2002 Celebration
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2002 Celebration |
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Programs Centro, Inc. Program Descriptions Centro, Inc. Contact: Star Tribune Foundation Centro, formerly known as Centro Cultural Chicano, is a culturally based social service agency that has served the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area for more than 29 years. Its mission is to empower the Latino community by providing services that eliminate the barriers to self-sufficiency. Centro programs include housing, employment services, crisis services, women’s programs, maternal and child health, health and wellness, adult and children’s mental health, primary care, home purchasing services, and a food pantry designed to serve the Latino community. The Early Childhood Education Readiness Program prepares children ages 3 to 5 for kindergarten by providing parents with culturally appropriate activities and learning opportunities. Parents also receive referrals for other support services (ESL classes, health screening, domestic abuse intervention, job referrals, etc.). Centro recognizes that children will not be successful in school unless their basic living needs are met, and this requires services beyond child care. Opportunities for one-on-one reading, physical activities, and one-on-one basic English language vocabulary acquisition are provided to the children. Almost every child participating in Centro’s Early Childhood Program is living in extreme poverty. At the Siembra Child Care Center, these children are integrated with other Latino children from different socioeconomic backgrounds, giving them an opportunity to interact in a classroom setting similar to what they will encounter in the public school system. The center provides financial support for the program on a sliding scale. Cultural activities are an integral part of the program. Holidays and festivities such as posadas, parandas, and El Día de los Muertos are observed. The center’s physical surroundings include a mural depicted in a typical Latino folk art style. Centro believes that the most important relationship and the strongest cultural value within the Latino community is la familia: it defines who you are and how you live your life. In the Latino culture, one’s identity is based on being part of a family—a group identity instead of an individual one. This value translates into providing culturally appropriate services in child care by realizing that although the child receives child care, the entire family is involved in that child’s educational experience. At Centro, parents are required to volunteer in the Early Childhood Education Readiness Program, supervising children, conducting play activities, and preparing meals. Field trips are planned not only during daytime hours when the center is open, but also on occasional weekends and evenings to allow family members to participate. Teachers develop outcome expectations for both the child and the parents—for example, gaining a basic understanding of learning theory, expanding their English vocabulary, and improving the nutritional level of the child. Another cultural value central to interaction with others is that of respeto. Its essence does not culturally translate into “respect” as understood in the dominant culture. Rather, respeto means that one’s right to exist is directly related to one’s ability to treat others with respect. It means that one understands one’s role ascribed within the culture (i.e., elder, male, female, child) and stays within those cultural boundaries. Teachers who are not bicultural or culturally competent may not recognize the challenges related to this value. For example, a parent might agree with everything the teacher says and might fail to volunteer information about the child; as a result, related issues or agreements might not be addressed or carried out because the parent is uncomfortable disagreeing with the teacher or modifying the agreement. Centro is committed to building the capacity of the Latino community in Minneapolis and creating a community at the agency. The Early Childhood Education Readiness Program provides an opportunity for families living in isolation due to language and other barriers to gain a sense of belonging. Parents are very proud that their children are able to participate in Centro’s program. La Escuelita Contact La Escuelita’s mission is to provide academic excellence with culturally appropriate services that foster effective communication, self-discipline, active citizenship, self-esteem, and cultural pride for Spanish-speaking youth and their families. The program’s curriculum facilitates students’ global thinking and prepares them to compete in a world-class arena. Students have varying levels of education and skills, with different backgrounds and countries of origin: their common thread is an intense desire for learning and an ambition to succeed in the United States. The school began in 1992 as a summer program designed to provide newly arrived Spanish-speaking high school students with social and educational services. Today the year-round program serves middle school students as well, and activities take place after school. Enrollment in school is required, and participation in extracurricular activities is encouraged. The lack of programs serving Spanish-speaking youth was the most obvious reason to begin La Escuelita. Spanish-language-dominant elementary students were the largest influx of students into Minnesota public schools, and research shows that students who participate in school activities have a greater chance of graduating than those who do not. La Escuelita is deeply rooted in the belief that the community offers unlimited opportunities for everyone. The model of “a school without walls” is the driving force behind the curriculum, allowing staff to use community organizations, government agencies, and the Minneapolis School District to impact the quality of education. The program nurtures bilingualism as a bridge to cultural understanding, and its thematic approach is based on local history or students’ personal interests. The program continually searches for exposure to different aspects of the community and encourages students to participate as citizens. Staff fulfills the need for positive role models for students and seeks to counteract the negative stereotypes they encounter every day. The program arranges visits to leaders in the Latino community, participates as a group at community events, and visits private businesses and recreational areas. These activities help students to see themselves differently and provide the community with a positive view of Latino youth. Proyecto Para Menores Contact Proyecto Para Menores was established to help prevent child abuse and neglect in the Latino community and to advocate for the preservation of the rights of Latino children. It is sponsored by Centro Legal, Inc., a private, nonprofit community law firm whose mission is to provide affordable, quality, bilingual-bicultural legal representation, education, and advocacy to the Latino community of Minnesota. This community has been historically underserved and faces tremendous linguistic, cultural, and economic barriers. Proyecto Para Menores consists of two components: legal representation and advocacy for abused and/or neglected Latino children in the seven-county metro area, and statewide community education to prevent child abuse and child neglect in the Latino community. The program was developed as a result of evidence that bias existed in the handling of child protection cases involving children of color. Of the Latino children removed from their homes, only 7 percent are placed with same-culture foster parents. This further displaces the children, who are deprived of their cultural heritage and native language. Moreover, the children are often separated from their siblings and become isolated from any links to familial heritage. As a result, Latino children end up in correctional facilities more often and have higher rates of delinquency and lower graduation rates than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. Legal staff represent Latino children who have been abused and/or neglected. This includes children who have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care, as well as children who are not yet involved in the system. When children are involved in the child protection system, the attorney advocates for bilingual and culturally sensitive services and otherwise provides a voice for the child in the legal system. The program hosts information workshops for Latinos and publishes informational columns on legal issues in Spanish in local Latino newspapers. Staff make age-appropriate presentations to children on topics such as shaken baby syndrome, abuse and neglect, personal safety, and school dropout prevention. The program also provides information to parents on topics such as Minnesota law governing abuse and neglect, what to do if they become involved in the child protection system, mandatory reporting of child abuse, and nonviolent, age-appropriate discipline and ways to safety-proof the home. Discapacitados Abriéndose Caminos Ana M. Pérez Discapacitados Abriéndose Caminos was created in response to the need for Spanish-language materials and services for Latino families with special education needs in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The program’s seed was planted during a meeting to discuss the services available to families. One mother, who only spoke Spanish, asked for resources in that language. She was told that no services or materials were available in Spanish. This led to the creation of the first support group for Latino families of children with disabilities. The ARC provided start-up funding and the local Head Start provided transportation for the families. Discapacitados Abriéndose Caminos, which loosely translates as “finding our own way,” provides home visits, sight translation of documents, and referrals to other community resources, as well as information interpretation services, a 24-hour hotline, orientation for Spanish-speaking families with physically or mentally challenged children as well as for service providers, a family support group, and mediation and advocacy for Latino families in the school system. Hispanic Pre-College Project, University of St. Thomas Contact In 1990, the University of St. Thomas founded the Hispanic Pre-College Project, whose mission is to improve the quality of education for Latino youth and their families, by partnering with youth, parents, families, and the community to address educational issues within the Latino context. The project’s main areas of focus are direct educational services to youth and parents, outreach and support to families, collaboration with schools and other community agencies, advocacy, and policy development. The project design is based on the findings of a Latino educational needs assessment completed by the university in 1989. Two after-school and summer enrichment programs help students get a positive start in school and build an academic and personal foundation for success: Academia del Pueblo serves Latino first- through fifth-graders, and Project Success serves Latino sixth- through eighth-graders. Academia aims to reduce early academic failure and increase retention using methods such as the Language Experience Approach, workstations, and small-group and hands-on activities. Project Success provides students with career and cultural awareness, academic enrichment activities, homework assistance, personal development opportunities, motivation, and skills to succeed in school. Through the High School Teaching Assistant Mentoring Initiative, youth are hired for both programs to serve as teaching assistants; they also participate in group discussions about academics, career planning, colleges, and scholarships. The coordinator of these enrichment activities also arranges professional mentors for youth in their career-interest areas. Another program, Parents as Partners, strives to increase the effectiveness of Latino parents as active partners in their children’s education by providing them with educational information and skills. Child care and transportation are provided. Finally, the Parent Outreach Initiative assists parents at home with learning activities that reinforce their children’s academic skills; provides advocacy and referral resources to meet basic needs; helps parents become involved in their children’s education; and develops leadership skills by encouraging parents to become involved in the community.
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