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Cincinnati firefighter Peter Deane wants a phone number for Hispanic immigrants new to the Tristate to call for a little help, and he doesn't mind stepping on a few toes to get it done.
It might work like this (in Spanish, of course): "Press 1 for language lessons; press 2 for housing questions; press 3 for neighborhood events" and so on. Callers would be referred to a particular agency or community organization for whatever help they need.
Deane wants this number posted on signs in neighborhoods where Hispanic immigrants tend to work or live. Perhaps the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission could manage it.
It sounds simple. But it isn't.
"I've found that it takes a long time to get anything done," Deane says.
Deane isn't Hispanic, and neither is any of his family. But the Chicago native is a Catholic — with a strong conviction, a tenacious personality and a tendency to speak bluntly — who was disturbed by a series of attacks on Hispanic immigrants in Over-the-Rhine last summer (see Hidden Emergency issue of Sept. 13-19, 2001).
One morning he responded to a call for medical help at Race and 14th streets and found two men with bleeding faces and a woman with a baby. None spoke English. Soon he found out that local robbers were targeting Hispanic immigrants because many carry their cash instead of putting it in a bank.
No one is sure how many robberies there were because they tend not to be reported; immigrants sometimes don't report crimes to police. But several robberies, some of them violent, were documented.
Meanwhile, more unsuspecting immigrants were moving into the neighborhood.
Deane tried to get Hispanic social services to address the problem. But none of them were doing enough, he thought, to keep new immigrants from becoming victims in Over-the-Rhine. He regularly questions Hispanic organizations' commitment to helping immigrants — a bold position for someone from outside the social service network.
"I have butted heads with a lot of the leadership," Deane says. "I haven't kept my voice down."
Deane spent the last few months trying to unify what seemed to be a fragmented bunch of organizations. There are dozens of them, but each seemed to be working in its own neighborhoods or on its own topics, he says.
Deane organized meetings at St. Francis Church at Liberty and Vine streets. A couple dozen people attended, including immigrants and representatives of several Hispanic groups. Not all of the organizations were aware each other existed, Deane says.
At first Deane wanted the city to put signs in Over-the-Rhine listing phone numbers for social services. But the meetings at St. Francis led to the idea of a one-stop phone number any new immigrant could call for a variety of information.
Deane also organized Sunday walks through Over-the-Rhine to alert new immigrants to the dangers they were facing and to refer them to help. Soon, word spread and immigrants stopped moving into the neighborhood. Recently only a few immigrants were left, with most moving to other Tristate neighborhoods.
"I believe that has become a success," Deane says.
It's unclear what will happen to the phone hub proposal. The city's Neighborhood and Public Works Committee referred it to the city's Neighborhood Services Department, which asked Deane to work with Su Casa. An agency of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Su Casa provides services to immigrants — the largest Hispanic organization in the Tristate.
But a Su Casa leader said a phone number with a voice mail system isn't enough; most callers will just hang up unless someone answers the phone.
"That system doesn't work with our population — they are 'people' people," says Sister of Charity Margarita Brewer. "Some have never had a telephone in their homes."
Brewer receives dozens of hang-up voice mail messages each week, proving her point, she says.
"We need to develop (the idea) more," she says.
Brewer says the local network of Hispanic organizations might look fragmented from the outside, but there have been meetings in the past year or so specifically to unify Tristate Hispanic groups.
"That has been extremely successful," she says.
"The agencies are coming together," says Victor Vélez, executive director of Awareness for Latinos Arriving in the States (ALAS), based in Springdale.
Although only 1 percent of Hamilton County's population categorized themselves as Hispanic or Latino in the 2000 Census, there has been a sharp increase in the Tristate Hispanic population, according to Vélez.
"This increase has taken all of us by surprise," says Vélez, who's helping 20 to 25 new families a month adjust to life in the Tristate. Some have lived in other parts of the U.S.
Deane doesn't mean to anger anyone; he's just trying to bring out the truth, even if that results in a representative of the Ohio Hispanic/Latino Affairs Commission saying Deane "offended" him by questioning his motives.
Deane said he's not sure what the local, long-time Hispanic advocates think of him.
"I don't think they know if I'm supposed to be trusted or not," he says. "Nobody's ever told me to stop."
Brewer said she welcomes Deane's idea and energy, is happy to work with him and has nothing bad to say about him. Vélez has been working with Deane in Over-the-Rhine for months.
Local organizations might soon be able to rely on a Spanish-speaking city employee at the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission, according to Executive Director Cecil Thomas. The deadline for applications just ended, and Thomas says he's making it a priority to hire a bilingual person.
Deane turned down a position in a local Hispanic organization that would have involved lobbying at City Hall. He was afraid that helping one group might hurt another, plus he doesn't want to become a permanent part of the Hispanic leadership in Cincinnati.
Hooking up the phone number is enough for Deane, who says he just wants to make sure new immigrants won't become "lost sheep" — targets for another string of robberies, rip-offs or the kind of scam that resulted in the two bleeding men he came across that morning at Race and 14th.
"Then I will step back and say, 'This is your baby now,' " Deane says. ©
