DOCUMENT RESUME ED 476 002 RC 023 956 Bordering the Mainstream: A Needs Assessment of Latinos in TITLE Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois. 2002-01-00 PUB DATE 110p.; Produced by Notre Dame University, Institute for NOTE Latino Studies and supported by MacNeal Health Foundation. AVAILABLE FROM Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame, Tel: 574-631-4440. For full text: http://www.nd.edu/-latino/images/mci/FinalReport.pdf. Reports PUB TYPE Research (143) EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC05 Plus Postage. Access to Health Care; Adult Education; *Community Attitudes; DESCRIPTORS Community Characteristics; *Community Needs; Community Services; Culture Conflict; *Educational Needs; Elementary Secondary Education; Ethnic Discrimination; *Hispanic Americans; Immigrants; Needs Assessment; Population Growth; *Quality of Life; *Social Environment; Youth Programs IDENTIFIERS Access to Services; Capacity Building; Illinois (Cook County); Latinos ABSTRACT The populations of Mexican Americans and other Latinos in Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois--two of Chicago's oldest suburbs--have increased dramatically in the last decade. This needs assessment interviewed 172 people individually and in 19 focus groups. Findings indicate that education, children, and youth were the top priorities for Latinos and non-Latinos, followed by civic participation and political representation, health, immigration, crime, and violence. Respondents felt that more Latino and bilingual school personnel should be hired. Additional daycare was needed, and expanded youth programs would encourage high school completion and help prevent teen pregnancy. Latino youth needs included after-school recreational opportunities that are culturally relevant and welcoming. Expansion of youth programs could keep young Latinos from joining gangs. Better adult education, such as English-as-a-second-language and GED classes, could facilitate Latinos' integration into a new society. Many saw a need for increased leadership training and capacity building to bolster Latino community organizations. Respondents also supported advocacy and community organizing initiatives, efforts to monitor selected public policies, and diversity awareness programs to increase trust among community residents. Health care needs included services sensitive to the needs of the uninsured and available to immigrants; bilingual and bicultural medical personnel; and initiatives to address teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, and services for disabled children. Immigrants needed legal assistance to understand their rights and responsibilities as well as assistance in becoming U.S. citizens. (Contains many bar graphs and other figures) (TD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. tor rea IY1/1,126:::\4;4 i A Needs Assessment of Latinos in Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois January 2002 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY o Domi.ng . TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 [Lew Maga 0±9G30c9l3MO47V CV. G0051;Dg DLiNGZE Bordering the Mainstream A Needs Assessment of Latinos in Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois January 2002 3 Produced by the Institute for Latino Studies Communications Group Design: Jane A. Norton, Creative Solutions Documentary Photography: Alan Pogue 0 2002 University of Notre Dame Table of Contents Introduction v Acknowledgements vii Who Are the Latinos of Berwyn and Cicero? 1 Diverse National Origins 1 Residential Patterns 2 What Does 'Latino' Mean? 4 Berwyn-Cicero Latinos Have Roots in Chicago and Abroad 5 Mexico 6 Mexican Population Growth in the Twentieth Century 7 Mexican Immigrants and Their Reception 8 Public Policies Particularly Relevant to Latinos 10 Latino Population Growth in Berwyn and Cicero 13 Latino Social and Economic Status 15 Latino Families 25 Latino Strengths 29 The Berwyn-Cicero Environment for Latinos 31 History of Cicero 31 Cicero Corruption History 34 History of Berwyn 36 Do Latinos Feel Accepted in Cicero? 37 Do Latinos Feel Accepted in Berwyn? 38 Issue-by-Issue Analysis of Local Needs 39 Children, Youth, and Education 42 Political and Community Representation and Participation 51 Law Enforcement, Crime and Violence 57 Health 60 Immigration 65 Housing 67 Social and Human Services 71 Employment/Occupation 73 Local Businesses 77 Transportation 80 Discussion of Community Priorities 82 Conclusion 85 Overall Goal 85 Three Key Objectives 85 Methodology 87 End Notes 95 5 Cook County Percentage of Persons of Latino Origin, 2000 111.9ell 111411eirie 111110immumill64 111101111111111MigrOx .-411b711/61,drad% lammermaimpommaimium igrammarmatie-A-matt A SkramorlaB4blutt WIONIII II wareint UFA w- itaimmi-mi irgii0614finfirin litall"IMMEMIUMAnanra roam, teRUIMMOII %MINIM& llnitl 1111111111111111111111111111111:41R pna rruu Erl!!eqIL werNirramporia ms . tLmaganlmaumulommlisillia .1.i,.,rmpi us nalLurmse imesla...1ridatio le vlim !ramsm,si imsn -miptrqua RIEVI 1111ftelararr ailks....11 olommoribth sivingtem nit inavemorqfit.. friguilvimiti..!t, 111 Al 11110 111 tifki rarirrilitijAh1614.1 - Percentage of persons of Latino origin 1,01111ell (any race), 2000 3.8 %- 19.9% Ei 20.0% 34.9% 0 35.0% - 49.9% LI 50.0% 64.9% 10L 0 65.0% - 79.9% 80.0% 95.0% 6 INTRODUCTION Introduction The City of Berwyn and the Town of Cicero, Illinois, are suburbs located west of Chicago. Cicero borders the City of Chicago and has been called the 'First Suburb West' because it was the first suburb to grow up west of Chicago. Berwyn is located immediately west of Cicero and shares a three- mile border with its neighbor. Both Berwyn and Cicero were established in the nineteenth century, but their populations boomed in the early decades of the twentieth century. Both have had distinctive ethnic communities, which until recent decades consisted primarily of first-, second-, and third-generation Eastern and Southern Europeans, particularly persons of Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, and Italian heritages. In the twentieth century Cicero developed a national reputation that had various facets. The town was remarkable for extraordinary industrial development but also for political corruption and racial intolerance. Berwyn's reputation has been arguably more positive. It is a city of homes rather than industry, and the classic image of Berwyn for local residents is the tree-lined street of tidy brick bungalows. Profound economic changes arrived in Berwyn and Cicero in the latter decades of the twentieth century, as they did in many corners of the industrial Midwest. Factories closed, threatening the sustainability of tax revenues and leaving many residents without their traditional livelihood. More than a few residents left the area for other suburbs or for new futures in the southern and western states of the United States. The White ethnic population that remained grew older. The typical number of persons in a household shrank, and fewer children were to be seen on the streets and in the schools. By the 1980s Berwyn and Cicero had some of the oldest populations in the metropolitan region. In the 1980s and with even greater speed in the 1990s, however, a new community began to move into Berwyn and Cicero in large numbers. Latinos, most of them of Mexican ancestry, began to purchase the homes, establish the retail businesses, and send their children to the schools of the two suburbs. By 2000 Cicero had become 77 percent Latinothough Latinos had been merely 9 percent of the population only twenty years earlierand Berwyn is now 38 percent Latino. 7 This extraordinary demographic upheaval meant that Berwyn and Cicero were redefining themselves. Some aspects of their traditions and history such as industrial employment and European heritage were lost, but a vital and energetic new group, often consisting of immigrants, came to offer its contributions to the area. To date little research has been done on the meaning of Latino population growth for Berwyn and Cicero. How are the communities changing? What are the needs of Latinos? What are their contributions? How has the larger community accepted the newcomers? Where are Berwyn and Cicero going? Clearly, community leaders, public policy makers, social service providers, and others in the local area will benefit from having a greater understanding of the Latino community's characteristics and the state of the Berwyn and Cicero communities into which Latinos are moving in such impressive numbers. Assessing Latino Needs and Assets in Berwyn and Cicero This report is an assessment of the needs and assets of the Latino communities in Berwyn and Cicero. A report of this type seeks to describe an area's social, economic, and other needs that, if addressed, will lead to a better quality of life for community residents. This report also describes the Latino community's assets that can facilitate an improved quality of life and that should be taken into consideration by governmental, philanthropic, and other actors seeking to effect change. This needs and assets assessment is based in part on interviews and focus groups through which we spoke with 172 members of the Berwyn and Cicero communities in the spring and summer of 2001. We have included numerous quotations from those interviewees. We also present demographic, socioeconomic, and other data from a variety of sources and survey data obtained from our interviews with community members. The report begins with an overall characterization of the Latinos of Berwyn-Cicero, selected demographics, and a brief history of the two communities from their nineteenth-century roots to the present. For a description and analysis of the fieldwork data, go to page 39. The methodology of the study is explained on pages 87-93. vi 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements The Mac Neal Health Foundation One of the oldest institutions in all of Berwyn and Cicero is the Mac Neal Hospital, founded at the beginning of the last century by Dr. Arthur Mac Neal. Untold thousands of area residents have been born at MacNeal and/or provided with lifetime medical care by the hospital. In 1999 Vanguard Health Systems, Inc., of Nashville purchased the MacNeal Memorial Hospital. The transaction provided the opportunity to create a philanthropic foundation using a portion of the proceeds of the sale, and thus the MacNeal Health Foundation was incorporated in October 1999. Through its grant-making the Foundation continues the 'old' MacNeal Hospital's legacy of service to the community by seeking to make a positive impact upon the health-related and educational needs of youths, adolescents, seniors, and the community at large in the Berwyn- Cicero area. Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies and the Berwyn-Cicero Latino Community Initiative The Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) at the University of Notre Dame promotes understanding and appreciation of the Latino experience in the United States through education, research, and outreach. The Institute is committed to research projects that are both academic and policy-relevant and include a significant component of service to local Latino communities. In June 2000 the MacNeal Health Foundation selected the Institute for Latino Studies to carry out the Berwyn-Cicero Latino Community Initiative. The Initiative has two major research components, including the present needs and assets assessment and an upcoming longitudinal survey of community opinion and experience whose design will be based, in part, on the findings of the present report. The Initiative also includes service learning projectsin which university students work with local community organizations and churchesand ongoing identification of opportunities to promote local leadership development and training. Staff of ILS who are affiliated with this research report include Christopher Ahn, Marfa Elena Bessignano, Allert Brown-Gort, Miryam Bujanda, Gilberto Cardenas, Priscilla Clements, Sung Chun, Caroline Domingo, vii 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Philip Garcia, Rosa Garcia, Kate Huetteman, Robyn Mann, Sylvia Puente, Zoe Samora, Wei Sun, and Betsy Station. Sylvia Puente of the Institute for Latino Studies serves as Project Director of the Berwyn-Cicero Latino Community Initiative. She has had primary oversight responsibilities for nearly all aspects of the present assessment of Latino needs and assets. Project Partners: DePaul University and the Interfaith Leadership Development Project of Cicero, Berwyn, and Stickney For the present needs and assets evaluation the Institute for Latino Studies is working in partnership with the Egan Urban Center and the Center for Latino Research of DePaul University and the Interfaith Leadership Project of Cicero, Berwyn, and Stickney. These organizations have substantial experience in conducting research on local communities and facilitating the development of community leaders. DePaul University was founded by Vincentian Fathers in 1898 to teach the children of immigrants, and the university remains committed to reaching out to first-generation and nontraditional students. The university has two principal campus locations, one in downtown Chicago and another on the near north side of Chicago. The Egan Urban Center is named after Monsignor John J. Egan, who began his career as an urban parish priest in 1943 and received numerous awards in his lifetime for his work as a champion of the poor. The Egan Urban Center conducts programs to benefit disadvantaged communities in the Chicago area and currently conducts the West Humboldt Park Technology Centers Project. John Koval of the DePaul Sociology Department is affiliated with the Egan Center and has represented DePaul in this needs and assets analysis. Edie Diaz, a DePaul graduate student, assisted in scheduling interviews and focus groups and managed the collection and organization of qualitative interview data. The Center for Latino Research (CLR) complements DePaul's commitment as an urban Catholic institution by advancing and enhancing understanding of the Latino experience. CLR invests in the empowerment of Latino communities in Chicago, the Midwest, and the nation by supporting qualitative and quantitative research, providing community- based organizations with university resources, creating learning viii