7A - Hispanics in Philanthropy Report~~~~~-~o Hispanics in
Philanth~opy
Agenda VII- A
FINDINGS FROM "NEW LATINOS IN BOULDER" STUDY
Prepared by Fernando Menendez
DEMOGRAPHICS
^ The Latino population has mcreased from 15,000 in 1990 to over 30,000 in 2000
(U.S. Census data); they constitute 10% of the county population and 8.5 % of
the city of Boulder population; these figures constitute an undercount of
approximately 15-20%
^ Of the Latino population 72-75% are Mexican or Mexican-Amencan; many
undocumented Latmos enter legally and overstay a visitor's visa.
^ They follow migratory patterns set by family and fnends and make extensive use
of social capital networks to become estabhshed in the area.
^ The Latmo population is overwhelmingly young (average age 27); male but
increasmgly joined by females; have high fertility rates; and many constitute
young famihes. Most are renters but are mcreasmgly buymg homes.
^ The 8584 Latino children in Boulder pubhc schools (both Boulder Valley and St.
Vrain School Distncts) account for 28 percent of all Latinos counted by the 2000
U.S. Census and consritute 17 percent of publ~c school enrollment.
WORK AND INCOME
^ The cause of the migration is pnmarily due to (a) worsening economic
condihons at home, and (b) demand far unskilled workers in the U.S. and
Boulder County. Light manufacturing m the U S. pays about $20 per hour
versus $2.43 in Mexico!
^ Most newcomers are rapid ~ ob-finders who work in hospitality (restaurants and
hotels), construchon, landscapmg, domestic serv~ces and hght manufacturing.
^ While mcomes for unskilled work are low by Boulder standards, household
mcomes are usually combined to provide food, rent, clothing and transportation.
^ Wrth unemployment up smce 9/11, many Boulder Larinos have started micro-
enterprises such as bus services, food preparation, domestic service and day care.
^ National stud~es mdicate that 73 percent of newcomers have federal taxes
withheld, while 77 percent pay Social Security taxes even though they can never
collect on it.
TRENDS
^ Latinos m Boulder are followmg an historical pattern. a monohngual Spanish
first generation, a bilingual second generation and a monolmgual English third
generation.
~ The Thinkmg Tools Group, 2300 S. Rock Creek Pkwy, Ste. 17-101, Super~or, CO $0027
Voice: (303) 554-8623 E-Mail: ~nto(atthink~netools.ore
^ Circularity: smce immigration restnctions have become tougher, therefore
making it harder to come to the U S. when times are good and return home when
times are bad, the migration is becoming permanent. Average stays have
increased from 2.5 years to 5 years.
^ A strong social capital network (involving word of mouth mformation, family
support, churches, child-care providers, etc.) exists within the community.
MAJOR OBSTACLES
^ Race - racial and other physical differences with the ma~onty population makes
the newcomers visible, and therefore subject to discrimination, prejudice and
persecution. It is hard to ""blend in" to the majority, especially when one is
perceived in a negative or stereotypical manner.
^ Language - serves as the major barrier to better~obs and incomes, educational
opportunihes and otherwise accessing mainstream systems.
^ Legal status - the issue of documentation affects everything for many
newcomers. For example, obtammg drivers' licenses, obtazmng legal Social
Security and other papers needed to secure to work, paying taxes, opening bank
accounts, estabhshing homes, registenng children for college, and so on.
TWO REALITIES
^ Latinos in Boulder are here to stay. Their numbers are growing (through
migration, restricted circularity and high birth rates). Obstacles can either be
removed to allow them to enter the mamstream or they can become a permanent
underclass of unskilled workers wrth the social consequences and costs that
entails.
^ Newcomers are good for the economy. New workers take on many necessary
jobs, in turn freemg up others to chmb the economic ladder -- the new jobs they
create are less obvious than the existing jobs they fill. Newcomers are net
contributors to the economy as producers, consumers, taxpayers and
entrepreneurs.
0 The Thinking Tools Group, 2300 S. Rock Creek Pkwy, Ste.17-101, Superior, CO 80027
Voice: (303) 554-8623 E-Mail: info(a~thinkinetoals.ore
•
ectzon
e ,
Action&
_
Analysis of the Challenges and Opportunities for Development of the
Emerging Latino Comrnunity in Boulder County, Colorado
Prepared for the Hispanics in Phalanthropy Funders' Collaborative for
Strong Latino Communaties Colorado Commattee
Project Team:
Isabel Lopez, Fernando Menendez and Cecilia Sanchez de Ortiz
Principal Author:
Fernando Menendez
Navember 2003
,
November 2003
Dear colleagues,
Not too long ago, the U S. Census Bureau announced that Latmos are now the nation's
largest mmority group and that by 2050 they are expected to be 25 percent of the
population--one m every four Amer~cans What do these numbers mean~ How will our
neighborhoods, busmesses, schools, and governments change as a result of these
demographic shifts? And, moreover, how m~ght ph~lanthropy and the nonprofit sector
caprtal~ze on these opportumt~es to build strong, prosperous, mclusrve communrties~
These were some of the questions that a group of funders in Colorado began explarmg m
2001 Brought together by Hispamcs m Philanthropy's (HIP) Funders' Collaborat~ve for
Strong Latmo Commumt~es, representat~ves of The Colorado Trust, the Damels Fund,
The Denver Foundat~on, First Data Western Umon, G~II Foundarion, the John S and
James L. Kmght Foundat~on, Rose Commumty Foundation, and M~le High Umted
Way comm~ss~oned a study of Latmo assets and needs m Boulder County The study
sought to describe this fast-growmg commumty, ~dent~fymg factors and trends that might
encourage and mform foundations, corporat~ons and nonprofits to mvest in strategies that
strengthen Boulder's emergmg Latmo nonprofits and its leaders Boulder exemplifies the
changes tak~ng place in many communrties throughout Amenca The Colorado HIP
funders and the~r nat~onal partners felt this study, "Reflection, Action & Expansion", would
be relevant and useful to other communities across the country as they grapple with both
the challenges and opportumries of these shifts.
The Funders' Collaboratrve far Strong Latmo Communrt~es, an award-wmnmg mrtiative
of Hispamcs m Ph~lanthropy, is currently workmg m 13 srtes m the US and two in Latm
Amertca Its m~ssion is to harness the talent, v~sion and energy of Latmo nonprofits and,
through sustamed fundmg, trammg, and networkmg, enhance the~r abi6ty to work
collaboratrvely for the benefit of the entire commumty Recogmzmg that the future will
demand new, more complex and mterdependent strategies, these nonprofits are
partnenng at the local, nat~onal, and transnat~onal level Understandmg the
transformat~ons takmg place both at home and abroad, more than 95 foundations,
corporations and mdividual donors have come together ~n the last three years to pool their
resources and ideas through this mrtiative.
The Colorado funders are pleased to present "Reflection, Action & Expansion" as a pomt of
departure for a fruitful discuss~on on Boulder's - and, mdeed, America's -- future.
We welcome your comments and partnerships in this ongoing endeavor,
~ f~.O ~.~1~~.
~~~r- ~C%~~~.e/
Elsa Holguin Diana Campoamor
Rose Commumty Foundation President
Vice Chair, Hisparucs m Philanthropy-Colorado Hispamcs in Philanthropy
Reflection, Action & Expansion
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .
BACKGROUND
METHODOLOGY
Data research .
Focus groups .
ABOUT BOULDER,COLORADO
FINDINGS
.. 2
8
„ . 11
.. , . I 1
12
15
17
Boulder County's Lahno populat~on has grown s~gmficantly durmg the last dacade
The ma~or~ty of Boulder County's Lahnos are recent aruvals .. . .. ... ••• •
The Latmo population is young •~
The educahon of Boulder's Lahno commumty ~s madequate to meet the challenges ahead ,
The ma~or~ty of Boulder's Latmos work m lower-paid ~obs that are criqcally ~mportant to the
counly's overall economy • ~
Boulder's Latmo mcome ~s s~gmficantly lower than the ~eneral commumty . .
Boulder's Lalmo busmesses are expandmg to meet the needs of an underservad market .
Boulder's Latmo poverty rate ~s h~gh and demand for pubhe servwes is growmg
Boulder's housmg srtuat~on and land-use pohc~es d~spropon~onately
unpact the Hispamc populahon . . • ~
Boulder's Latmo health and soc~al support systems are overburdened
Bu~ldmg on the Latmo Commumty's Assets
RECOMMENDATIONS
FORM B ARLAS PRIORITIZATION
BIBLIOGRAP}IY AND ADDITIONAL SOURCES
48
49
Reflection, Action & Expansion
1~
18
20
21
26
29
31
34
36
38
41
. . .. 45
1
INTRODUCTION
This report is mtended to provide mformarion and form the foundation for
decis~on-makmg by Hispamcs m Philanthropy Colorado (HIP Colorado) m rts
grantmakmg and social mvestment to support strong Latmo communihes m
Boulder County, Colorado. The study is a response to two key factors: the
s~gmficant mcrease m the numbar of Hispamcs m Boulder County over the last
few years, and the small number of grant proposals generated from wrthm that
commumty as a result of a request for proposals ~ssued by HIP.
The study, as conce~ved by HIP and the research team, ~s part of a three-phase
process of (1) plannmg, (2) research, and (3) an orgamzational trammg and
implementarion phase des~gned to bu~ld the capac~ty of Latmo-based
orgamzarions m Boulder County
Th~s study ~s the result of several months of mformation gathermg that consisted
of (1) numerous focus groups conducted with community res~dents, youth,
leaders, educators, serv~ce prov~ders, government officials, business people,
rehg~ous leaders and others; (2) several hundred hours of mterviews w~th over 40
mdividuals, and (3) an extens~ve literature review of studies, reports, amcles,
Internet sources and other sources of mformat~on on the status of Hispanics m
Boulder County and throughout the nat~on
IMMIGRATION. The Central Challenge
The study set out to document the growth and condrt~ons of Boulder County's
Latmo population The pro~ect team sought to leam what key ~ssues and
challenges the commumty faced Almost immediately it became evident that the
issue of ~mmigrat~on was of paramount importance for newcomer groups, the
longstandmg Latmo populat~on and the ma~or~ty population throughout the
county
Moreover, wrthm the emergmg commumty the issue of immigrarion has reached a
cns~s pomt. wrthout legal status and access to educational opportumties necessary
to make soc~al and economic advances, the Latmo community is at risk of
becoming a permanent underclass m Boulder County.
Signi~cant Growang Pains
One sigmficant fact is the spectacular growth m the Latmo popularion from an
esnmated 15,000 to over 30,000 in less than a decade These are official figures
and reflect what mterv~ewees say is an undercounting of a population that has
gone to great lengths to remam h~dden. Boulder's Larino population is
predommantly (approximately two-thirds of all Hisparucs) Mexican and Mexican-
Reflection, Action & Expansion
Amencan Approx~mately 28 percent of the officially-counted Latinos m Boulder
County are school-aged children enrolled m the public schools. The Latino
commumty has tended to concentrate in Longmont, Boulder and Lafayette
The growth of this populat~on has been driven by two ma~or factors:
the expans~on of Boulder's economy and the need for low-skilled labor to
supplement and complement the l~festyle of a high-tech boom. Given
Boulder's high educational levels (42% of residents crte bachelor and graduate
degrees) there ~s a need for low-wage, unsk~lled labor to fill the jobs created m
construction, hotels, restaurants, landscapmg, child care, and other anc~llary
mdustnes
• the economic downturn bemg experienced m Mexico and Central America
forcmg famil~es to leave their homes and seek better opportumties During
econoimc hard tnnes many fam~lies d~vers~fy their risks m these countries by
sendmg one or two family members abroad to work and send back mcome
(remrttances) to help support those at home. As economies stagnate at home,
the m~gration becomes permanent as famil~es reunify m the Unrted States
These factors have propelled a large number of predommantly Mexican workers
to seek work m Colorado The majonty of these workers are unskilled workers
w~thout documentation. Many have entered the country on temporary visas and
overstayed the~r legal status These workers have gravitated to the Boulder areas
based on weil-established netwarks of friends and fam~ltes who arrived before
them from reg~ons such as Durango, Zacatecas and Chihuahua
Laving and Working Under Condrhons of Fear
The lack of documentation has compromised these workers in a number of
s~gnificant ways W~thout legal status they are often the vietims of unscrupulous
einployers, landlords and merchants who exploit their labor and extort large sums
for serv~ces They are meligible for government-provided services and often lack
basic health care Fear of bemg identified as undocumented and bemg handed
over to law enforcement for deportat~on makes everyday matters, such as dnvmg
to work, a constant peril Orgamzmg to improve wages and warkmg condihons is
out of the quest~on for fear of bemg turned over to the Immigration and
Naturahzation Service by employers Wrthout the proper credenrials with which
to purchase cars and other high ticket items, prohibitroely high interest rates
(vergmg on usury) are often charged to the undocumented.
Their legal status also places them in a pos~tion of a semi-permanent underclass
l~vmg m the worst housmg, taking the worst~obs, wrthout health and other
msurance, and havmg little or no access to educarion, and few opportumties for
advancement Language barriers and lack of access to affardable Enghsh-as-a-
Second Language trammg are obstacles to better paymg posrtions
Reflecdon, Action & Expansion
Smce the events of September 11, 2001, the Hispanic populat~on has also faced
greater scrutmy from busmesses required to prove legal status Unemployment
has mcreased w~thm the population.
Without legal status many of the newcomers to Boulder have no means to redress
gnevances before the courts w~thout endangermg the future of the~r families m the
Un~ted States Boulder's Latino populat~on l~ves m"Latino areas" and remains a
hidden commumty of predommantly poor workers within one of Colorado's
wealthiest count~es.
Many of the Latmo youth m Bouider County also experience a"bicultural"
l~festyle At home they may speak Spamsh with fam~ly and relatrves, while at
school or work they live an "Anglo" ex~stence. Many of these young people were
born m the U S and are therefore, U S crt~zens, but do not ar cannot participate
fully m many aspects of commumty hfe for fear of exposmg their parents'
"illegal" status The stress on this young populahon is enormous Yet they remam
the potent~al for advancement in their fam~lies and parents face the greatest
challenge m seemg that their children obtam adequate educarion
Namtng Priorattes Pathways to Progress
As the team mterviewed and conducted focus groups among the newcomer
population and those workmg with the commumty, a number of priority areas
developed as bemg most important for removmg obstacles for Latino soc~al and
econom~c advancement Toppmg the hst were issues directly related to
immigrat~on the need for language-appropnate services, learnmg Enghsh as a
second language, access to drivers l~censes, and access to pubhc and other
services.
Nearly as important were concerns about educational opportumt~es, both for
adults to learn new sk~lls and for the next generahon to succeed in this society
Concems about the quahty and availab~l~ty of housmg, access to adequate health
care and better opportumt~es for employment were seen as urgent necessihes
Social service, health and other providers say they have been caught unprepared
and under-funded to cope with the mcrease in the size of their newcomer service
populations The nature of the issues such as language and legal status further
complicate their ability to provide adequately
Bualdtng on Community Assets
In spite of these enormous obstacles, this emergmg Lahno community en~oys
some mcredibly valuable assets that are based m their culture. Among these are
an extremely strong work eth~c which shows itself through very high labor force
part~cipation rates for men, women and, m some cases, teenaged children Strong
Reflection, Action & Expansion 4
famil~es are ma~or sources of employment mformation, transportation networks,
child and elder care The newcomer population has found ways to adapt its
housmg needs (often by doublmg or even triphng household size to afford the
h~gh rents m the area, somet~mes by m~gratmg to areas with lower rents and
commutmg longer d~stances to where the ~obs might be) Health care, while often
inadequate and expensive, has been obtamed through the use of a network of
pubhc chnics and some msurance Transportat~on options have been created by an
expansion of car-poolmg, van services and other creatrve approaches. And, in the
past few years, there has been a proliferation of mamly undercapitalized
busmesses that cater pr~manly to the emergent community
Immigrants contribute sign~ficantly to the economic prosperity of the region both
as producers and consumers They also pay a s~gmficant share of the~r wages in
taxes to federal, state and local authorit~es, yet they have no nghts as citizens to
either collect on their contr~but~ons whether directly (e g. Soc~al Secunty
payments) or mdirectly through the use of soc~al services The one area where
they do benefit is through publ~c educat~on
Farth is another area of the commumty's assets Many families are deeply rooted
m their fa~th, mostly Roman Catl~olic, and have revttahzed attendance at many
local churches The churches also serve as ma~or sources of mformahon, job and
food assistance, social services, recreat~on and counsehng for a population that
has few financ~al assets to meet needs beyond the bas~c levels
Opportunaties for HIP Colorado
T~mmg ~s extremely opportune for HIP Colorado and other foundat~ons and
prtvate funders Co make an ~mpacY through social mvestments Strong partnersh~ps
at the funder level could be forged and focused on strengthemng these
commumt~es and heipmg to nurture those new voices and organizations that seek
to address the needs of the Hispamc commumty m Boulder County
Among the ways HIP may seek to help are•
• Contmumg to fund the existmg orgamzahons being fully aware that these
orgamzations will need sustamad leadership development and
orgamzahonal development to be able to grow and meet the needs of the
emergmg commumty
• Encouragmg new start up organizahons wrthin the Latmo commumty such
as parent groups, church-based groups and other grass-roots imtiarives
• Supportmg Latmo-led pro~ects w~thm exisring, larger orgamzations that
serve the Latmo commumty.
Reflection, Action & Expansion
• Encouragmg and developmg new models of leadership and organ~zational
development
• Establ~shmg a Latmo commumty center to house organizations, activit~es
and events
• Makmg soc~al caprtal (the mfonnal networks of mformation and support)
more v~sible.
• Creatmg and convenmg statew~de Latmo advisory groups on immigrarion,
health, education and other issues of concern to the commumry
• Convenmg a Hispamc Issues Forum mvolvmg all of those working closely
with the Latmo commumty
• Supportmg the work of orgamzahons focused on immigration issues, their
soc~al serv~ce components and their advocacy work where legally
possible
• Developmg a concentrated focus on educarion m the Latmo community as
a cornerstone for soc~al and economic advancement.
Reflection, Action & Expansion 6
NOTES FROM PROJECT TEAM
During the course of the research we assembled mformation and sought to refine and
focus our findmgs The base of this document is (1) a compilation of findmgs m the
areas of population growth, nature of the newcomer, soc~al and economic conditions;
(2) as we met with d~fferent resource people, conducted focus groups and mterviews we
sol~c~ted mfonnat~on from them that added areas that most concerned them outside of the
mitial mformarion and findmgs we were gathermg; and (3) as we met and worked with
the focus groups and md~viduals, we looked to them to highl~ght priority areas that most
dramatically and cr~t~cally affect the quahty of l~fe far Latinos m Boulder County
An abstract or framework of the process would then look somethmg l~ke this•
Priorities
Imm~gration
Employment
~ducat~on
Housmg
Health care
Added areas of concern
Language, economic development
Education of the dommant culture, accessib~l~ty
Family ~ssues, bas~c needs, dr~vers hcenses, commumty cl~mate
Commumty part~cipat~on, cultural hfe, ch~ld care, idenhficat~on, collective services
Fmdmgs
Growth, recent arrivals, age, madequate educat~on, lower pa~d ~obs, lower mcome, Latmo
busmess growth, poverty and need for sero~ces, housmg needs, health and soc~al services
burdened, lack of commumty-based language and cultural serv~ces
Reflection, Action & Expansion 7
Refl'ection, Action & Expansion
Background
HIP Colorado ~s a chapter of H~spanics m Philanthropy, a national orgamzat~on
formed to address Latmo issues tn orgamzed philanthropy In October 2001, HIP
Colorado, a consortium of funders m the Denver Metro area, created the Funders'
Collaborative for 5trong Larino Communiries. The Collaborative is a mulri-year
mrtiarive commrtted to enhancmg the capac~ty of Lahno nonprofit organizat~ons
m bemg effective advocates for their constituencies and the greater Lahno
commumty.
Local Colorado funders of the mrtiahve mclude
• The Colorado Trust
• Damels Fund
• The Denver Foundation
• First Data Western Umon
• Gill Foundation
• The John S and James L Kmght Foundahon
• Mile H~gh Umted Way
• Rose Commumty Foundation
The Collaborat~ve will prov~de grants of up to $100,000 over two years, but
generally no more than 15 percent of an orgamzation's operatmg budget, to small-
to medium-sized Latmo nonprofit organizations The Collaborahve defines a
small to medium size nonprofit as one that has an annual operaring budget of less
than $2 million
To be cons~dered for fundmg as a Latmo-led orgamzahon, appl~cants must meet
at least one crrterion under "leadership" and at least one criter~on under "miss~on"
as hsted below.
Leadership Mission
A ma~onty of board members are Latmo A ma~ority of people directly served by the
a enc are Latmo.
The ma~or~ty of the agency's seniar
management is Latmo The mission statement specifically targets a
Lahno subgroup(s)
The agency's executrve director is Latmo
ReJlection, Action & Expansinn
In December 2001, a req,uest for proposals was issued to nonprofits. The
Collaborative became concemed about the quant~ty and quahty of proposals &om
Boulder County that met the critena G~ven the s~gmficant increase in the Latmo
population m Boulder (up 100 percent from approximately 15,000 m 1990 to an
est~mated 30,500 in 2000, accordmg to the U S. Census), the Collaborative needed
more mfonnat~on about the changes m the commumty
The Collaborat~ve members wanted answers to a variety of quesrions includmg the
followmg:
• How many Latmos are l~vmg m Boulder and m Boulder County?
• What are their mcoine levels~
• Where aie they workmg~ Where are they l~vmg?
• What Latmo and non-Latmo orgamzat~ons are servmg the commumty~
• How are the education, health care, and soc~al service systems copmg wtth the
dramatic mcreases m the population?
• What are the publ~c pohcy issues that need to be addressed~
The groundwork had been laid by the Boulder County Lat~no Task Force, a coalttion
of Latmos ~n government, education, and soc~al services They had just released a
Commumty Assessment Study of the Lahno commumty, h~ghlightmg the
contr~but~ons of Boulder County's Latmo populat~on and the various obstacles faced
by the commumty regardmg pol~tical, social and econom~c advancement Accordmg
to the study, particular areas of need were
• Economtc Development
• Housmg
• Employment
• Cultural issues
• Education
• Communtty Part~c~pahon
• Commumty Cl~mate
• Health Care
• Polit~cal issues
Init~ally, the members of HIP Colorado sought to use the Commumty Assessment
Study as a pomt of departure for makmg critical fundmg decisions m Boulder County,
however, the group dec~ded it needed more mfonnation before proceedmg.
Furthermore, HIP Colorado wanted to focus rts fundmg strategies on Latmo
orgamzat~ons that could meet the needs of the growmg population It hired three
Colorado-based consultants to staff the assessment pro~ect The team consisted ofl
Isabel L6pez, CEO of Lopez Leadersh~p Services (Littleton, CO)
Fernando Men~ndez, pnncipal, Thmkmg Tools Group, Inc (Boulder, CO)
Cecilia S~nchez de Ortiz, partner, Catalyst Resources, Inc. (Denver, CO)
ReJlectdon, Action & Expansion
Under the leadership of Isabel Lopez the team met with local leaders, families, youth
and service providers, and msritutions to discuss ways that HIP Colorado could
support local Latmo/Hispamc organizations
Specifically, the goals for this assessment study and analysis were.
That the community and funders would gam better knowledge of Boulder's
Latmo commumty and the issues affectmg that commumty
That recommendarions be developed to help guide HIP Colorado toward more
effectrve mvestments of ~ts resources
• That fundable programs, projects, and orgamzations be idenrified and
developed
Reflection, Action & Expansion 10
Methodology
In order to deepen the analys~s of the needs and assets of the Latino community m
Boulder County the research team devaloped an analytical model that first sought
to ~dentify the formal sectors and netwarks that serve the community. These
systems are the 6rst to be affected by population mcreases and are usually on the
front lmes gathermg data, studymg data and servmg the ~mmed~ate and short-term
needs of the populat~on Churches, m particular, because of the~r non-
governmenYal status, are cr~tically nnportant to ~dent~fymg and meeting the needs
of undocumented newcomers
Another group ~dentificd as the "known community," consisted of advocates,
actrvists and leaders whose wark ~s d~rectly related to the commumty Many of
these are act~ve m the general community through their work or mteraction with
government or social serv~ce prov~ders
The final group ~dentified represents a less encompassing but crucially important
segment m need of tts own vo~ce The "unknown" ar"mformal network" of
mdrviduals, fr~ends and famil~es that make up the commumty and who most often
speak anonymously. This group mcludes documented, undocumented and
citizens' voices
The approach taken to each of these sectors varied For the formal sector the
pro~ect team div~ded them mto functional sectors:
• Educat~on
• Service providers
• Government
• Health care prov~ders
• Religious and farth-based groups
• Busmess
Data Research
Durmg the m~tial phase of th~s pro~ect the research process consisted of the
followmg
• An extensrve review of current quant~tative data on the Latmo population
nationally and locally This rev~ew mcluded analysis of U S Census data as
well as over 40 documents, databases, articles, and newspaper reports. The
data ~s presented throughout the report m the appropnate sections
One-on-one mterviews with over 40 md~viduals m sectors that mteract wrth
the community These mterviews varied m length from one to two hours.
Reflection, Action & Expansion 11
• Data-gathermg mstruments for the collecrion of demographic and other data
were created (see appendices) and the results appear throughout the findings
section of th~s report
The pnmary focus of the report was to concentrate on qualrtative data that would
erther corroborate or refute the findmgs of other quant~tarive sources of data.
Fully aware of the dispariries between the ma~ority general population and the
population under study, the authors were more concerned wrth how abstract
statistical data piayed out m the daily lives of the men and women who work and
lrve ~n Boulder County's Hispamc commumty This is, m fact, a richer and more
complex reality that does not lend rtself to general~zat~on about the mdividuals
and famil~es withm the larger commumty It does however allow us to provide a
context for analyzmg trends that affect the commumty.
It remams for others to conduct the scient~fic data gathermg that will give greater
prec~s~on to some of the findmgs uncovered For example, given the l~mrtat~ons
of th~s study, it is not poss~ble to declare wrth certamty that the figure of 30,500
Hispamcs in Boulder County is accurate It would be more accurate to say that the
figure is approx~mate, fluctuates and tends upwards e~ther through mcreased
m~grahon or birthrates However, given all of the variables that conspire against
an actual count, the team would urge some other mstrtut~on or agency to begm
compiltng verifiable data to achieve a real number
Focus Groups
A total of mne focus groups were conducted with a variety of sectors. Qual~tatrve
data gathenng m the focus groups helped to complement and contrast the
quantrtative data. The focus groups helped clarify many issues, and added a
number of s~gmficant themes and issues
For each of these sectors the pro~ect team held focus groups of approximately two
hours m duration and had them prioritize recommendahons from the previously
ment~oned Community Assessment The team also held mdividual mterv~ews
w~th approximately 40 people from these sectors which averaged one to one-and-
a-half hours each.
One focus group was held wtth the "known commumty" and numerous mterviews
were also held with advocates, acrivists and others whose mam focus of work is
with the Latmo commumty
For the mformal networks, two focus groups were held with Hispamc youth in
Boulder and Lafayette These focus groups stressed issues of concern to young
people and gave the youth an opportumty to add their voices to issues that affect
their parents, friends, and famihes as well as themselves. These focus groups
provided useful ms~ghts mto what rt means to "straddle" two cultures.
Reflection, Action & Expansion 12
Two monoUngual (Spamsh-speakmg) focus groups were held in Boulder and
Lafayette for family members and parents. Focus group participants were asked to
priorrt~ze what activ~ties they believe should be worked on (see addendum).
Facilitated discuss~ons were then held wrth a view to draw out opmions and input
based on pr~or~ties and add~tions
Durmg the focus groups, participants filled out demographic mformation and
answered key quest~ons. Usmg the Boulder County Latmo Task Force
Commumty Assessment, participants were asked to review and add to the
followmg areas of the Assessment's recommendahons•
• Econom~c • Education
Development • Commumty
• Housmg participation
• Employment • Health care
• Cultural issues
• Pol~t~cal ~ssues
Families were asked add~honal questions, such as:
• Where do you go for help for yourself and your ch~ldren~ For health
care? Cultural connections~ Social needs? School~ Legal aid?
• Do you have a bank account? How do you handle money transactions~
Prov~ders, Government, Rehgious and Education focus groups were asked•
• How do the needs of Latmos differ from the rest of your clientele~
• What are your b~ggest challenges m servmg the Latmo commumty~
• What mformal systems are m place~
• What do you percerve to be the strengths of the populat~on~
Due to The many unsohcited responses regardmg ~mmigration, the pro~ect team
subsequently asked key mformants for greater detail about this issue.
Reflection, Action & Expansion 13
Study Participants by Sector
Informal
Networks
Known
Community
Formal Sector
Data review Formal5ector Known Informal
Communit Networks
Literature rev~ew Interviews Focus groups One on one
Data retneval Focus groups Pnoritizarion mterv~ews
Newspapers Priorit~zat~on sessions
Reports sess~ons Some mterviews
Reflectdon, Action & Expansion 14
About Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, the eigUth largest city m Colorado, is the county seat for Boulder
County The city and county en~oy a dynamic economy supported by computer,
aerospace, sc~ent~fic and research firms The Umversity of Colorado, which
mcludes a 143-acre research park, makes it a ma~or source of scientific and
engmeermg partnership with many of the county's firms Boulder is also at the
end of the "technology corridor" wh~ch stretches along US Highway 36 from
Denver
Ma~or employers m Boulder mclude Ball Aerospace and Technologies, IBM,
Longmont Foods, and Amgen Federal research mcludes the National Inshtute of
Standards and Technology (NIST), the Nat~onal Center for Atmospheric Research
(NCAR), and the National Oceamc and Atmospheric Admm~stration (NOAA).
As a result of Boulder's econom~c boom m the 1990s and ~ts des~rable location
along the footh~lls of the Rocky Mountams, the populat~on mcreased from some
83,312 m 1990 to 94,673 m 2000 Boulder County (wh~ch mcludes the cuies of
Boulder, Longmont, Broomfield, Lafayette, Louisville and smaller towns such as
Lyons, Nederland, Ward, Jamestown, Superior, Ene N~wot, Gunbarrel and
Allenspark) has also seen an mcrease m populat~on from 225,339 m 1990 to
291,288.
As a result of Boulder's h~gh-tech economy and rts un~versity population
(enrollment for 2001 was 25,035), the levels of educat~onal attamment are higher
than average with 42% of the city population holdmg a bachelor's or graduate
degree (Source• City of Boulder 2001 Summary of Informahon)
While med~an mcome m Boulder/Longmont is relatrvely high at $74,000
compared to $54,000 for Colorado and $50,000 for the U S., the
Boulder/Longmont cost of l~vmg index ~s also high at 128 compared with Denver
at 107 1, Mmneapolis at 112 9 and San D~ego at 127 3 The cost of residenrial
housmg m the c~ty and county o£ Boulder are also qu~te high The average price of
a smgle fam~ly home in the city of Boulder ~s $472,169 and $343,000 m the
county
Boulder's ethmcity is predominantly wh~te with 82.5 percent (county) and 86 2%
(city) l~sted m census figures as "Caucasian " The Census also lists the county as
having a 10.4 percent population of "Spanish origm" and the city of Boulder wrth
8 2 percent. The other ethnic groups l~sted are Asian/Paci£ic Islander with 3 1
percent county (4 1 percent city), Afncan-Amencan 3 3 percent (1.2 percent city),
and Amer~can Ind~an with 0 7 percent county (0 3 percent c~ty)
Reflection, Action & Expansion 15
Longmont, north of Boulder with a popularion of 63,000, has also expenenced
dramaric growth in the past two decades. More than 10,000 new pnmary ~obs
have been generated m the past 15 years Manufacturmg accounts for 40 percent
of all the wages pa~d m Longmont. The c~ty counts some 175 pr~mary employers
mcludmg computer science, biotechnology, telecommumcattons and
phannaceuticals. Lafayette, with a populat~on of 23,000, has also experienced
rapid~ob and population growth over the last decade.
(Source• Boulder Economic Counc~l / Boulder, Colorado Demographics, Front
Range Commun~ty College, U of C Busmess Research)
Reflection, Action & Expansion 16
FINDINGS
Boulder County's Latino population has grown signi~cantly during the
last decade.
The populahon of Boulder County ~s approximately 292,000 (Source U S Census 2000).
Of that total, approximately 10 5 percent or 30,500 are Hispanic~. This represents a 100
percent mcrease (up from 15,000 m 1990) m the number of H~spamc residents in the
county over the last decade
Boulder's H~spamc commumty is predommantly Mexican and Mex~can-Amencan
(approximately two-th~rds of all H~spamcs) The commumty has tended to concentrate m
Longmont, Lafayette and Boulder Other crt~es and towns, such as Louisville,
Broomfield and Superior have also registered mcreases m Latmo populations
TABLE 1.
Boulder 30,456 21,773 552 312 7,819
County 10 5% 7.5% 0.2% 0.1% 2.7%
city of 7,901 5,577 205 134 1885
Boulder 8 2% 5.9% 0.2% 0.1% 2.0%
Lafayette 3,808 2,803 51 19 935
16.4% 12.1% 02% 0.1% 40%
Longmont 13,558 10,253 157 47 3101
19.1% 14 4% 0.2% 0 1% 4.4%
Louisvit[e 950 491 34 20 405
5 0% 2.6% 0 2% 0.1% 2 1%
(Source • U S Census Bureau)
A number of observers and focus group participants have pomted out that Boulder's
gente are "mvisible" or "very wellliidden," with a concentrahon of Boulder city's Latmo
populat~on livmg m trailer parks and other neighborhoods like San Juan
1 The terms "Hisparuc` and °Lahno' will be used mterchangeably throughout this document
Hisparucs are an ethrucally and racially droerse populatron In 2000, the Latmo populatron of the
U S was composed of the following groups• Mexican American, 661 percent, Puerto Rican, 9 0
percent, Cuban, 4 0 percent, Central and South American,l4 5 percent, and "Other Hisparuc;' 6,4
percent
Reflection, Action & Expansion 17
The ma,jority of Boulder County's Latinos are recent arrivals.
Studies estimate that approx~mately half of the Hispamc population has migrated
to the Boulder County area smce the mid-nmeties Of these 15,000,
approximately 70 percent are a result of a migration from Mex~co dunng the
per~od of economic growth m Boulder County coupled wrth s~gmficant economic
deter~oration of the Mex~can economy
All signs point to th~s migration of newcomers bemg permanent. The mcreasmg
numbers of elderly, as reported by health and sociai service professionals, points
to the reunificarion of famthes m the U.S While the mit~al newcomers could be
idenhfied as predommantly male and young, more women have }omed the
m~grahon as wives and s~gmficant others Also the high b~rth rate among the
populat~on, and the mcreased school enrollment rates pomts to a population that
has been here for some time and that mtends to remam.
• Large numbers of Mexican unm~grants m Boulder County have family ties to
the Mexican states of Zacatecas (many come from the town of Fresnillo),
Chihuahua, and Durango Boulder's Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic
Church reports that of the 700-plus Spamsh-speakmg parishioners the
ma~or~ty are from Zacatecas, Mex~co, while the remamder are from Central
and South America. (Source El pueblo catolaco. Spamsh language ~ournal of
the Archdiocese of Denver )
• Many of the undocumented Latmos (eshmates say about hal~ enter the
country legaliy and overstay their v~sas and perm~ts. Less than half the
undocumented cross the country's borders clandeshnely (Source Published
by the Cato Inst~tute and the Nahonal Immigrat~on Forum, Rocky Mountam
News)
Damel Gr~swold of Yhe CATO Inst~tute pomts out "Migration &om Mex~co ~s
driven by a fundamental m~smatch between a rismg demand for low-skilled
labor m the U S. and a shrmkmg domest~c supply of workers willmg to fill
those~obs The Labor Department estimates that the total number of~obs m
our economy that require only short-term trammg will mcrease from 53.2
milhon m 2000 to 6~ 9 milhon by 2010, a net mcrease of 7 7 milhon
Meanwh~le, the supply of Amer~can workers willmg to do such work
contmues to fall because of an agmg workforce and r~smg education levels "
(Source. The Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2002.)
Boulder's high-tech, high-wage economy ~s highly dependent on a low-skill,
low-wage support economy to provide products and serv~ces. The
conshuchon boom of the last decade, both res~denrial and commercial
throughout the county, translated mto a huge demand for constnxction labor.
Reflection, Action & Expansion 18
The expansion of restaurants, hotels and landscaping resulted m a shortage of
labor that has m very large part been filled by H~spanic workers, both nahve
born and fore~gn born Many of these~obs are entry-level, low sk~lled, and
low-wage These ~obs are not, contrary to rhetonc, replacmg other workers m
some zero-sum economy; mstead, they are the result of a huge expansion m
cap~tal mvestments and economic growth exper~enced throughout Boulder
County m the last decade.
• The growth of the new immigrant communrt~es, new security measures smce
September 11 `~', and more INS agents m the region have mcreased the number
of arrests of undocumented newcomers. Imm~grat~on and Naturalization
Service arrests mcreased 32 percent m 2002 and 12-fold over the past three
years in the region INS reports 12,183 arrests m Colorado, Wyommg and
Utah Of those, 9,747 were made m Colorado. The Denver TNS office reported
that m 2001, there were 9,747 arrests made m Colorado, up from 957 tn 1999
Denver INS Supervisory Agent Tony Ruoco, told the Summit Daily News,
that one factor was Colorado's economy, wh~ch although rt has slowed down
wrth the rest of the country, ~s st~ll sound and attractmg thousands of
~mmigrants a year Some 53 percent of those arrested were detained after
the~r cr~mmal records were ~nvest~gated or calls were made to local police for
drug smugglmg, robbery or damest~c abuse The second most common form
of arrests were traffic violat~ons cited by the Colorado Highway Patrol. In one
recent case, 50 undocumented ~mmigrants from d~fferent countries were
arrested when they were found hidmg m the back of a truck. (Source: Summu
Daaly News, Agenc~a EFE.)
In the same report, Summ~t Counry Sher~ff Joe Morales echoes the sentiments
of several Boulder County law enforcement offic~als. Locally pol~ce agencies
don't arrest specifically far INS v~olahons, and in fact, they tend to look the
other way. "A lot of these ~obs," Morales said, "they're filhng, people aren't
beatmg down the door to get them We're not gettmg pressure from the
commumty saymg, `What are you gomg to do about these ~llagals?' In fact,
rt's the opposrte People are tellmg us tbis ~s an important part of our
commumty and, `Hey, why don't you give them a break~" (Source• Summit
Aaily Ncws, Frisco, Colorado. March 2, 2003.)
ReJlection, Action & Expansion 19
The Latino population is young.
National data on H~spamc ~mmigrants suggest that, on average, they are
young, male and smgle Of undocumented Mexicans, more than 80 percent
are male, half are smgle (most of the married men leave their wrves and
chaldren m Mex~co), and most are young --- less than 20 percent of the
workers are over 35, and they average 27. (Source• National Council of La
Raza, U S Census )
• Boulder County's Latmo populat~on is also young with the largest group
represented by workmg-age adults As the population has grown, a number of
older members of the commumty have been added, as reported by health,
mental health, soc~al service and other providers who have seen mcreases m
the number of elders served
• Sigmficantly, m the family focus groups conducted for this study, children far
outnumbered adults• 12 adults attended the first focus group wrth 25 ch~ldren,
14 adults with 20 ch~ldren attended the second School-aged ch~ldren
const~tute nearly a th~rd of the eshmated Latmo populat~on (28 percent) and
make up about 17 percent of countyw~de enrollment figures in the public
schools
A large percentage of Soulder County's Lahno youth population was erther
born or has grown up m the area Many of the young people attendmg the
focus group descnbed themselves as "Mex~can," "Latmo" or "Mexican-
American " Several young people spoke of bemg generally d~sconnected
from the mamstream society Most are bilmgual w~th varymg degrees of
fluency m e~ther English or Spamsh
Re,flection, Action & Expansion 20
The education of Boulder's Latino community is inadequate to meet the
challenges ahead.
"They say k~ds are the future We need programs m support us "
Youth focus group parGcipant. December 17, 2002
", it ~,s tmmoral what we da to ked.r who attend our schools and are undocumenJed
It's somethmg we don't talk about here m Boulder Caunty "
Serv~ce provider focus group participant. January 30, 2003.
Throughout the breadth of this study, the ~ssue of education was c~ted repeatedly
by all categor~es we mterviewed as holdmg a critical key to the advancement of
the Latmo population. The requirement of learnmg and mastermg English, the
acquisit~on of new skills as the primary entryway for better paying ~obs, the
essential component to educat~onal achievement and attamment among children
all pomt to a desperate need to unprove access to educat~on at all levels, children
as well as adult
Most, if not all, of the focus group participants we met were l~terate (m Spamsh)
and numerate Most had received basic educat~on and many had attamed some
secondary education A few had ach~eved higher levels of education m their
home country but their qualifications d~d not transfer to the U 5 But, even ~f one
generalizes from these findmgs that most newcomers possess some basic levels of
educat~on, we are still left w~th a language barr~er and the requ~rements of a high-
tech economy requ~rmg ever-mcreasmg levels of education and tramtng
One area where the newcomer populat~on does have access to education is
through the publ~c schools, admmistered through the Boulder Valley School
Distnct and the St. Vram School Distnct
• Boulder Valley School D~str~ct reports a total countyw~de enrollment of
27,886 students for school year 2002-2003
In 2001, the Latmo school population m the Boulder Valley School D~stnct
was 3,581 students, or 12.8 percent -- about a 10 percent mcrease over 2000
when Latmo students were 3,206 and 11 6 percent of the student population
(Source Boulder Valley School District )
• The St Vram Valley School Distr~ct (which includes Longmont and
Lafayette) had a total enrollment of 21,500 students m 2002-2003 Of these,
2,532 Hispamc ch~ldren were enrolled m elementary schools and 2,471
Hispamc children were enrolled m secondary schools (Source St. Vram
Valley School Distr~ct, Daily Camera com)
Reflection, Action & Expansion 21
• The 8,584 Latmo school-aged children m the Boulder pubhc schools (both
Boulder Valley and St Vram Valley) account for 28 percent of all Latinos
counted by the U S. Census and 17 percent of school enrollment.
• H~spanic students, who compr~se the second largest population m both school
d~strtcts, show sigmficantly lower graduat~on rates than theu• peers. Higher in
St. Vram than m Boulder, with a four year average graduahon rate of 69°/a m
St. Vram (1997-2000), and 58% m Boulder Valley (1996-1999).
TABLE 2
High School Gradua t~on Rates m Boulder Valley School Distnct by Race
~ , ~, ~~ ~
NariveAmerican 44% 50% 79% 53%
Astan 75% 89% 91% 91%
African-Amer~can 71% 81% 67% 7?%
Hespantc 57% 58% 58% 58%
Caucasian 88% 86% 88% 87%
Source• Boulder Vallev School D~stnct
TABLE 3.
H~gh School Graduarion Rates in St Vram Valley School District by Race
Hispanic 64%
Cauca.sian 87%
69% 71% 71%
91% 93% 94%
96% 84% 88%
Source• St Vram Valley School Distr~ct
• The data on student dropout rates ~s no less encouraging Hispanic students
tend to drop out at higher rates, while Asian and white students are least hkely
to drop out
TABLE 4.
Grades 7-12 m Boulder Vallev School
NativeAmerican 3.2% 3.3% ~.3% 47% 2.7%
Asian 2 6% 1 1% 0.9% 2 1% 0 5%
African American 2 4% 2 2% 2 1% 3.9% 3 8%
Hispanic 6 9% 7 2°/a 8 0% 4 6% 6 4%
Caucasian 1.9% 15% 1.6% 1.7% 1.3%
Source• Boulder Valley School Distnct
Reflection, Action & Expansion 22
TABLE 5
Percentage Dropout Rate m St Vrain Valley School Dtstrict by Race
Hispanic 5 5% 6 8% 7.1% 6 1%
Caucasian 2.0% 1.7% 1.7% 1.4%
Other 1 2% 2.5% 3 6% 33%
Source. St Vram Valley School Distr~ct
• In the past few years, Boulder schools have been exper~encmg financ~al and
other difficulties and a number of schools have been shut down and
consolidated Th~s has raised ~ssues of overcrowdmg and other concerns
• The St Vram Valley School D~str~ct ~s facmg one of the worst school budget
cr~ses ~n state hisYory The D~strict's deficit resulted from the use of mflated
nuinbers to cover expense overruns for the past three years. St Vram also
overest~mated reserves and underestnnated salary costs, fa~led to consider the
past year's summer salaries, undercounted 150 full-time employees, and
neglected to add salary increases to the budget. (Source The Jared Pol~s
Foundation.)
The St Vram School D~str~ct ts also proceedmg with the construcrion of £our
of s~x new schools at this time wrth two more hkely to be delayed by one year
The new facrlit~es are to rel~eve overcrowdmg, as distr~ct schools are at 97%
capac~ty, wh~ch mcludes a recordmg-breakmg mcrease of 2,466 students for
the last three years In the fastest growing areas of the distnct (where many
Hispan~c fam~lies live), 14 schools are 100% over capac~ty (Source. The
7ared Pol~s Foundarion )
Reflection, Action & Expansion 23
At the untversity level, the enrollment number for Hispamc students are
cons~derably lower takmg mto account that the Unrversity of Colorado is a
statew~de school servmg students from all over Colorado as well as a number of
national and mternat~onal students.
• The Umversity of Colorado at Boulder had a total enrollment of 29,605
students m 2001 Of this number 1,429 were ident~fied as Hispamc/Larino
with 315 of these enrolled as new freshmen
TABLE 7
Fa112001 Minority Enrollment (degree seeking only)
American Indian
Asian American
African American 73 433
Hispanic/Latino 315 1,429
Tota[ 723 3,441
Source. Just the Facts 2001-2002, University of Colorado at Boulder
The Umversity of Colorado at Boulder's staff on the Boulder campus are
distnbuted as follows•
TABLE 8.
Full and Part-time classified 2,627 642 1,985
staff
Temporary Class. Staff 232 63 169
Total Classified Staff 2,859 705 2,154
Full- and part-time 571 97 474
unclassified staff
Total 3,430 802 2,628
• Of the 55 new faculty, seven hired m the fall of 2001 were identified as
mmonty, although no breakdown was grven
(Source• Just the Facts 2001-2002, Umversity of Colorado at Boulder)
Reflection, Action & Expansion 24
298 1,392
Front Range Community College, the largest two-year community college m
the state has several campuses m Boulder County. It's enrollment reflects a
larger number of Larino students~
TABLE 9.
Unknown 587 3.94
Black 198 1.33
Hispanic 1,473 9 89
Indian 194 1.3
Asian 607 4.07
White 11,837 79.46
TOTAL 14,896 100
In the course of th~s study, the mterv~ewers were unable to determine a
number of key md~catars, such as• literacy rates (both for English and Spantsh
monolmgual populat~ons) Focus group responses mdicated that while
Spamsh was the primary language spoken at home, some m~xture of Spanish-
and English-speakmg was a necessity for obtaimng certam types of work and
operatmg m the general commumty. The lack of ava~lable and accessible
Engl~sh as a Second Language (ESL) education was c~ted by many focus
group partic~pants as an obstacle to further economic and social advancement
A number of programs, such as CU's ESL program, were v~riually unknown
to most focus group part~cipants
One busmess focus group participant observed that wh~le many busmesses
needed low-wage, low-skilled workers, they did not have the in-house
capac~ty to commumcate with them, and therefore, those newcomers who are
bihngual are advanced to higher hne staff management posrtion, for example,
head housekeepers, or head Ime-managers
• One prom~smg findmg is the development of school-srte parent groups. These
groups promote the engagement of famii~es m school programs, serve as a
gathermg and distribution pomt for other school famihes, and work to
strengthen the connect~on between home and school The groups help parents
become effective advocates and consumers of serv~ces for their children
Reflection, Action & Expansion 25
The majority of Boulder's Latinos work in lower-paid jobs that are
critically important to the county's overall economy.
" there are no~obs everywhere~obs are scarce After 9/11, people are harder on immigrants
Americans have also been affected so we are affected more "
Parent focus group participant. February 6, 2003.
'7n some famrkes, ktds are worktng 40 hours a week "
Youth fows group participant. December 17, 2002.
The emergence of the Latino cominumty has contr~buted significantly to the
supply of manual labor needed m supportmg industries m an otherwise h~gh-tech,
high-skilled and extremely well-pa~d economy
The low wages of Latmo workers have allowed them to compete for~obs m the
construct~on, hotel, restaurant, landscaping and other ancillary mdustries. Low
wages and an eagerness to take entry level jobs worked as a compet~tive
advantage While the wages are extremely low by Boulder, Colorado and
nat~onal standards they remam relat~vely high m comparison to similar or even
more arduous work m Mex~co That is, m part, why they contmue to attract
newcomers
Nat~onal stahst~cs mdicate that Hispanics are generally employed m manual
labor, service and support occupahons In 2000, Hispamcs were almost twice
as hkely as whrtes to work m service occupations (19 4 percent and 11 8
percent respect~vely) and as operators and laborers (22 percent and 11 6
percent respect~vely) Moreover, 14 percent of Lahnos were m managerial
and profess~onal occupations, compared to 33 2 percent of whrtes In terms of
H~spamc men and women, m 1999, almost half (46 9 percent) of Hispamc
men 15 years old and over were employed m either precls~on production,
craft, and repair occupat~ons (18 6 percent), were executives, admmistrators,
and managers (14 9 percent), or were m professional spec~alties (13 4
percent) (Source: U S. Census Bureau )
Estimates vary but on average an ~mmigrant worker makes in one hour of
work m the U S what they would make m one day m Mex~co (Source• The
Denver Post) Busmess focus group part~cipants pomted out that even under
an economic downturn, many workmg newcomers m Boulder county can
expect to make $60 a day for a 12-hour day as compared to $7 m Mexico
(Source Handbook of U S Labor Statistics Sixth Edrtion. 2003) Family
focus group members also pomted out that while mcomes are considerably
higher m the U S, the cost of Irvmg ~s higher as well
Reflection, Action & Expansion 26
Another pomt of reference is the hourly compensarion costs m U S. dollars for
product~on workers m manufacturmg U S workers average $20 32 and hour,
while Canadian workers average $15.64 In contrast, Mexican warkers
average $2 34 an hour (Source. Handbook of U S Labor Statistics Sixth
Edit~on 20031
Wh~le median mcome m Boulder County is estimated at $87,000 (as
compared to $58,065 for Colorado and $53,700 m the US), Latmo median
mcome is a fract~on of that amount, wrth estimates in the $20,000 to $25,000
range, (Source. U S Census, Colorado by the Numbers.)
• Boulder County's employment p~cture has also soured m the last year and a
half. Unemployment figures for the county rose sharply from 2 4 percent
(4,425) m 2000, to 3 5 percent (5,944) m 2001 to nearly 5.1 percent or 9,944
~obs m 2002 (Source: Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.)
While many of these~obs affected Boulder's larger employers the
repercussions were felt throughout the local economy. Hispamc warkers were
also affected by cuts at Longmont Foods (from 1,050 to 800 employees) and
Safeway (from 900 to 675) (Source• Comparison from Boulder Economic
Council statist~cs for 2001 and 2002 )
Employment opportumt~es have been l~mrted to low-skilled, lower-paid~obs.
The lack of Engl~sh language and sk~lls adequate to a highly technological
society has meant a heavy concentration of Larino (mostly Mex~can) workers
in the lower-paymg areas such as landscapmg, construction, restaurant and
factory work with a concentrat~on of women m hotel work, housecleanmg and
child care work These low paymg, mmimum-wage ~obs are also affected by
the sheer numbers of newcomers who dnve down wages.
Undocumented workers, who are unfam~liar with U S law, culture and
trad~tions, are also the v~ctuns of fraudulent pracrices by some unscrupulous
employers, landlords and salespeople. Focus group part~cipants repoi~t paymg
premium pr~ces for bas~c services, as well as exorbrtant security deposits for
apartments
The econom~c downturn that affected Boulder County's high-tech economy
has had severe repercussions on the low-wage economy most newcomers
depend on With construct~on start-ups down, many entry-level~obs are
disappeanng Statist~cs from the Home Builders Association of Metropolrtan
Denver show that Boulder and Broomfiald counhes had a 14 percent declme
m housmg pennrts from November 2001 to November 2002 (Source: Boulder
County Busmess Report, February 21-March 6, 2002) Workforce Boulder
reports that three to four contract day-labor centers have closed w~thin the last
six months
Reflection, Action & Expansion 27
Drought cond~t~ons have had a negatrve effect on landscapmg services
throughout the county. A recent report from Colorado State University cites a
declme m landscapmg revenue and the mdustry now has 15,000 fewer~obs
than ~t d~d m 2001 as busmesses deal w~th fewer new homes being built as
well as cutbacks m new lawns as homeowners dealt with watenng restrictions
(Source• Boulder County Busmess Report)
As layoffs and t~ghtened budgets affected the ma~ority populatton's ability to
spend, a negat~ve affect was felt by restaurants, child care providers, and
housekeepmg services. The hotel mdustry -- another source of employment
among Latmos -- has similarly been adversely affected
• The events of September 11, 2001 have also exacerbated Latmo
unemployment In rts efforts to screen undocumented fore~gners res~dmg m
the U S., busmesses report receivmg mcreased government remmders and
wammgs to scrut~mze the legal status of their employees This affects most
heavily the large number of undocumented workers.
For the first t~me, many Hispamc low-wage workers who traditionally relied
on two, or m some cases even three low-paymg jobs, to support themselves
and the~r famil~es, are experiencmg unemployment Among the undocumented
th~s is compounded by the lack of access to unemployment msurance, even
though they contributed through FICA and other taxes while workmg
Last year, Mextcans m Amer~ca sent back about $11 bilhon m rem~ttances
(money sent home) to their famihes Western Umon reports a shght dechne m
money order transfers from U S households to Mex~co generally. This may be
an mdicator of declmmg mcome among the newcomer population Most of
the money trad~tionally goes through expensrve telegram transfers or m cash
by trucks for a 10 percent commission
Reflection, Actinn & Expansion 28
Boulder's Latino income is significantly lower than the general
community
"Economic development would tmpact all regardless of
status and greatly ltft the econom~c status of the greater number "
Known community focus group parUcipant. February 5, 2003.
Although nationally Hispanic median family mcome remams well below that of
whrte families, rt l~as mcreased smce 1999 Real median household mcome for
I-Iispamc mamed-couple famil~es was $37,132 m 1999, compared to $59,697 for
white non-Hispamc families and $50,656 for black fam~l~es Between 1998 and
1999, real med~an fam~ly mcome levels mcreased 4 3 percent for Hispamc
famihes, 2.5 percent for whrte non-Hispan~c famiUes, and 4.6 percent for Black
famil~es. (Source• Narional Council of La Raza )
Annual real per capita mcome m Boulder County (2001) ~s $40,840 (measured m
constant 2001 dollars and calculated usmg Denver-Boulder Consumer Price
Index, as reported by the U S Departmant of Labor, Bureau of Labor Starisrics)
(Source• U S Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis)
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment reports that~obs m the
servica sector m Boulder County have mcreased by 175 percent from 1985 to
1999 In 2000, nearly 1 in 3 employees m Boulder County was employed tn the
serv~ce sector. Retail ~obs have mcreased nearly 53 percent Latmo workers are
l~eavily concentrated m these sectors. The average wage pa~d m this mdustry
sector is $17,939. (Source Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.)
Among the sigmficant factors that may account for this lower mcome level among
the Hispamc populat~on nationally, as well as m Boulder County, are.
• Contmumg unimgrat~on nahonally (of the 24.6 mill~on foreign-born in the
U S., 40 percent were Latmo) brmgs m new waves of low-skilled, low-paid
workers, overwhelmmg the statistical gains of longer-term Latmos who are
improvmg the~r education and sk~lls (For example, Latmo college enrollment
mcreased from 411,000 m 1975 to 1.2 m~ll~on m 1995.)
Higher fertiliry rates among Mexican-Americans (one group among Latmos)
m pamcular (4 4 ch~ldren) results m lower per caprta mcome than for other
groups Latmo fam~hes wrth children had an average of 2.2 children and
more than one quarter (29 percent) of these families had three or more
children. H~gher fert~lity rates translate mto a younger average rate for the
Latmo population (about half of Latmos were under 26 5 years of age
compared to 37 3 for whites), which means lower educahon attammant, less
Reflection, Action & Expansion Z9
work exper~ence and consequently less sktll and less mcome The higher rates
of fertihty are also mamfested m crowded housmg (a typical Lahno family
consisted of 3 9_5 people compared w~th 3.2 people m all familtes), lower per
capita mcome (more mouths to feed), and sendmg chtldren to college less
often.
There ~s an ~nverse relationship between child beanng and rearmg and mcome
for women Ch~ld bearmg and ch~ld tendmg reduces a woman's availabihty
for e~nployment and her ab~lity to accumulate work experience or educat~on,
and rt reduces both parents mobility for seekmg their best employment
opportumties Mexican-American wotnen have a lower labor pamcipation rate
than other Latmo groups and African-Americans (Source National Counc~l
of La Raza)
• While newcomers may be poorer m economic caprtal and face obstacles m
language fluency, makmg contacts, knowmg how to use msriturions, findmg
better~obs and gettmg promoted, they rely on enormous human and soctal
capttal-relymg on well-estabhshed networks of fr~ends and relatrves who
m~grated before them Focus group panc~ipants have described these
newcomers as "extremely hard-workmg," "determmed," "mventive,"
"adaptable and crearive " They also pomted to the extensive networks of
fam~ly, communal and mutual support that make the transirion possible
The newcomer and emergmg populahon ~s an extremely adaptable one This
is a funct~on of an mcredibly flexible and res~l~ent mformal network of social
caprtal Soc~al capital is defined as well-estabhshed networks, followmg the
footsteps of friends and relatives who migrated before them (Source
Griswold) The newcomer population has found ways to adapt its housmg
needs (often by doubhng or even triplmg households to afford the h~gh rents
m the area, somet~mes by migratmg to areas wrth lower rents and commuhng
longer d~stances to where the ~obs m~ght be) Health care, while often
madequate and expens~ve, is available through the use of a network of public
clmics and some msurance The clmics, such as Plan de Salud m Longmont,
Climca San Juan m Boulder and Climca Campesma m Lafayette, are fast
bemg stretched beyond the~r capacity to cope adeGuately with the increase m
population Child care ~s primar~ly a funct~on of family support and other
soc~al capital networks Transportat~on options have been created by an
expans~on of car-poohng, van services and other crearive approaches Most
people m the commumty often worked two, and some even three jobs to
generate income. And m the past few years there has been a prohferahon of
mamly undercapital~zed busmesses that cater primarily to the emergent
commumty. All of these factors weigh down Latino mcome figures and
stahstics
All of these factors weigh down Latmo mcome figures and statisrics
Reflection, Action & Expansion 30
Boulder's Latino businesses are expanding to meet the needs of an
underserved market.
"All of us bel~eve our famil:es are huge consumers
We buy clothes and gold "
Busmess focus group participant. March 6, 2003.
As the Latmo population m Boulder County grows, there has been a proliferat~on
of Latmo-owned and Latmafocused smail busmess Boulder proper, Longmont,
Lafayette and other c~ries and towns m the county are seemg an explos~on of
panadertas (baker~es), carnacerias (butcher shops), Spamsh-language music and
outlet stores and other shops that serve the growmg Span~sh-speakmg market
throughout the county The lack of a ma~or discount store withm Boulder C~ty
proper has also created opporiumties to serve the newcomer populahon m a
variety of ways. Boulder County data for the year 2000 reports that approximately
811 (or 4.4 percent) busmesses are Latino-owned On further scrutmy, this figure
seems extremely low
• This development reflects nat~onal trends where H~spamcs are makmg
s~gmficant contributions to the overall economy The number of Hispanic-
owned busmesses is r~smg dramarically In 1992, roughly 860,000 U S firms
were owned by Hispanics, an mcrease of 76.1 percent smce the last U S
Census busmess survey m 1987 These firms generated over $76.8 b~ll~on m
gross rece~pts m 1992, compared to $32 8 billion m 1987 The pro~ected
buymg power of the total Hispamc populat~on for 2001 was estimated at
$452.4 bilhon, an mcrease of 118 percent smce 1990
• In Boulder County the mcrease in entrepreneur~al activity reflects (1) meetmg
the needs of a growmg Latmo market through groceries, restaurants, personal
serv~ces, and language-appropriate services; and (2) catenng to the needs of
the Boulder population by work m construction, landscapmg, housmg, day
care, manufacturmg and other serv~ces.
Many, if not most, of these new busmesses are self-financed carrymg httle or
no loans from trad~t~onal lendmg sources Many are owner- or family-run and
the~r low capital~zation rates hmit or prohibit their ab~hty to expand and
provide employment beyond close famtly circles. This reflects a narional
trend where some 2 m~lhon busmesses are growmg at double the rate of all
firms m the economy - close to 11 percent a year - and are exceptionally able
to put an underut~l~zed labor force to work (Forbes, November 29, 1999)
These small establ~shments face extraordinary cap~tal constramts on the~r
growth, because of old perceprions by lenders and equally anhquated lendmg
Reflection, Action & Expansion 32
standards Their net effect, however, ~s to confinn the economic prmc~ple that
mcreases m population lead to wealth creation for the commumty at large
There is also a cruc~al ~ssue of start-up cap~tal - most immigrant owned
busmesses rely less on Formal netwarks of caprtal (banks, for example).
Pocus group participants mdicated that most owner-operated busmesses are
seldom started w~th bank loans, regardless of the race or ethmcity of the
busmessperson The cruc~al mformation needed for assessmg the prospects of
the owner-operator is about the kmd of person they are, and this sort of
mformation ~s more available to the busmessperson's family and fnends than
to a bank Theiefore, most small busmesses begm with cap~tal supplied by the
md~v~dual busmessperson and those closest to them The cost of knowledge -
of each others cl~aracter - necessary to ra~se financial cap~tal, and to direct ~t
to those mdividuals best able to put rt to work successfully -- ~s the crucial
variable
• Boulder County's h~ghly regulatory chmate also puts addrtional stress on the
abil~ty to start and operate busmesses Licensmg, long warts and h~gh costs
for perm~ts, and fees and other expenses discourage the creat~on of owner-
operated and small busmesses m the general populahon, not to mention ~ts
effects on those with fewer contacts, less fluency m language and
acculturat~on to a re~ulatory enviromnent
• Many mformal (i e cash only) Latmo busmesses and services operate wrthm
the commumty to meet the needs of the labor force, for example, through day
care, transportat~on, and food serv~ces As part of the mformal serv~ce
economy, these vital serv~ces are not reflected m statist~cal surveys
Busmess focus group part~cipants pomted to the skewed perception of the
H~spamc commumty that comes from amalgamaring Boulder with Denver as a
metropoirtan area Though Latmos are highly v~s~ble as part of Denver, there
is no such percept~on about Boulder, consequently "no money (public or
pnvate) flows m this direction " There is also a perception that the City of
Boulder is domg "a horr~ble ~ob" wrth regard to econom~c development, such
as the loss of Sears and the constant problems with Crossroads Mall. When
asked where Boulder's Hispamc population is domg ~ts shoppmg, answers
ranged from Target, second-hand stores, food and clothmg banks, and flea
markets m Commerce City and Denver In other words, the percept~on that
Boulder's Latmos are "mvis~ble" is a lost market opporiunity to supply its
growmg consumer needs.
• Latmos are more l~kely to be "un-banked' tl~an any other ethmc group, reports
the National Council of La Raza A 1992 narionwide study found that 92
percent of Latmo households had no deposrt account (savmgs or checkmg).
By compar~son, less than one-th~rd (29 percent) of black households and 7
Reflection, Action & Expansion 33
percent of wh~te households were considered "un-banked " Among Mex~cans
m the U S, rt is est~mated (Source: The Economist, January 2003) that some
50 percent still lack bank accounts
• The remittance ~ssue is also a serv~ce that most U.S banks would be eager to
provide at a much lower cost, but only if these customers could provide the
offic~al idenrificat~on required to open a bank account, which many
undocumented newcomers lack. In 2001, the Mexican government began to
issue a new, forgery-proof consular reg~stration card, known as matricula
consular, provmg res~dence m the U S. E~ghry banks now accept the
reg~stration cards across the country, mcludmg Well Fargo and Bank One m
Boulder County, among others.
As of the writmg of th~s report, Gov Bill Owens had s~gned House B~II 1224,
also known as the Verifiable Ident~ficat~on Document Act, bamm~g state
agenc~es from recogmzmg valid Mexican IDs However, private businesses
may st~ll choose to accept the matriculas, and police agenc~es may use the
mformat~on m the cards to ident~fy a person (Source• La Voz, May 28, 2003)
Reflection, Action & Expansion 34
Boulder's Latino poverty rate is high and demand for public services is
growing.
"Some organuattons, more traduronal tn scope, serve 12-15 percent Lattnos w~th the~r caseloads
The mu~onty ar e exper~enetng 40-SO percent o~ the~r services 6eing focused on Lattno famrl~es "
Service provider focus group par[icipant../anuary 30, 2003.
Nahonal poverty rates for Hispamc families, workmg Hispamc families, and
Hispanic children remam d~sproport~onately h~gh In 1999, more than one-quarter
of both Hispamc and black fam~l~es l~ved m poverty (22 8 percent and 23.6
percent, respectroely, wh~le the poverty rate for white non-Hispamc famil~es was
7 7 percent
The data shows that poverty is three to four t~mes as common among Hispanics as
among non-H~spamc whrtes People of H~spamc or~gm represent about I 1 3
percent of the U S population, but constrtuted 23 4 percent of all people l~vtng m
poverty Finally, one-th~rd (303 percent) of Hispamc children were poor m 1999,
compared to 9 4 percent of white non-Hispamc ch~ldren and 33.1 percent of black
ch~ldren
• The Boulder County Commumty Act~on Program, a human serv~ces provider,
serves approx~mately 490 people of whom 82 percent (or 404) are Latmo; 14
percent (70) are Hmong; and 4 percent (16) are wh~te
• Boulder County Head Start reports that 58 3 percent (or 112) of rts cl~ents
were Latmo ch~ldren The next largest group is whrte wrth 21 4 percent (or
41)
However, unm~grant families use substantially f'ewer publ~c services (largely
due to Social Security) than do native fam~lies from the hme of entry until
about 12 years later, when their usage becomes equal to natives. After about
two to s~x years imimgrant families come to pay as much, and then
substanY~ally more, m taxes than nat~ve fam~hes. In other words, new
immigrants contribute more to the public coffers than they take
Studies, such as those conducted by the Nat~onal Academy of Sciences, show that
over 70 percent of undocumented immigrants have federal mcome tax wrthheld,
and about 75 percent pay Social Secur~ty taxes - even though they can never
collect on it On the other hand, the proportion that uses pubhc welfare services is
small. And none can get access to Social Security and atd to the elderly. The NAS
study found that the rypical imm~grant and his or her offsprmg will pay a net
$80,000 more in taxes durmg the~r hfehmes than they collect m government
services (Source Insaght on the News. Issue 11/26/02 )
Reflection, Action & Expansion 35
• When we compute the average wages pa~d m key mdustries with high
concentrations of Hispamc workers (for example, construchon, restaurants,
landscapmg), larger household sizes (focus group participants report an
average of 5-6 person per households), the h~gh cost of livmg and housmg m
Boulder County and contrast this with the general populat~on we conclude that
a sigmficant ma~ority of Boulder County's Hispanic population lives near or
below the poverty gwdehnes H~spanics conshtute approximately 10 percent
of the county's population, they are by all available mdicators
disproportionately m the ma~or~ty among the workmg poor.
Reflection, Action & Expansion 36
Boulder's housing situation and land-use policies disproportionately
impact the Hispanic population. _ _ _
"You need a~ob, you need educahon,
but most important,
you need a house to l:ve tn first "
Youth fncus group pnnc~ipant. January 10, 20D3.
Nationally, most Hispamcs are renters, and H~spamcs have relatively low
homeownersh~p rates oveiall More than two-fifths (43 3 percent) of H~spamcs
were homeowners m 1997, which was much lower than the nat~onal average of
65 7 percent of all households H~spamcs are also less hkely to part~cipate m
federal low-mcome housmg programs In 1997, approximately 19 percent of
publ~c housmg renters were H~spanic, while 30 percent were non-Hispamc wh~te
and 48 percent were non-H~spamc black, similarly, roughly 15 percent of Sect~on
8 tenant-based renters, and 1 I percent of Section 8 pro~ect-based renters, were
Hispamc (Source U S Census Bureau)
• The city of Boulder has 104,000 workers and 51,000 housmg units Under
considerat~on by the Boulder C~ty Counc~l ~s a plan to reduce potential job
growth and mcrease housmg umts through land-use modtfications (Source
Boulder County Busmess Report, March 3, 2003)
• Meanwhile, the Boulder County Housmg Authority reports that while
Hispames make up approximately 10 percent of the county's population they
constitute 44 percent of the total 269 unrts of available affordable/fam~ly,
elder, farm worker and public family housmg
• Average rental costs m Boulder County are $835 for a two-bedroom
apartment excludmg utilrties (Source• Apartment Assoc~at~on of Metro
Denver)
• The median value of housmg m the c~ty and county of Boulder, as well as m
Colorado, ~s generally high In 2001, the average pnce of a home m Boulder
County was $343,000 (up from $102,800 m 1990) and the average price of a
smgle-fam~ly home m the crty of Boulder was $472,169 (up from $122,700 m
1990) These figures reflect mcreases m population durmg extremely
prosperous economic t~mes fueled by high-tech mdustry (Source• Daily
Camera, Boulder County Assessor)
• Hispamc households are high-dens~ty An overwhelmmg number of focus
group respondents mdicated there were as few as four and as many as six
people residmg m their homes.
Reflection, Action & Expansion 37
• Large numbers of ~mmigrants have responded to the h~gh cost of housmg m
Boulder County by doubling or tnplmg households within one unit of
housmg Many have migrated from the City of Boulder to areas like
Longmont or Lafayette were housmg is shghtly more affordable
• The resultmg migration, as many focus group participants have pomted out,
creates transportarion challenges as many workers still have to commute to
where the ~obs and h~gher wages are located This further raises questions
about car purchases, dr~ver's licenses, fuel costs and auto msurance
Ordmanly an mcrease m newcomers to a city mcreases demand for great
quanrit~es of land and housmg away from the affluent, either directly or through
realtors, properiy developers, banks, landlords or other mtermediaries seeking to
cash m on the emergmg and growmg market of newcomers, Pohtical decisions
concernmg land use m the city of Boulder have prevented th~s from happenmg
and have contr~buted to the high cost of housmg and the lack of affordable
housmg
Boulder's h~gh cost of housmg is, m part, a result of political decisions to take
land for development off the market, both res~dential and commerc~al. If a large
port~on of Boulder's land ~s kept off the market by the government, the price of
the other land ~s gomg to be far higher than otherwise, and this m turn means
higher prices for buymg houses or renting apartments throughout the county
To date, (accordmg to Quahty ofLzfe tn Boulder County 2000) about 4,700 acres
of open space m Boulder County have been preserved through mtergovernmental
agreements involving the County and the crt~es of Lafayette, Louisville,
Broomfield, Er~e and Superior Roughly 5,000 additional acres are bemg
considered for jomt purchases
A study commiss~oned m 1999 by the Boulder Economic Council pomted out that
"housmg costs m many outlymg towns of the county, which used to be bargams
relative to the City of Boulder, are now approachmg levels sim~lar to those m the
City " The study's authors noted that the trend of employees not bemg able to
afford to live m Boulder had been exported to other towns, most notably
Longmont, once cons~dered the most affordable city m the county. (Source•
Boulder Reg~onal Economic Analys~s, November 1999. RCC Associates )
As the City of Boulder has succeeded polit~cally m keepmg more small houses or
apartments from bemg built, the cost of housmg has rematned htgh and
opportumty for affordable housmg has meant the creation of surroundmg
commumries that service Boulder's labor needs Many of Boulder's Latmo labor
farce commutes mto the city to work m construct~on, landscapmg, restaurant,
house and office cleanmg and child care, and then returns to homes m Longmont
or Lafayette
Reflection, Action & Expansion 38
Boulder's Latino health and social support systems are burdened.
"People get srck Lahnos work the hardest~obs °
Youth focus group participant. December 17, 2002.
"Mental health issues are grave in th:s communtty
Trauma is a ma~or issue, famd~es are traumahzed "
Service prov~ders' focus group participant. January 20, 2003.
There aie both hopeful and disturbmg signs with regard to health among
Hispanics
On the posrt~ve side, smokmg, drmking, and ilhcrt drug use are less prevalent
among Hispamcs than among non-Hispamcs. Unfortunately, accordmg to the
Boulder County Shenffls office, the pnmary causes of "~a~lable offenses" for
which H~spanics are arrested and brought to county ~a~l are an mcrease m
drunken dr~vmg and domestic abuse
• In 1997, 27 4 percent of H~spanics 12 years old and over smoked, compared to
30 5 percent of whrtes and 29 8 percent of Blacks. (Source: Natwnal Council
of La Raza)
• The mfant mortal~ty rate for Hispamcs was relatively low In 1996, the mfant
mortal~ty rate was 6 3 percent per 1,000 l~ve births for Latmos, compared to
6 0 percent per 1,000 for wh~ta mfants and 14 2 percent for black mfants
(Source National Counc~t of La Raza}
However, HIV/AIDS and diabetes are two of the most serious and
troublesome health threats affecring the Latmo population Hispanics are
disproport~onately represented among reported cases of AIDS while
Hispamcs const~tute 10 percent of the total U.S populahon, they account for
18 percent of the reported AIDS cases through December 1997, and although
they are only 14 5 percent of the child population, Hispamc children
accounted for 23.2 percent of all ped~atr~c AIDS cases through December
1997 (Source. Nat~onal Council of La Raza)
• The Boulder County AIDS Pro~ect (BCAP) reports that Lahnos are
d~sproport~onately mfected wrth HIV/AIDS In 2001, 15 percent of active
BCAP clients l~vmg with HIV/AIDS were Larino, while 10 4 percent of the
Boulder popularion is Latmo BCAP's Latmo Outreach Program reached over
2,600 md~viduals through its Youth, Men's, multicultural events, on-site
testmg and other programs and events (Source Boulder County AIDS
Pro~ect)
Reflection, Action & E.acpans9on 39
In addihon, 10 6 percent of all Mexican-Amencans have diabetes. On
average, Hispan~c Americans are almost twice as likely to have diabetes as
non-H~spamc whites of similar age (Currently there are not sufficient data on
diabetes available to denve more specific estimates.)
• Sources such as The New York Times (Oct 7, 2002) cite chronic ~llnesses like
heart disease and d~abetes are mcreasmg rap~dly among Latinos, as are
somally transm~tted diseases hke AIDS and hepat~tis In the same article, the
T~mes est~mates that 30 to 37 percent of Latmos l~vmg m the U S. aze
unmsured, the largest percentage of any group.
• A large percentage of H~spamcs, espec~ally children and those who are poor,
lack health msurance coverage In 1998, one-th~rd (35 3 percent) of Hispamcs,
and 44 percent of Hispanics l~vmg below the poverty level, were not covered
by health msurance Furthermore, over one•quarter (30 percent) of Hispamc
children lacked any form of health msurance, a rate higher than of erther white
(14 percent) or Black (19.7 percent) children (Source• Nattional Council of La
Raza)
The msurance status of Boulder County's Hispanic popularion is mixed Many
of those worktng for large firms such as Longmont Foods, Safeway and some
of the larger landscapmg services have access to health msurance. Those
workmg m cash-only serv~ces, such as housecleanmg and restaurant workers
are usually not msured
The ab~lity to secure employment wrth larger firms (for example, Longmont
Foods, many of the hotel chams, supermarkets) brmgs with rt the possibility of
acquirmg health msurance for one self and one's family Plan de Salud m
Longmont reports this to be the case w~th many Hispamc families of workmg
age. However, as compames are pressured to check the documentahon stahxs
of their employees, the number of those covered drops, as many
undocumented workers quit or are d~sm~ssed for lack of proper identification.
Ch~ld care, when available, has usually been handled through a combination
of avenues Focus group attendees report that childcare is usually handled by
family members, extended family members, fr~ends and occas~onally through
the use of unofficial, unhcensed day care providers However, some of
Boulder's prov~ders such as Children's Alley report sigmficant demand for
slots for Hispamc children.
In Longmont, Plan de Salud is the only provider currently accepting
Medica~d However, undocumented Latinos are not el~gible for Medicaid
The Plan also sees paymg patients on a sl~dmg scale based on mcome from $5
to $30 a visit. The clmic has built relationships with a vanety of special
providers hke Rocky Mountam Cardiology, Western Nephrology (kidney
Reflection, Action & Expansion 40
pat~ents), orthopedic clmics and prescr~ption providers such as Associated
Pharmaceut~cal m Ft. Lupton. Many of these providers will treat Plan de
Salud pat~ents m the office for free The clmic is the only health center
currently delivermg bab~es in Longmont.
• In Boulder, many Hispan~c newcomers receive basic health care through
People's Clmic/Climca San Juan The recent merger of the clmic's facil~hes
has mcreased the uitake at the chmc and led to what many focus group
partic~pants sa~d was a declme m the qual~ty of services. Many ctted longer
waiting per~ods and fewer Spamsh-speakmg personnel who could understand
their needs as well as a declme m or lack of qual~ty care
Sources both m Longmont, Lafayette and Boulder report an mcrease m the
number of clients seen for mental health services H~gher unemployment,
financial problems, and fear of deportation are all contributmg to an mcrease
m psycholog~cal and phys~ological problems Both mental health and
rel~gious counselmg services also report domeshc tensions and cases of
domestic abuse
Reflection, Action & Expansion 41
Building on the Latino Community's Assets
"The immagrant commuraty u almost mtally self-organrzed "
Re6grous focus group participant. February 6, 2003.
"There are some federal fundeng opporJUn~t~ec with the Fatth Based Initrattves that may be an
opportunrty to really engage rel~gious tnstUUhons rnto whole commumty tntttahves "
Religious focus group part~cipant. February 6, 2003.
While valuable outs~de assistance (for example, pnvate and publ~c fundmg) will be
necessary m the development and social advancement of Boulder County's Latino
community, the best of development efforts start from wrthin the community wrth
achvihes that are based on the capacrt~es, sk~lls and assets of Boulder's Latmo
popularion In sprte of many obstacles, Boulder County's Larino community has a sol~d
set of assets from wh~ch to build its future
As the study progressed the team idenhfied several key stress pomts that are currently
affectmg those systems that serve the Latmo commumty.
The Latmo populahon mcrease has placed an enormous stress on health and other
service agenc~es workmg with the newcomer commumty Surveys of City and
County of Boulder serv~ce departments, for example, report a need to mcrease
Spanish language capabihty
• Beyond language, a number of focus groups participants mentioned the need to hire
b~cultural agents who will not only understand the language but who may also have a
greater sense of cultural differences among the populahon served
• Many of the soc~al serv~ces and other agencies that were mterv~ewed, both public and
private, have at least some component of the~r work dedicated to servmg the H~spamc
population The econom~c downturn has seen both reduchons m fundmg and other
resources as well as mcreased demands placed on agencies by the Latmo populat~on
as it exper~ences mcreased unemployment, health and other needs
While ~t is outs~de the scope of this report to discuss the orgamzational capac~ty of these
groups, we can say that all of these service providers are grapplmg with the substantial
mcreases m the size and d~versity of the newcomer population. There are differences
withm the commumty rtself with regard to first and other generahon Latmos, language
(some of the U S-born Larinos do not speak Spamsh or do not speak tt fluently),
di£ferences m mcome, education and other relevant factors All of these differences
present form~dable obstacles to buildmg bridges to the newcomer population
So far, the newcomer population has not idenrified any of ~ts informal, grassroots
leadership and has not engaged m organization buildmg, Th~s is sure to change w~th
time Parents of public school children have had some opporiunities for mvolvement and
Reflection, Action & Expansion 42
participarion m school-related ~ssues. Rehgious and farth-based actrvities have created
some space for the development of leadership and organizational skilis. Nevertheless, to
date, there has been no concerted effort to identify and develop mdigenous, grassroots
leadership, or to create organ~zational forms to focus the energies of the commumty
Many of the organizat~ons crted are strugghng to provide quality serv~ces to mcreasmg
numbers with mcredibly hmited resources The amount of volunteer and otherwise
unpaid labor ~s mest~mable and goes towards keeping the doors of these groups open to
the communrty
Addrtionally, the pool of mdividuals servmg on boards, staffing and volunteenng m these
efforts is hm~ted and ci rt~cally overstretched There are l~mrted opportunihes for many of
these mdiv~duals to network, build cross funct~onal relationsh~ps, work on collaborahve
pro~ects, and develop the~r current and potential leadersh~p skills much less create
common cause around crihcal issues affectmg the entire commumty (Exceprion to the
latter can be seen m coal~t~on buildmg and mob~l~zing efforts to halt recurrent `Bnghsh
Only" eFforts )
Wh~le stresses ex~st m most of the systems that serve Latmos, there are some remarkably
strong assets that have been developed m the commumty over the past decades Any
comprehensive study of the Latmo commumty must mclude the enormous assets that
contr~bute to the quahty of l~fe withm this newcomer commumty.
Among these assets are the family health care centers. Longmont's Plan de Salud is part
o£the network of Plan de Salud del Valle, Inc d/b/a Salud Family Health Centers
(SALUD) wh~ch started as a migrant health center m 1970 SALUD's goal is to prov~de
qual~ty, comprehensive primary health care serv~ces, and to ~mprove the overall health of
commumt~es ~t serv~ces by reducmg barriers to healthcare mcluding ability to pay,
transportation and language
Clients are screened at their first v~sit for ab~l~ty to pay Fees range from $5 ($2 ~f
enrolled m the Child Health Plan) to full fee Approximately 60 percent of Salud's
patients are umnsured, 25 parcent enrolled m Medica~d, 10 percent are privately insured,
and 5 percent are enrolled m Medicare Staffing at the Salud Family health center
mcludes two physic~ans, 2 mid-level providers, 1 center d~rector, and a busmess manager
In Longmont the center d~rector ~s Dr Greg Jaram~llo SALUD has expenenced
problems convmcmg new immigrants to seek health serv~ces Because recent
iminigrahon laws stipulate that new immigrants cannot use social services for five years,
many unmigrants fear that they will be demed naturahzation if they seek health services.
(Source: Plan de Salud websrte )
In Lafayette, Climca Campesma Family Health Services is a federally quahfied health
center prov~dmg comprehensive, preventarive health serv~ces, prescript~on services, and
health education and promotion Clin~ca handles approximately 60,000 pnmary care
v~sits per year Climca operates on a shdmg-scale basis; fees range from $5 to $35 for
Reflection, Action & Expansion 43
reduced rates About 60 percent of Clinica's pahents are H~spamc, 36 percent Caucasian,
2 percent African Amer~can, 1 percent As~an and 1 percent Native American Fifty-three
percent of the cl~mc's parients are children; 4 percent are pregnant women but they make
up 13 percent of the pat~ent v~sits. Most of Climca's adult parients are women; adult
males are the least common parients
Many m the commumty rely heav~ly on the~r faith as a source of coinfort m a new land.
However, the church serves another function as a major source of social capital. As a
trusted, non-governmental body, it ~s a primary source of confidence, support and referral
for~obs, health care providers, housmg opportunit~es In many ways, local panshes serve
as clearmghouses of mformation and as a source of contacts to other newcomers
Boulder's Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Cathol~c Church, for example, mimsters to the
sp~ntual as well as mater~al needs of some 800 plus par~sh~oners
Work~ng as a resource center for ~ssues concermng the Latmo commumty, Longmont's
El Comite works wrth over 6,000 mdro~dual cases a year El Com~te provides a vanety of
services m the areas of educat~on, health and social serv~ces, employment mformarion,
semar ~ssues, housmg, youth mtervent~on, legal ass~stance and English/Spamsh
translat~on In addrtion, El Comrte advances the human nghts of Boulder County's Lattno
population through advocacy, ra~smg cultural awareness and community educahon.
The Boulder County Latma Women's League (BCLWL), founded m 1998, supports the
needs of Latmas m Boulder County through scholarship programs, networkmg, social
activities, and commumty serv~ce pro~ects The League mcludes members from busmess,
educat~on, government, health and mental health orgamzarions, as well as other walks of
hfe
The mission of BCLWL ~s to create opportunihes for Latma girls, adolescents, and
women for educat~onal and professional advancement Membersh~p m the League is
open to those who -- regardless of age, national or ethmc origm, creed, disability, gender,
or sexual or~entahon -- wish to promote the educat~onal, personal, and cultural
advancement of Latma g~rls and women m Boulder County
Along with the Boulder County Latmo Task Force (which provides coardmahon of
Latmo actrvrttes and advocacy), Centro Am~stad (workmg with the imm~grant
population), Intercambio (Engl~sh as a second language) and other small but dedicated
orgamzations, these cr~rical mstituhons provide an ~mportant base for addressmg many of
the issues ouflmed m this study
Wh~le there are some Latmo-focused and Lahno-led orgamzahons throughout the
County, there are no grassroots organizations led by the newcomers themselves. This is a
factor of the imm~gration status of many but it also pomts out that this is a commumty
engaged m economic survival - they are simply too busy workmg to make a livmg for
themselves and the~r families Many established commumty orgamzations also cited the
need for recrurtment and retent~on of Latmos representmg the commumty on the~r boards
and other governmg bod~es
Reflection, Action & Expansion 44
Parent groups are formmg throughout Boulder County to help mform the Latmo
commumty of events happening withm the schools and to help parents become better
consumers and advocates of services for their children.
The Latmo communiry also contributes many of rts best qualrties, strong family ties, a
strong work eth~c, remarkable res~hence m the face of adversity, and an extensive
qetwork of soc~al caprtal There is also an overwhelmmg desire to provide the next
generations of Latmos in Boulder County wrth the educat~onal and other opportunihes
that w~ll allow them to succeed These qualrt~es have served the Lahno commumty well
and have contributed the stability and sriucture tUat constitutes enormous potenhal for
soc~al and econom~c advancement over the long haul
In truth, the key toward any viable and sustamable solut~on ~s m the ability to "locate a11
of the available local assets, to begm connectmg them wrth one another m ways that
mult~ply their power and effechveness, and to begm harnessmg those local mshturions
that are not yet available for local development purposes "(Source• John P Kretzman
and John L. McKmght, Bualding Communitzes from the Inside Out A Path Towards
Finding and Mobtlazing a Communaty's Assets 1993)
Reflection, Action & Expansion 45
Recommendations
HIP Colorado should continue to fund the existing organizations being fully
aware that these organizations will need sustained leadership and
organization development to be able to grow and meet the needs of the
emerging community. Based on the current HIP critena, organizations that are
Latmo-focused and Latmo-led, are few and generally small There is enormous
potenhal for buildmg the capacity of these orgamzat~ons and for developmg sk~lls
among current and potenhal leaders ~f HIP looks at projects that are led by
Latmos and serve the commumty
• New start up organizations should be encouraged. These start-ups will
mev~tably develop whether started by long-tnne Latmo residents of Boulder or by
newcomers These orgamzations should be encouraged to develop and grow with
full awareness that they will need adequate support - financial, human and
orgaruzational. These groups will also face obstacles beyond the usual
organ~zational challenges Parents groups, church-based and other grass-roots
groups can and most l~kely w~ll become a ma~or source of new leadership for the
commumty Many of these groups will face the issue of documentation sooner or
later
The idea of Latino-led projects within existing, larger organizations that
serve Che population should be explored. If HIP looks at ex~stmg orgamzat~ons
that serve the Latmo populat~on but are not currently led by Latmos, HIP can play
a crit~cal role m encouragmg and promotmg Hispamc mdrv~duals and families to
orgamze w~thm the larger orgamzations to exert leadership and learn
organizational sk~lls Groups that are currently servmg the H~spamc population
can "help them help themselves" by creatmg mternal teams and committees to
develop the capac~ty for self-management of pro~ects
Other models of leadership and organizational development should be
explored. The expenences, necessities and capacit~es of th~s community are wide
and varied. No one orgamzational or leadersh~p model is gomg to appeal to rural
imm~grants from Fresmllo, urban ~mm~grants from Mexico City, young people
born and raised m Longmont, or other native Coloradans whose fam~hes have
hved here for decades The needs and orgamzat~onal capacit~es of the commumty
should be assessed, desired results for new orgamzat~ons should be developed,
and curricula and trammg methodologies that are relevant and appropriate should
be designed. Whether trammg health outreach workers, legal mtake workers, or
community orgamzers a core group needs to be supported and encouraged so that
they will become capable of adaptmg what they learn to the umque condit~ons
that apply m Longmont, Lafayette, or Boulder Cross-funct~onal work should be
encouraged so that the different areas of work can come to apprec~ate their
Reflection, Action & Expansion 46
mterconnecrion Careful thought should be given to creating a learning center
for the advancement of Latino-led organizations
• Establish a Latino community center. One of the most significant challenges
facmg many Lahno fam~hes is the absence of a community center or some other
mst~tut~on that recogmzes the needs and assets of the community. Many focus
group part~cipants spoke of the need for such a place, especially for Lahno youth
A visible Latino presence in Boulder could be achieved through the
estaUlishment of a Latino Center, that is, some office or crvic center that might
house Latmo commumty-based orgamzat~ons, soc~al services, cultural and
recreat~onal facihhes that would attract family and youth. G~ven adequate
resources such a center could become the venue for meetmgs, traimng, ESL
classes, and cultural events
• Make social capital visible Durmg the course of this research the vanety,
richness and value of the Latmo commumty's social and human capital became
readily apparent. Doctors, educators, publ~c offimals and many others wrth a
genume respect for the hard work and values of the Latmo community, and a real
des~re to serve became m~ghtily visible Professionals, act~vists and ordmary
people w~thm the commumty expressed an enormous desire to come together
around a vanety of issues to work and make ~mprovements m the commumty.
These mdiv~duals reflected Latmo as well as the v~ews of those m the ma~ority
populat~on Often one set of mdiv~duals or group is unaware of the other.
Valuable resources are untapped because the d~f£erent groups, mdividuals and
regions (those m Longmont, Lafayette, Boulder and elsewhere) may not know of
each other's good work.
• HIP Colorado sl~ould convene and create statewide Latino advisory groups.
Such adv~sory groups should consist of health care professionals, educators,
lawyers, busmesspeople, and others wrth a pulse on the conditions and issues
facmg the Latmo commumty. These adv~sories would mform HIP of new and
current concerns They could also become mcubators For statewide mrtiahves to
address a wide range of themes for example, immigration, educat~onal pohcies,
health care, the status of Latma women, employment issues, and Latmo busmess
growth There is a richness of expenence, diversity of views and talent that needs
to be Yapped aY a statewide level to prov~de analys~s and leadershtp on the Latmo
reahty m Colorado
Convene a Hispanic issues forum. One of the most valuable lessons of th~s study
was the lack of an adequate forum for the d~scussion of issues among those
workmg with and m the H~spamc commumty. Many focus group respondents
pomted to the value of convenmg thoughtful discussion about the challenges
facmg the commumty and the assets that were not bemg suffic~ently tapped wrthm
the Latmo population The need to focus on the conditions of Boulder
County's minority population and to create a Hispanic issues forum is
critical. Moreover, such a forum needs to take mto account the multi-varied
Reflection, Action & Expansion 47
nature of the commumty and the vo~ces speakmg for it. Tradihonally government
comm~ssions and social service agencies have been charged with reporting and
taking action on many of these issues. While this is st~ll necessary, it will not be
sufficient The nature of this migration will require a broader scope of
perspechves and act~ons Churches, businesses, chantable foundations, investors,
parent and community groups and others m Boulder County's civil society inust
be brought to the table. They may then begm sketchmg out a variety of concrete
steps to mitigate the obstacles to, and mcrease the magmtude of, talents and assets
of Boulder's emergmg H~spanic communrty. HIP could play a critical role m
brmgmg these w~de-rangmg forces to the table
While it is outside of HIP's purview to advocate immigration policy it does
seem that immigration is a major and critical concern of the community.
Orgamzations like Boulder's Centro Amistad are over-stretched and under-funded
and should be supported for both their ~mmediate soc~al serv~ce component and
the crucial advocacy work they try to undertake Wrthout resolvmg the ~ssues of
documentarion faced by a ma~or part of the population all other issues seem moot
Undocumented young people, who do exceptionally well m school, are barred
from h~gher educarion because of their status Workers without documents have
hmited mcent~ves to learn new skills and find better paymg ~obs. The current
s~tuation depresses wages, promotes unacceptable workmg condit~ons and stunts
skills and lives Consolidatmg the work of groups like Centro Amistad, and
encouragmg other groups through trammg, technicai assistance, and expansion of
their capacity is critical to improve the situarion of Boulder's Latmo populat~on
Develop a concentrated focus on education in the Latino community. The
smgle most resoundmg area of work other than immigrahon singled out by almost
every focus group and almost every mterv~ew concerned educarion Parents,
whether m mterviews or focus groups, spoke of their hopes and aspirations for
thetr ch~ldren and cited educat~on as the key to better mcomes, housmg,
employment and qual~ty of life Stat~st~cally, one of the key factars contributtng to
lower mcomes is the lack of educat~on - the development of human cap~tal Some
suggested strateg~es are•
• Supplementmg basic educat~on for H~spanic ch~ldren w~th after-school,
tutormg and mentormg programs is one area that desperately needs support
• Support for scholarship programs such as those promoted by the Lahna
Women's League can make mroads to the low numbers of H~spamc women m
h~ghereducarion
• L~teracy, ESL, and Life Skills m a New Country for aduits is a crymg need for
both workmg and l~vmg m the larger commumty.
• Promotmg cultural understandmg and educarion of the ma~ority population
about the contnbutions and trad~tions of the newcomer popularion ~s an
essenhal task.
Reflection, Action & Ezpansion 48
Form B Areas Prioritization
Every group was given a prionty tally List B(append~x pg 8) wh~ch l~sted the priority found m
the Latmo task Force report. The followmg chart outlmes the responses
Youth
12I17/02 Yonth
1/10/03 F.~m~hes
1/26/03 Serv~ce
1/30/03 I~.duc.
2/4/03 Known
2/5/03 Re1ig
2/6/03 Fam~hes
2/6/03 Gov[
2/6/03
EconomicDevelopment 3 1 1 6 0 0 0
*Housmg 3 4 6 0 2 3 5
*Employment 2 10 6 2 1 1 10 6
Cultural l 1 0 0 0 0
Pol~hcal 1 0 1 0 0 0
*Education l 4 6 9 5 5 8 3
Communrty Partic~pation 0 2 0 0 0 0
Commumty Climate 1 1 1 0 1 0
*Healthcare 2 3 1 1 0 6 4
*Imm~gradon 0 0 18 11 0 4 1 2 6
Language 6 0 I 0 0 0 0
/dentfcahon 2 0 0 0 0 0
Recreadon 0 0 0 0 1 0
Licenses 3 0 0 0 0 0
Know Your R~gh~s 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Ed Dominant Culture 0 0 6 0 0 0 0
Fam+ly Issues 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
Basic Needs 0 0 2 0 2 0 0
Child Care 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
CoUechve Serwces 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
A~~e,.,.,y,l,n, o o a o 0 0 0
Sexuahry 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
D~sab~hty 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Youth Center 0 0 0 0 0 8 ~
* BOLD mdicates a top priority (a list of 5)
Italics mdicate a pr~onty added to the ongmal list
In assessing the data a special note ~s made that although ~mmigratton was not a survey response
it was overwhehnmgly a top pnority.
Even m the three groups wherc imimgration was not l~sted, the top~c was broached erther
md~rectly or directly Some examples are•
Youth group 12/10/02 "There are language barriers and need trammg"
Youth group 1/10/03 "We need more ~obs, not ~ust cleaning yards or offices They don't
have Soc~al Security numbers "
Educat~on 2/4/03 Durmg group d~scuss~on the observahon was made that the general
feehng was that government agencies were not respons~ve to
immigrant r~ghts.
Reflection, Action & Expansion 49
LATINOS IN BOULDER / Documents Reviewed
• B. Lmdsay Lowell and Roberto Suro. How many undocumented: the numbers
behind the U.S. - Mextco Magrataon Talks The Pew Hispanic Center.
Washmgton, DC. March 21, 2002
• Roberto Suro and Audrey Singer Latano growth an Metropolitan Ameraca
Changang patterns, New locataons. The Pew Hispamc Center and Brookmgs
Institution, July 2002.
• Michael Fix and Jeffrey Passel. The Scope and Impact of Welfare Reform's
Immagrataon Provasaons The Urban Institute Washington, DC. January 2002.
• Immtgration Policy Report. The Value of Undocumented Workers • The
numbers behand the US-Mexico ammagration debate American Immigrahon
Law Foundation, 2002
• U.S. Immtgration and Naturalization Serv-ce, Statasttcal Yearbook of the
Immtgratton and Naturalizatton Servece, 1997 (Washington: US Government
Pnnting office, 1998)
• Jeffrey Grogger and Stephen Tre~o, Fallang Behand or Movzng Up? The
Intergenerataonal Progress of Mexican Ameracans. Public Policy Institute of
California, 2002
• James J Kielkopf The Economac zmpact of undocumented workers an
Minnesota HACER (Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment
through Research), Minneapolis, MN. September 2002.
• Damel Griswold Mexacan Workers Come Here to Work. Let Them ~ The Wall
Street Journal New York, October 22, 2002.
• Daniel Griswold. lmmagrants have enrached Amertcan culture and enhanced
our anfluence an the world Insight on the News/ Symposiuin Issue: November
26,2002
• Daniel T. Griswold Willang Workers • Faxing the Problem of Illegal Mexacan
Magration to the United States CATO Institute Washmgton, DC. October 15,
2002.
Reflection, Action & Expansion 51
• Mir~n Uriarte et al. Los Latanos de Rhode Island. un vistazo a los temas que
afectan a la poblaci6n latina de Rhode Island Mauricio Gaston Institute for
Latino Community Development and Public Policy. Umversity of
Massachusetts Boston. The Rhode Island Foundation, 2002
• Census Information Center Htspanic Workers and Retirement Securaty Fact
Sheet. Nahonal Council of La Raza, Washmgton D.C. February 2002
• Census Informahon Center Htspanic Savrngs and Indavidual Development
Accoirnts (IDAs) Fact Sheet National Council of La Raza, Washington D C
November 2002.
• Census Informahon Center. H~spanic Poverty Fact Sheet. National Council of
La Raza, Washington D.C. November 2002.
• NCLR Conference Edition Hzspanic Education Fact Sheet National Council
of La Raza, Washmgton D.C July 2001
• National Council of La Raza Twenty of the Questaons Most Frequently asked
About the Latano Communaty - October 2001
• Latino Task Farce of Boulder County Community Assessment Boulder, CO.
2001
• Matt Hoke and Kate Malek Boulder's Stlent Populahon the daaly lafe of
undocumented Mexacan ammigrants Colorado Daily, Apri123, 2002.
• Lynette Clementon A Neaghborhood Chnzc Helps Fill the Gap for Latanos
wathout Health Care The New York Times, October 6, 2002.
• David Milstead and David Kesmodel Colorado economy as dependent on
tmmigrants. The Rocky Mountam News, September 6, 2002
Reflection, Action & Expansion 52
Additional Sources
• U.S. Census Bureau. Census 2000 (websrte and statistic abstracts)
• El pueblo catolaco Spamsh language newspaper of the Archdiocese of Denver.
• Summat Daaly News Frisco, CO
• Daaly Camera com Boulder, Co
• The New York Tames
• Denver Post/Rocky Mountatn News.
• Just the Facts University of Colorado at Boulder
• Handbook of U S. Labor Statastics Sixth Edition, 2003.
• Colorado by the Numbers. (website)
• Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Denver, Colorado
• University of Colorado Business Research Division.
• Boulder Economic Counc~l Boulder Chamber of Commerce
• Boulder County Busaness Report.
• The Economist
• Apartment Association of Metro Denver.
• Qualiry of Lafe an Boulder County, 2000.
• Boulder Regaonal Economic Analysis November 1999. RCC Associates,
Boulder, Co
• Annual Report. Boulder County AIDS Pro~ect
• Boulder Yalley School Distract
• St. Vrain School Dastract.
Reflection, Action & Expansion 53