LACSI shares needs assessment of local Hispanic and Latino community

The Athens-Clarke County Hispanic and Latino community faces significant challenges when trying to access basic services locally, according to a report by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute:

The study is the first comprehensive needs assessment of this population, which has nearly doubled since 2000 and today makes up 10.6 percent of the county's population and 22.5 percent of the Clarke County School District student body, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey and the Infinite Campus system.

Researchers looked at the community's ability to secure health care, education, employment, legal aid and government benefits and found that most individuals frequently face barriers related to language, transportation, economic status, and lack of information when seeking any of these services. Furthermore, these obstacles are often interrelated, compounding their individual impact.

The study's authors hope the findings can help better inform local and statewide private, nonprofit and government agencies on the issues affecting this segment of Georgia's population.

"Truly understanding what their needs are and the barriers they face when trying to access existing services for themselves and their children is a cornerstone to the development of relevant programs and policies that affect their overall well-being," said Alejandra Calva, LACSI community relations manager and lead investigator. "The best way to find out what they're dealing with every day is to simply ask them and truly listen to their responses."

We're very proud of the institute for this comprehensive survey and study of families, businesses and individuals in our community. As always, our next best steps should be taken together and in consideration of the challenges faced by the most vulnerable in the population. Knowledge of those needs helps integrate them into the challenges of the broader community, which is what they actually are: challenges for any are challenges for all. Only as strong as our weakest link, as they say for a reason, so let's all work together to strengthen the chain.

Image: courtesy of LACSI