CAPTURING AND on-site method in which members were asked to TELLING STORIES participate in the member satisfaction survey while they were at the YMCA. Approached in person, Stories from Y members can provide a members were more willing to complete the survey wealth of information for monitoring and provide feedback. “Though there is some bias, progress and more. Stories help you on-site surveys are better and certainly more cost understand your impact on individual effective,” says Brizuela. Staff or volunteers from other lives and families, and contribute to the YMCA branches are used as interviewers in an effort Y’s visibility and branding in Latino to limit bias. communities, as well as among supporters and donors. Ask Latino members if they are willing to share their stories and start the conversation with questions such as:
• How did you hear about this Y? • Why (and when) did you become involved in the Y?
• How does the Y contribute to your life and to your family life?
• What are your priorities? How can this Y support these?
• Do members of your community face barriers to becoming part of this Y? How can we address these?
• How do you, or how can you, contribute to this Y?
• How can we work together to make this Y more inclusive?
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STRENGTHENING INCLUSION RESOURCES AND LINKS
YMCA OF THE USA RESOURCES
Link is an online resource that Y staff and volunteers can visit to connect with peers and featured contributors, as well a access YMCA news, knowledge, and tools from across the Movement. link.ymca.net
International Group supports local and international Y leaders as they address local, national, and international issues. Through YMCA World Service, the International Group promotes global education and raises awareness of and financial support for the work of the worldwide YMCA movement. To help Ys maximize their global engagement, the group offers training and workshops; Y-to-Y partnership collaboration and facilitation; World Service fundraising tips; global engagement assessment, consulting, and strategic planning; and newcomer and immigrant outreach strategy and training. Global Y Movement Strengthening page in the DIG community on Link
Diversity and Inclusion works with YMCAs of all sizes to help develop and integrate diversity and inclusion strategies to ensure access, inclusion, and engagement for all. DIG community on Link.
Brand Resource Center is a free online resource for member associations, providing access to marketing materials such as logos, images, and templates. theybrand.org.
Research Analytics and Insights exists to create and promote research-based knowledge and insight that informs and guides YMCA decision-makers in serving their communities. Research Analytics and Insights community on Link
Learn more about support and resources from YMCA of the USA at link.ymca.net or call 800-872-9622.
OTHER RESOURCES
Hispanics in Philanthropy is a network of grantmakers committed to strengthening Latino communities across the Americas.
www.hiponline.org
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The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund is a not-for-profit Latino litigation, advocacy, and educational outreach institution that fosters sound public policies, laws, and programs to safeguard the civil rights of Latinos in the United States.
www.maldef.org
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund empowers Latinos to participate fully in the political process, from citizenship to public service.
www.naleo.org
The National Council of La Raza is the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization and works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.
www.nclr.org
The National Latino Children’s Institute advocates on behalf of young Latinos and promotes programs and partnerships which support Latino children’s success and well-being. www.nlci.org
The Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicling Latinos’ growing impact on the nation.
www.pewhispanic.org
The U.S. Census Bureau publishes online census and survey data as well as extensive analyses and research reports on demographic trends, including briefs on the foreign-born population. See the appendixes for tips on accessing census data.
www.census.gov
www.census.gov/acs/
factfinder2.census.gov
The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is a national organization that represents the interests of the Hispanic business community to public and private sectors.
www.ushcc.com
DATA AND TRENDS RESOURCES
The Migration Policy Institute’s Immigration data hub: Migration facts, statistics, and maps, including information on remittances and historical immigration trends.
www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/
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Frequently requested statistics on immigrants and immigration in the United States, by Jeanne Batalova and Aaron Terrazas, Migration Policy Institute, December 2010. http://www.migrationinformation.org/usfocus/display.cfm?id=818
The Urban Institute’s Children of Immigrants Data Tool, an interactive tool designed to generate charts and tables using data from the American Community Survey. datatool.urban.org/charts/datatool/pages.cfm
Up for grabs: The gains and prospects of first- and second-generation young adults. A report by the Migration Policy Institute, issued November 2011. www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/youngadults-upforgrabs.pdf
The Population Reference Bureau provides demographic data and analysis on the United States and countries around the world. www.prb.org
Additional resources related to Latinos are listed in the Works Cited section.
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STRENGTHENING INCLUSION APPENDIXES
POTENTIAL COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Business organizations and groups Neighborhood business associations, Latino chamber of commerce, businesses that serve or employ Latinos
Civic groups Neighborhood associations, school boards, town committees
Community organizations Community-based agencies serving the Latino community Consulates
Faith-based organizations Churches, Bible study groups
Health service organizations Low-cost or no-cost clinics, hospitals, medical and dental offices, government health agencies
Local media Radio stations, newspapers, TV stations, local cable TV, local Web sites
Outdoor, sports, and recreation Soccer clubs, baseball leagues, boxing gyms
Political Political parties, caucuses, political action groups
Schools and universities PTA/PTO, school-associated clubs, afterschool care, alumni association
Social issues groups Volunteer organizations, immigrants’ rights groups, homeless advocacy, United Way
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CREATE A COMMUNITY PROFILE USING CENSUS DATA
Follow the quick steps below to generate a short profile of your community and its Latino population.
1. Go to www.census.gov and scroll down to the box labeled QuickFacts. Select your state from the drop-down menu and TIP state level (versus national) demographic statistics will appear. If long lists of statistics are not for you, follow these instructions to step 3, which generates a fact sheet 2. To focus in on your Y’s service area, select a county or for your Y’s city or county, and then click the link to city/village from the drop-down menus at the top of the page. Narrative Profile above the right-hand column. This A summary of city or county-level (compared to state, in the provides an easy-to-use description of key right column) demographic statistics will appear. Lines of demographic data for your area (including charts), and is an excellent starting point for understanding interest will be Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin and the community as a whole. Hispanic-owned firms.
3. For more in-depth information, click the link at the top of the right-hand column which says Browse data sets for [your city or county]. A bulleted list of data sets and their links will appear. Under American Community Survey (which is likely to have the most up-to-date information for your community), click on Demographic, Social, Economic, and Housing Characteristics. A fact sheet for Y’s city or county will appear. (To see how demographics in your community are changing over time, select one of the older data sets from this list and compare figures to today’s data; or, a tab for an older data set may appear at the top of the active fact sheet.)
4. The first sub-section of data is Social Characteristics; click the show more link to its right. Here (Selected Social Characteristics in the United States) you will find data about language spoken at home and the foreign born from Latin America. Under World Region of Birth of Foreign Born, see Latin America: this provides the proportion of the total newcomer population in your area which is Latino, as well as the absolute number of Latino newcomers. Immediately below this section is Language Spoken at Home and the percentage (and number) of your area’s population (5 years and over) which speak Spanish at home, as well as Spanish speakers who speak English less than “very well” (i.e., have limited English proficiency).
5. Return to the fact sheet for your Y’s city or county and click the show more link beside ACS Demographic Estimates. Here you will find data on the largest national origin groups which make up the Latino population in your area (e.g., Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican).
6. Return again to the fact sheet for your Y’s city or county. Under the left-hand menu, you may see a bullet for Fact Sheet for a Race, Ethnic, or Ancestry Group. Click this link and select “Hispanic or Latino (of any race)” from the population group menu. If a Latino-specific fact sheet exists for your area, it may not be as current as the overall population data but will provide additional detail and insight into your community’s Latino population, such as household and family size, age profile, educational attainment and school enrollment, employment information, and income and poverty.
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SAMPLE LATINO MEMBER SURVEY
Current Y members who are Latino are great sources of information about your Y’s services and about other Latinos in the community. These members can provide insight into the Y’s reputation in Latino communities and about the market and demand for programs and services.
This member survey can be completed by current members independently and anonymously, or through one-on-one or small group interviews with staff or volunteers.
Adapt the questions as needed to suit your Y’s context. While the majority of these sample questions are designed to be answerable on a scale of 1 to 5 (low to high) to facilitate easy compilation and analysis of responses, it is equally important to ask open-ended questions in order to hear what Latinos want to say. Ideas for probing questions to broaden your conversation are provided in the comments column. Consider asking Latino members additional questions from the table on page 57 to gather broader information about the Latino community as a whole.
Consider your target audience’s level of English proficiency when planning this survey. If possible, make the survey available (in print or online) in both English and Spanish.
INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS
What is your relationship to this Y (for example, member, participant, volunteer, staff, other)? For how long?
How would you describe your background or community?
Do you consider yourself a newcomer/immigrant?
What language(s) do you speak? What do you speak at home?
Please describe your household (for example, number of members, immediate and/or extended family, nonrelated household members). Are the other members of your household members of the Y? Would they like to be? Is there a barrier(s)?
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Survey questions Rating Comments (1 low 5 high)
1 What is the level of knowledge of this Y within your [How can we improve this?] community?
2 How is this Y viewed within your community? [How can we improve this?]
3 How is this Y viewed within your family? [How can we improve this?]
4 How is this Y viewed among your peers? [How can we improve this?]
5 To what extent do this Y’s staff and leadership [Who is missing?] reflect the community?
6 To what extent do this Y’s communications and [Who is missing?] facilities reflect the images and cultures of the people of this community?
7 Does this Y have a reputation for valuing diversity [Can you name an organization, business, or and inclusion? service in this area that has a strong reputation?]
8 To what extent do you feel that you belong when [What would strengthen your feeling of you’re in this Y? (Or, in other words, that this Y is belonging?] your own?)
9 To what extent do this Y’s programs and services [What could we add or change? Are there barriers meet your needs? to accessing what you need?]
10 To what extent do this Y’s programs and services [What could we add or change? Are there barriers meet your family’s needs? to accessing what they need?]
11 To what extent do this Y’s programs and services [What could we add or change? Are there barriers meet your community’s needs? to accessing what they need?]
12 How well does this Y understand the needs and [How can we understand this better?] interests of your community?
13 Are you aware that we have a Latino Inclusion Task [Is this something you would be interested in Force? Do you know anyone on it? participating in?]
14 What kinds of programs, services, facilities, [Are there services from other providers that partnerships, or institutional changes would you like you’d like to see hosted in the Y?] to see at this Y?
15 Is there anything else you would like to say that hasn’t been asked?
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GLOSSARY OF TERMS RELATED TO HISPANIC/LATINO COMMUNITIES
Access The opportunity or right to experience, participate in or make use of programs, services, facilities, staff/volunteer/leadership roles, etc.
Boricua A term used to describe a Puerto Rican or a person of Puerto Rican descent. It is derived from the Taíno name for the island of Puerto Rico, Boriquen. The Taíno are the indigenous inhabitants of Hispaniola (the island now shared by Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico, and the eastern tip of Cuba, and are a subculture of the Arawak. Many scholars consider the Taíno to be extinct, wiped out by genocide and disease; however, some native groups still identify themselves as Taíno.
Chicano/Chicana American with Mexican heritage. Chicano is deemed to be offensive by some Mexican-Americans, who prefer other identities such as Hispanic, Latino, or even Spanish. In Mexico, it is a popular term for Mexican- American, although some in Mexico say the term can refer to a person from a lower socio-economic class. In the United States, the term carries multiple meanings. Some believe Chicano was originally a derogatory term, while others believe it was an abbreviation of the term Mexicano (the letter X is pronounced as CH). Sabine Ulibarri, a recognized author from Tierra Amarilla, N.M., notes that Chicano is a politically charged term. The term was adopted by Chicano social rights activists in the 1960s as a political term that recognized both indigenous and Spanish roots. These activists included Corky Gonzales, who wrote Yo soy Joaquín, and César Chávez, the migrant labor leader of United Farm Workers and the famous grape boycott. In the 1960s, the Chicano movement MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán) was also formed. Chicano is sometimes written as Xicano.
Citizenship The country in which a person is born or naturalized and in which that person has rights and responsibilities. (Migration Policy Institute 2011)
Cultural competence (for organizations) A set of congruent skills, abilities, behaviors, attitudes, leadership qualities and/or policies that come together across professionals, a system and/or an organization enabling the effective practice of cultural relevancy, humility, awareness, sensitivity and respect across differences in cultural beliefs, language, national origin, socio-economics, age, gender, education level, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, styles of learning/communication/appearance, lifestyle, organizational culture, etc.
Diversity The variety of differences among people and groups that create value and opportunity
First-generation immigrant A foreign-born individual who is not a U.S. citizen at birth and whose parents are not U.S. citizens. (Fry and Passel 2009)
Foreign-born Used by the U.S. Census Bureau to refer to anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth. This includes naturalized U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (immigrants), temporary migrants (such as foreign students), humanitarian migrants (such as refugees), and people illegally present in the United States. (U.S. Census Bureau n.d.)
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Foreign migrant workers Foreigners admitted by the receiving State for the specific purpose of exercising an economic activity remunerated from within the receiving country. Their length of stay is usually restricted as is the type of employment they can hold. (Migration Policy Institute 2011)
Hispanic One of several terms used to describe residents of the United States with backgrounds or ancestry from Spanish-speaking countries. It is used to identify immigrants (and their descendants) of a wide range of ethnicities, races, cultures, and nationalities who use or have used Spanish as a primary language. Often the term Hispanic is used synonymously with the word Latino. However, Hispanic specifically refers to people from Spain or the various Spanish-speaking nations. Latinos are people of Latin American origin. For example, a Brazilian would be Latino, but not specifically Hispanic (unless he or she is of Spanish origin as well). Likewise a Spaniard would be Hispanic according to most common definitions of the term, but not Latino. Some people would argue that since Spaniards are Europeans, they should not be included in a category designated as a minority group in the United States. However, others would counter that Spain and Spanish-speaking countries, despite many differences, are part of the same greater cultural sphere.
Some people consider Hispanic to be too general as a label, and some consider it offensive, often preferring the term Latino, which is viewed as a self-chosen term. Again, Latino refers to people from Latin America and excludes Spain. The current use of the term Hispanic gained acceptance relatively recently, as a result of its promotion by the U.S. government and for census collection. Previously, this group was commonly referred to as Spanish-Americans, Spanish-surnamed Americans, or Spanish-speaking Americans; however, these terms proved misleading or inaccurate in many cases.
Hispanics and Latinos often identify with their national origin or ancestry. These terms often relate to specific countries of origin, such as Mexican, Mexican American, Cuban, Cuban American, Dominican, Puerto Rican, etc. Other terms signify distinct cultural patterns among Hispanics/Latinos that have emerged in what is now the United States, including Chicano (see below) or Tejano (Spanish for “Texan,” it refers to native Texans of Latino descent).
Hispanic/Latinos are an ethnic group that may be of any race but are often listed as a category group separate from whites, Blacks, and other racial groups in the United States. The Hispanic/Latino population includes people who identify with different racial and ethnic groups. Many Hispanics, particularly those of Mexican and Central American ancestry, identify as mestizos (of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry). Many other Hispanics with Dominican, Puerto Rican, Colombian, or Cuban backgrounds are of black African or mixed-black ancestry. A number of Hispanic-Americans have Asian, Middle Eastern, and non-Spanish European ancestry, further demonstrating the complexity of what it means to be Hispanic/Latino. Many Hispanics, including U.S.–born second- and third-generation Hispanics, use the Spanish language to varying degrees. The most usual pattern is monolingual Spanish usage among new immigrants or older foreign-born Hispanics, some bilingualism among long-settled immigrants and their children, and the use of English, “Spanglish,” and colloquial Spanish within long-established Hispanic communities by the third generation and beyond.
Immigrant According to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS): “An alien who has been granted the right by the USCIS to reside permanently in the United States and to work without restrictions in the United States. Also known as a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). All immigrants are eventually issued a ‘green card’ (USCIS Form I-551), which is the evidence of the alien’s LPR status.” An alien is an individual who is not a U.S. citizen or U.S. national. (U.S. Internal Revenue Service 2010) Note that this definition is more specific and legalistic than Y-USA’s more general use of the term ‘immigrant.’
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Inclusion The full engagement, participation, and development of all existing and potential YMCA communities
Latino (masculine) or Latina (feminine) A person of Latin American heritage or from a Latin American culture. The term Latin America refers loosely to countries south of the United States: used this way, it covers all of South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Sometimes it is used in a strict sense to refer solely to the nations in those geographical regions where the Spanish and Portuguese languages predominate; this narrower definition excludes the countries and territories where English and other languages are spoken (e.g., Jamaica, Belize, Guyana, Suriname, Haiti, etc.). The U.S. Census Bureau uses the term “Hispanic or Latino” to refer to “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race” (Humes, Jones and Ramirez 2011).
Majority-minority crossover Occurs when the minority populations become the numeric majority; that is, when less than 50 percent of the population is non-Hispanic white. (Ortman and Guarneri, United States Population Projections: 2000 to 2050 2009)
Mestizo/Mestiza A term of Spanish origin describing peoples of mixed-race background. In Latin America, the term originally referred to the children of one European and one American-Indian parent. Later the term became common for all people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry in the Spanish colonies. Mestizos officially make up the majority of the population in most Latin American countries. Mexico is predominately mestizo. Many Americans of Hispanic and Latino origin identify themselves as mestizos as well, particularly those who also identify as Chicano.
Many mestizos, Mexicans, and Mexican-Americans use the term la raza in recognition of their indigenous roots. Literally translated as “the race,” the term refers to the European-Indigenous mixing of people as a result of colonization. The phrase is explained on a historical marker in Mexico City: “The fall of the Aztec empire to the Spanish army was neither defeat nor victory, but the painful birth of the Mestizo people who are Mexico.” In honor of this history, Columbus Day in Mexico is celebrated as Dia de la Raza (day of the race) rather than in celebration of Spanish colonization.
Mulatto/Mulatta Originated with the racial policies of European colonizers in the Americas, notably the Spanish. In Latin America, the term originally referred to a child of one European and one African parent, but today refers to all people with a significant amount of both European and African ancestry. One criticism of the term is that it ignores the huge amount of racial intermixing in North America in which few people have African ancestry without significant amounts of European ancestry.
Naturalization The process by which U.S. citizenship is granted to a foreign citizen or national after he or she fulfills the requirements established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). (U.S. Citizenship and Immigrant Services 2011)
Native The U.S. Census Bureau uses the term native to refer to anyone born in the United States or a U.S. Island Area such as Puerto Rico, or born abroad of a U.S. citizen parent. (U.S. Census Bureau n.d.)
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Newcomer A person who lives in a country different from where s/he was born, regardless of reason, purpose, or status . Newcomers include immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, foreign students, and temporary workers, and often the U.S. born children of new immigrants.
Remittances Monies earned or acquired by migrants and immigrants that are transmitted back to their country of origin. (Migration Policy Institute 2011)
Second-generation immigrant An individual who is a U.S. citizen at birth (i.e., born in the U.S.) with at least one foreign-born parent. (Fry and Passel 2009)
Source: Unless otherwise noted, adapted from Wikipedia 2006. Writers and contributors found that Wikipedia offers the best source for this type of glossary because it provides detail and background on how terms are presently used and their various connotations. Other dictionary definitions tended to be very brief and did not provide the socio-political connotations of particular terms in contemporary usage.
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