Latinos made up about 5.8 percent of Columbus’ total population in 2010, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. That’s 2,575 people out of Columbus’ then-population of 44,085.
In conjunction with a public equity forum Thursday, the EcO Attainment Network hosted a resource gathering at Zaharako’s Ice Cream Parlor where local organizations and institutions were invited to share resources to help serve the city’s Latino population more effectively and efficiently.
The purpose of the event was to discover ways in which the community could improve the use of resources available to the Latino population, build relationships and communication between service providers and gain a common understanding of the resources currently available. The groups also identified resource gaps and proposed solutions to address them.
“Our hope is to facilitate and foster relationship and communication between our service providers,” said Taylor Tertocha of the EcO Attainment Network. “We also hope we get a shared understanding of what resources and services are already available and Latino-friendly, but also what’s not being provided in a Latino-friendly way.”
The EcO Attainment Network also hosted a professional development event Friday for faculty and staff from local institutions such as IUPUC and Ivy Tech. During the event, attendees learned how they, too, can better understand the Latino population and the institutional barriers to equity.
“All of these events are aimed at impacting the whole community by trying to help with striving towards being a more equitable community,” Tertocha said.
The EcO Attainment Network is a regional network of 10 counties established in 2007 to create economic opportunities for more than 300,000 people in southeast Indiana, including Bartholomew and adjacent counties.
EcO’s objectives are to move residents up one level in their education, training and/or job placement, coordinate and align a regional learning system and become a catalyst for regional leadership, Community Education Coalition CEO John Burnett said in an earlier interview.
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The EcO Attainment Network is a regional network of 10 counties established in 2007 to create economic opportunities for more than 300,000 people in southeast Indiana, including Bartholomew and adjacent counties.
To learn more about its Latino outreach, visit econetworks.org/what-we-do/latino-outreach/.
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