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July 2021
“’Latinx’ is such a broad and complex term. It encompasses communities, not just one community. It's rich and full of culture, colors, languages and religious beliefs. So when you talk about ‘Latino’ or ‘Latinx,’ think twice.”
—Monica Guerrero Vazquez
Executive Director, Centro SOL
Member, Baltimore Children’s Cabinet
Our Hispanic and Latinx neighbors make up nearly 6% of Baltimore residents, up from 4% in 2010, and represent our city’s fastest growing community. Because of this, we in the Mayor’s Office of Children & Family Success are working our fastest to get to know, better understand and connect with our Hispanic and Latinx families who, like so many in Baltimore, have historically faced barriers to the opportunities and resources they need to thrive. Thanks to our staff, partners and members of the community themselves, we are learning every day how we as an agency can best support and celebrate Baltimore’s Hispanic and Latinx households.
In this newsletter, we share some of these learnings with you, our partners in the critical work to radically improve the lives of all of Baltimore’s children, youth and families.
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Monica Guerrero Vazquez
“Who I am, and why I am here right now”
“I am an immigrant from Ecuador and really, that's the beginning of everything,” says Monica Guerrero Vazquez, Executive Director of Centro Sol. “That's who I am, and why I am where I am right now.”
Centro Sol promotes health and equity for Baltimore’s Hispanic and Latinx community through clinical care, research, education and advocacy at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Monica does all these things in other settings, too, including on the city’s Trauma-Informed Care Task Force and the Baltimore Children’s Cabinet, where the Mayor’s Office of Children & Family Success partners closely with her. As our partner, Monica constantly challenges us to better support Baltimore’s Hispanic and Latinx families.
When Monica came to Baltimore she had a formative lesson in how we as a city tend to view our immigrant communities. “I didn't know I was Latina,” she says. “And when I ask Latino individuals if they identify themselves as Latinos, their answer is, ‘No, I'm from this country’ or ‘No, I'm a normal person’ or something like that.
“Latinx is such a broad and complex term,” she adds. “It encompasses communities, not just one community. It's people who are born here, people of Latino descent, people who migrate to the U.S. It's rich and full of culture, colors, languages and religious beliefs. So when you talk about ‘Latino’ or ‘Latinx,’ think twice.”
On the Children’s Cabinet, Monica pushes to make sure equity is always front and center for all of Baltimore’s families.
“When we finally come to an agreement of what the problem is and what the solution is, we have to think of the layers. We have to break it down to make it culturally and linguistically appropriate for all communities. Cultural agreement is broader than just talking about, ‘Let's have something translated to Spanish.’ It’s beyond that.”
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“There are a lot of historic disparities…that we have not solved yet in Baltimore City. I like celebrating accomplishments. But I don't like to forget that we still have a long way to go.”
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Latinx: Refers to a person of, relating to or marked by Latin American origin or descent. “Latinx” is a gender-neutral or non-binary alternative to Latino or Latina and is an ethnicity, not a racial category. Some choose to self-identify as Latinx, Latino or Latina, some do not. |
Hispanic: Refers to a person of, or relating to Spanish-speaking Latin America or of Spanish-speaking descent. It is an ethnicity, not a racial category. Some choose to self-identify as Hispanic, some do not. |
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Getting SE Families School-Ready
 Near-100-degree temperatures didn’t keep Carmen Velazquez and her son, Christopher—or dozens of other families—from coming to the Southeast CAP Center throughout July to receive free computers and wifi. In partnership with PCs4People, Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) and Southeast Community Development Corporation (SECDC), the Southeast CAP Center is working to provide up to 100 households with the technology they need to navigate day-in and day-out family life, including setting up their students for success as they get ready to go back to school.
Five-year-old Christopher, who only speaks Spanish, will start kindergarten this fall at Holabird Academy. Having a computer will make him more successful, Carmen says. Until now she has only been able to use the TV to teach him English, but with the computer she has all kinds of new tools.
While the immediate goal of CAP center programs is to support residents in times of financial crisis, the larger Baltimore City Community Action Partnership (BCCAP) mission is to facilitate families’ move toward long-term stability—with a focus on those who lack access to vital resources. So when BCCAP had the opportunity to purchase 100 laptops from PCs4People, the Southeast CAP Center worked with LEDC and SECDC to give them to Hispanic and Latinx families who had received CAP center assistance in the past and who had school-aged children.
With the new computers, Southeast CAP manager Daniela McDonald says, “Children will have a way to do their homework without depending on school-issued computers, [and] parents will no longer have to rely on community organizations to access online resources.”
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Making Eviction Prevention Easy
We know the requirements of the online Eviction Prevention Program application can be hard to navigate, especially for residents with limited English proficiency. So we created a brief video in Spanish that walks residents through the application process, start to finish. And the best part: The video features our very own Daniela McDonald, manager of the Southeast CAP Center, whose own native Spanish and big smile are especially welcoming.
Designed for easy viewing on any device, the video is just six minutes long, and tells residents everything they need to know to get the housing stability support they need. Please share it broadly with Spanish-speaking members of your communities!
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Additional housing stability resources in Spanish
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Making CAP Centers More Accessible
The Baltimore City Community Action Partnership (BCCAP) is committed to supporting all Baltimore households in the move toward financial stability, and the CAP centers are guided by six goals to build accessibility, inclusivity and trust specifically with our Hispanic and Latinx community.
- Grow BCCAP staff capacity to support Limited English Proficiency (LEP) families
- Diversify BCAAP workforce to be more representative of the communities we serve
- Translate BCCAP documents for the public into Spanish
- Strengthen BCCAP partnerships with organizations that serve our Hispanic and Latinx community
- Make sure CAP centers are welcoming to our Hispanic and Latinx community
- Through community outreach, increase the number of Hispanic and Latinx families that BCCAP supports
“We know that these goals are going to take time to implement,” says Daniela McDonald, Southeast CAP Center Manager, herself an immigrant from Colombia. “But we also have a sense of urgency because our families need support now. We want them to know that they can count on us.”
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Expanding Access to Resources in Our Immigrant Communities
Our sister agency, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MIMA), is one of those organizations that if you don’t know them, you must. MIMA works to promote community wellbeing and economic development across—and integration of immigrant communities into—our larger city fabric. They are a wealth of resources and wisdom, and another one of our partners that we lean on to make us better at improving the lives of Baltimore’s children, youth and families.
Here are some MIMA-recommended resources for you to share across your communities so that, together, we can connect all Baltimore families to the opportunities and supports they need to succeed.
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Esperanza Center @ Catholic Charities of Baltimore
ESOL, citizenship, computer and Spanish classes, plus legal, health and reunification services
Immigration Outreach Service Center, Inc.
Assistance referrals related to adjustment of status, citizenship, political asylum, social services, education, employment, housing, financial assistance and health care
Johns Hopkins Centro SOL
Support for Latinx youth with study programs, parental guidance, mentorship and more
Mi Espacio, CASA
After- and in-school programs for immigrant and first-generation middle and high school students that combine academic support, college and career readiness, civic leadership development and social justice training
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Refugee Youth Project BCCC
Summer school, individual mentoring, college access services, community arts programs and after-school programs that focus on homework, social and English language skills
William & Lanaea C. Featherstone Foundation
College and career readiness, paid internships, career coaching, mentorship, scholarships and digital literacy and financial empowerment programs
The Latino Economic Development Center
Small business support, loans and advice—plus home ownership counseling and affordable housing preservation/tenant organizing programs
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Coming up...
Facebook Live Information Sessions: Immigration Updates
Join MIMA, CASA, Esperanza Center and the University of Maryland Law School to learn about recent immigration changes and trusted service providers. MIMA will host both sessions on its Facebook page.
Thursday, July 29 at 12pm (in English)
Wednesday, August 4 at 1pm (in Spanish)
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@bmorechildren | #loveoverfear
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