Twenty Latin American organizations have sent a letter to the city of Indianapolis and the Marion County Department of Public Health requesting more actions and investments targeting the Latino network and hiring more bilingual staff at COVID-19 control sites and gathering comprehensive ethnic and racial knowledge. as it should reflect the effect of COVID-19 on the Latino network of Marion County.
The organizations created the Latin Alliance in August after knowledge of race and ethnicity from the Marion County Department of Public Health showed that Latinos have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 since March, Yecenia Tostado, Latin Alliance spokesman and executive director of the Blue Project, told IndyStar. .
“We want a long-term solution to this problem,” Tostado said. “Latinos shouldn’t be one last woman. The city and county will have to make intentional efforts to diversify their leadership to be representative of our community. “
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According to the Marion County Department of Public Health, knowledge collected between March 6 and September 3 showed that Hispanic/Latino citizens had the highest number of COVID-19 cases consistent with 100,000 accumulated inhabitants of black and white/African-American citizens. Latinas tested positive for an even more disproportionate rate.
On Saturday, the organization sent its letter to Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Dr. Virginia Caine, director and leading medical officer of the county’s fitness department, requesting that part of the federal budget of the CARES Act be directed to the Latino network. a COVID-19 awareness crusade to target the Latino network through “the participation of direct service providers who have an intimate knowledge of the Latino network. “
The organization says locating these long-term responses also requires more data on those affected.
“Knowledge of race and ethnicity was reported in 26% of county cases. Without a more complete and accurate statistical image, the true effect of COVID-19 on the Latino network in Marion County will remain, at best, obscure,” the letter says.
“The effects of COVID-19’s physical condition are compounded in our local Latino network through the difficulty of obtaining insurance, the barriers to affordable physical care erected through immigration laws and policies, how often Latinos are hired in categories of mandatory tasks, and building in need of emergency assistance with rent , public and food. “
Latino Alliance applications include:
The alliance consists of Latino-led cultural and nonprofit organizations in Indiana, such as the Indiana Venezuelan Association (AVI), Mexican Art in Indiana, the Mexican Consulate in Indianapolis, Indiana Harvest, Dreamers United Alliance, Indiana Latino Expo, Indiana Latino Institute, Indiana Udocumented Youth Alliance (IUYA), Indy Peruvian Inca Cultural Association (IPICA), La Plaza, Latinas Welding Guild , Latino Health Organization, Latino Youth Collective, Connected Women at Indy, Peruvian Association of Central Indiana, Project Azul, Project Stepping Stone, Planting Project, Prospanica and Society Friends of Colombia – Indianapolis.
“This alliance speaks for the wishes of the network so that we can be more organized and we can make explicit requests to establishments here in Marion County,” Tostado said. “It’s being explicit when it comes to an organization or a person. we come in, our voices are amplified. “
Read the letter:
Mayor Hogsett’s spokesmen and Dr. Cane told IndyStar on Monday that they would prepare an a-letter reaction and respond to it in the coming days.
“This work, in partnership with the Marion County Department of Public Health, is underway,” Mark Bode, deputy director of communications for Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, said in an email to IndyStar. “We continue to receive feedback and look for opportunities for collaboration for an effective public fitness reaction for the Latinx community.
In 2017, Mayor Hogsett created a 25-person Latin American Advisory Council, which provides recommendations and advice to the mayor’s workplace on network wishes and problems. The city and public fitness of Marion County will also provide COVID-19 data and resources in Spanish about their websites.
Free COVID-19 sites have also been established in predominantly Latino neighborhoods in Marion County.
Tostado said he was aware that the mayor’s workplace had created a COVID-19 reaction subcommittee aimed at the Latino network in Indianapolis; she’s a member.
“But what we want is for investment so that the CARES act is used to make sure the reaction is fair to all the equipment that exists on the network, adding the Latino network,” he said. “This can cope with access to languages and perhaps help rents bilingual people. The committees are good, but we don’t want another one, we want action. We want to succeed on the network in a meaningful way.
IndyStar journalist Natalia Contreras can be contacted at 317-444-6187 or natalia. contreras@indystar. com. Follow her on Twitter, @NataliaECG.