Coalición Latina de Evanston, a new initiative organized by Evanston Latinos, aims to gather local advocates and residents to advocate for Spanish language accessibility, youth mental health services and housing in the city.
They met for their second session Wednesday, reuniting over 30 attendees from different parts of Evanston.
Ricardo Villalobos, executive director of Evanston Latinos, opened the event.
“We are a group of people who work in Evanston, community members, residents, employees and individual organizations,” he said. “We gather because we want to get to know who we are in the community, what work we do and what we offer to the community.”
Evanston Latinos traces its roots to spring 2017, when local residents first met to advocate for the city’s Latino community.
Sara Gonzalez, the organization’s co-director of Community Organizing and Family Issues, said groups like Evanston Latinos, and initiatives like these, advocate to ensure Latino voices are heard.
“To achieve the impact we’re seeing now at a national level, it definitely starts with engagement from young people,” she said.
Last year, Gonzalez partnered COFI, a parents association, with Evanston Latinos in order to collaborate and unite efforts for leading change in the city. She said despite being a minority, collaborating with the school district, the city and advocacy groups like Evanston Latinos is a form of empowerment.
Tracy Olasimbo, Evanston Public Library’s family engagement coordinator, said she hopes to support organizations like Evanston Latinos through document translation and spreading awareness.
Olasimbo says EPL is particularly interested in helping, as currently no single organization or institution can tackle the systemic challenges facing the Latino community. She highlighted the success of past joint projects in the local supporting Latino communities.
“So not every institution or every organization can do everything,” Olasimbo said. “And the big part of this coalition is trying to leverage our expertise and skills to make sure that we’re supporting the Latino community the best way we can.”
Last August at Robert Crown Community Center, the Culture and Commerce Market served to shop local, discover new businesses and get to know the community. At Wednesday’s meeting, Olasimbo said Latino businesses urged support for similar events, which have tangible impact and visibility.
One entrepreneur who felt this impact was Arisbeth Martinez, owner of the Mexican restaurant Cocina Los Girasoles. She said she has enjoyed engaging with the Northwestern community through her business.
“Many students from Northwestern taught us accountability, how to organize a menu, to do calculations,” Martinez said. “We need them.”
She added that NU students have previously helped local business owners practice English and get involved in the community.
Emma Arely Escoba, director of Centro Raíces Latinas, a faith-based community organization supporting Latino youth, said there are many needs within the Latino community. This drew her to attend Coalición Latina as a partner organization, she said.
“Today, there exists various needs where Latino community can be supported,” Escobar said. “But beyond our action, Latino youth need to believe they have the power to lead change.”
Escobar emphasized the importance of student involvement in local advocacy and allyship with Latino community. She said students are necessary for bridging the community.
Villalobos added that true representation begins with a strong community presence.
“There is a need for representation, but we cannot have representation if we are not in community,” Villalobos said. “I think we heard a lot today and last time that we lack representation in the areas of education, economics and civic life in Evanston, we’re not there and we’re not present. We cannot wait for change if we are not there.”
He echoed Escobar’s sentiment and said that engaging the next generation is crucial to the mission.
“If you want to learn how to navigate a community and how to help people, there are plenty of opportunities here,” Villalobos said. “Young minds are important because they have a really important perspective in the world. We need them, and we are missing out on that essential resource.”
Editor’s note: Some interviews in this story were originally conducted in Spanish and have been translated to English.
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