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DTV Acceso Hispano Centers Achieve the Objective with Outreach to the Elderly in Puerto Rico

The First Triennial Conference on Latino Education and Immigrant Integration

At Nearly 80, Sí, Dolores Huerta Can

“Driving while Mexican or Latino”

Smog before birth may hurt IQ

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DTV Acceso Hispano Centers Achieve the Objective with Outreach to the Elderly in Puerto Rico

Acceso Hispano has been working with the FCC on its DTV initiative to successfully transition analog television users to digital television. We have developed a coalition of faith-based organizations to operate Walk-In Centers in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago and in San Juan, Ponce and Patillas Puerto Rico. In these centers, Acceso Hispano, in conjunction with its faith-based partners, are offering coupon application assistance with wireless internet capability, as well as live demonstrations on the converter box installation process to support the community’s transition to digital television.
The Acceso Hispano Walk-In Centers in Puerto Rico saw a great need to focus their outreach efforts to serving the elderly. There may be several reasons why there was a substantial need in Puerto Rico to serve the elderly, among them:
•    There is an even higher life expectancy in Puerto Rico as versus the U.S. as a whole (78.58 years as versus 77.8 years)
•    There are high levels of migration of young Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland, estimated at 2 million people. As the total population in the island is just under 4 million, this migration is significant and some elderly may have been left behind.

“Padre Colacho,” as he is affectionately called by his parishioners at the Parroco Maria Auxiliadora Church in San Juan, states that the center has been an experience like no other. Padre Colacho is well known in the Puerto Rican Catholic community due to his extensive outreach, however, this effort has been unique in that it has brought him even closer to his parishioners, requiring home visits to those most in need—especially the elderly.  He and Aitza Garcia, the employee at the center have referred to the FCC-sponsored installers as much as possible, however the demand was so great, he also requested the help of church volunteers to go to the homes of his elderly congregants. Aitza explains that although the elderly would come to the center to learn through demonstrations, many found they still needed the on-site assistance, and younger parishioners would help the elderly to get the job done. Padre Colacho indicates that this has brought everyone closer together and has been an enriching experience.

Although Padre Colacho is our favorite celebrity in Puerto Rico, Nestor Murray is the star performer of our operations there.  A graduated Manufacturing Engineer with 9 years experience in the Aerospace Industry, Nestor is currently in search of full-time employment, and aimed for the stars with this temporary assignment.  As supervisor of the Sagrado Corazon Church center, Nestor demonstrated great discipline and dedication to conducting an effective outreach program by going at least twice a week, every week without fail, to the nearby lower income residential areas, the “barrios” and “residencias.” He was equipped with flyers and other literature to promote the service at the center. Through these efforts, his center has definitely achieved the goal of serving the elderly and economically disadvantaged, and through his diligence, more than doubled the results of other centers!

Jose Manuel Berdecia, supervisor of the Inmaculado Corazon de Maria Church, has also focused extensively on the elderly and is our favorite “son” so to speak, as he is only 19 years old, yet well trained in outreach through volunteer work in the past two years. Early in our campaign, Jose Manuel identified a nearby senior citizen residence, with 5 floors, and 15 rooms on each floor. Room by room, Jose Manuel informed the elderly in this residence about DTV and about our services, providing assistance for those that were immobilized and could not visit the center. He indicated that many did not realize or understand that they would completely lose signal, and were very grateful for his help.

And last but not least, Arlene Varela is a part time computer science teacher, and has been our supervisor for the San Juan Bosco Church. Arlene has also conducted door to door outreach to notify the nearby residential area of the existence of the center. She has helped several elderly in those door to door visits, with literature and guidance about DTV. In one of her visits, Arlene discovered an elderly disabled man who needed an outside antenna installed but did not have the money for the installation.  Arlene referred this to the FCC-funded expert installer, who successfully installed the antenna.

In all these instances, our Church partners have achieved the goal of reaching out to and serving the elderly and economically disadvantaged in their community.  Acceso Hispano is very grateful to them for helping us reach our common objective.  As is often claimed in their tourism ads, “Puerto Rico lo hace mejor,” or Puerto Rico does it better!

The First Triennial Conference on Latino Education and Immigrant Integration

October 26, 2009

to

October 28, 2009

As educational researchers, social scientists, and practitioners turn their attention to the persistent and increasing Latino student achievement gap in the United States, unprecedented tensions centered on failed standards-based educational reforms and contested immigration policy continue to grow. How, in a heavily politicized climate, can immigration-related effects on education be effectively addressed? What “best practices” will help to close the Latino student achievement gap, and how might these practices be disseminated in the face of often hostile, apathetic legislatures and/or school boards? What are the policy and research agendas of Latino-focused centers around the country, and how can these groups come together with decision makers? These and related questions will be a particular focus of attention at the First Triennial Conference on Latino Education and Immigration. We invite educators, foundation members, scholars, elected officials, and the community to three days of substance, research, and policy orientation as these issues relate to Latino education, defined broadly.

http://www.coe.uga.edu/clase/conference/index.htm

At Nearly 80, Sí, Dolores Huerta Can

Dolores Huerta will be forever linked with Cesar Chavez and Philip Vera Cruz as a co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) in the 1960s. As director of a grape workers strike and a national boycott against grape growers for the meager wages afforded their workers, Huerta was instrumental in orchestrating efforts that led to a major victory for the UFW and the labor movement.

Huerta, who left the union several years ago to found the Dolores Huerta Foundation in Bakersfield, Calif., proudly announced at the AARP Diversity Conference in Chicago, “Next year I will be 80.” She was honored at the conference as one of the nation’s extraordinary older women.

The energetic Huerta dedicated her foundation to supporting efforts in community organizing. She told the 600 attendees that one former organizer – President Barack Obama – told her, “I stole your slogan.” In English, Huerta’s phrase, “Sí se puede!” which galvanized the farmworkers movement, translates as “Yes, we can!”

In an interview, Huerta noted, “I still work with farmers and we teach the importance of the unions, but I wanted to include other activities as well.” She has become a frank critic of America’s failure to value elders and calls for new strategies to bind generations together.

“I think the elderly have a lot to contribute to society, and the way to do it is to have seniors incorporated into the community” rather than promoting programs that “shut them off in a corner.” She encourages communities to devise ways to tap the knowledge and wisdom older adults have to offer.

“Our whole society is so youth focused,” Huerta contended, and “Anglo or U.S. culture demeans elderly people.” Generally, she believes, “cultures of color have more respect for elders.” Traditional views, though, are being challenged by the rapid aging of the Hispanic population in the United States. Expected to more than double in the next two decades, the Latino population of those age 65 or older will yield increasing numbers of older adult children caring for very elderly parents.

Although Huerta noted that Latinos are deeply reluctant to place their elders in nursing homes, sometimes those in their 50s or 60s face their own debilitating medical conditions and may not have the strength to assist their aging parents. Unable to lift their parents from a chair, bed or bathtub, these aging boomers will increasingly confront their “pangs of guilt,” she said, over finding a long-term-care placement for a frail parent.

Huerta acknowledged that “the longevity facing baby boomers, especially women,” will only intensify the stress on families trying to cope with aging relatives. She conceded that government cannot do everything, but refused to accept the conservative political position that the Social Security system should be downsized. In order to provide an effective safety net for families, she said, “More economic resources need to be appropriated.” That’s a goal, she added, best accomplished through continued pressure on politicians. “You do it the same way you organize communities,” she stressed.

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AARP is reaching out to Latino members of the community over 50 years of age who would like to join.  Click here for more information.

Author: Khalil Abdullah
Source: New America Media

“Driving while Mexican or Latino”

TAVARES - During the past two years, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office detained more than 200 people solely because they were suspected of being an illegal or undocumented immigrant.

The arrest count is by far the highest of any other Central Florida county that could provide statistics from the same period, and the practice of detaining individuals without criminal charges is being called into question by civil-liberties and immigration advocates who suggest the Sheriff’s Office is conducting racial or ethnic profiling.

According to arrest records in the 215 cases reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel, Lake County deputies customarily stopped vehicles, questioned occupants and then became suspicious about immigration status.

They then typically contacted the U.S. Border Patrol, which issued “detainers,” and the individuals usually were then held at the Lake County Jail until they were picked up by federal authorities for deportation proceedings.

No criminal charges are listed on any of the booking sheets, records show.

Instead, deputies cited “Courtesy Hold for Border Patrol” or “Hold for Border Patrol” and a Florida civil statute regarding contempt of court.

Virtually all the cases involve individuals with Hispanic surnames.

“It used to be [called] ‘driving while black,’” Sister Ann Kendrick with the Hope Community Center told Borders. “Now it’s ‘driving while Mexican or Latino.’ People are terrified. They’re afraid to drive. … People are terrified of you.”

Police departments across Central Florida — from Orlando to Kissimmee to Leesburg — generally do not ask about federal detainers unless they’ve arrested someone on a criminal charge and the individual’s citizenship comes into question.

“It doesn’t happen at all with us,” said Stacie Miller, a spokeswoman for Kissimmee police. “We don’t arrest them and hold them until a detainer comes in. … We focus on if there is a crime.”

Among Lake County crime fighters from late 2007 to early this year, the Sheriff’s Office was the arresting agency in 215 cases in which detainers were issued without charges.

The detentions in Lake gained widespread attention earlier this year when Tavares police arrested an illegal-immigrant mother from Honduras without a criminal charge.

Rita Cote — who had an administrative warrant for deportation — was held in jail for more than two weeks, well beyond the 48 hours allowed under federal law.

Cote and her husband are now preparing to sue Tavares police and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, according to their attorney.

Since 2001, there has been “a great deal of confusion regarding the actual authority of local and state police to enforce federal immigration law,” according to a 2007 immigration report written by Michele Waslin, a senior analyst with the Immigration Policy Center.

Even the federal regulation governing the detainers is open to interpretation about whether local law enforcement should first have custody of an individual before they get issued.

The Miami-Dade Police Department has issued a Legal Bulletin citing court cases and stating “local or state police officers should not arrest or detain an individual solely on the basis of such a detainer or other civil hold order …”

Borders defends his deputies: “If here’s a traffic stop and they [suspects] cannot produce identification and it’s determined they may be here illegally, we contact Border Patrol,” he said. “If a federal law-enforcement agency — whether they ask or demand [to hold someone on a detainer] — we’re going to do that.”

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Author: Anthony Colarossi

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Smog before birth may hurt IQ

Researchers for the first time have linked air pollution exposure before birth with lower IQ scores in childhood, bolstering evidence that smog may harm the developing brain.

The results are in a study of 249 children of New York City women who wore backpack air monitors for 48 hours during the last few months of pregnancy. They lived in mostly low-income neighborhoods in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx. They had varying levels of exposure to typical kinds of urban air pollution, mostly from car, bus and truck exhaust.

At age 5, before starting school, the children were given IQ tests. Those exposed to the most pollution before birth scored on average four to five points lower than children with less exposure.

That’s a big enough difference that it could affect children’s performance in school, said Frederica Perera, the study’s lead author and director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health.

It suggests that you don’t have to live right next door to a belching factory to face pollution health risks, and that there may be more dangers from typical urban air pollution than previously thought, he said.

“We are learning more and more about low-dose exposure and how things we take for granted may not be a free ride,” he said.

While future research is needed to confirm the new results, the findings suggest exposure to air pollution before birth could have the same harmful effects on the developing brain as exposure to lead, said Patrick Breysse, an environmental health specialist at Johns Hopkins’ school of public health.

And along with other environmental harms and disadvantages low-income children are exposed to, it could help explain why they often do worse academically than children from wealthier families, Breysse said.

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“It’s a profound observation,” he said. “This paper is going to open a lot of eyes.”

The study was released in the August edition of Pediatrics.

Author: Lindsay Tanner
Source: Associated Press