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Bienvenidos is a network of over 70 service-providing organizations that meets monthly to exchange information,
discuss common problems and issues and work on appropriate solutions
in order to better serve immigrants in this region. Through a needs
assessment Bienvenidos established five priority areas--language,
education, health, transportation and legal aid.
Bienvenidos' mission is to
help facilitate service provision to and communication with the
immigrant communities on the Delmarva Peninsula by:
- Enhancing the immigrant community’s quality of life
- Creating mutual
appreciation and understanding of these immigrant communities
- Collaborating
actively with agencies and organizations, to ensure that the
various needs of the immigrant communities are met, including
language, education, health, transportation and legal aid.
Upcoming Meetings:
*There will be no meetings during
the summer. The next
Steering Committee Meeting
is:
September 15, 2005: Montgomery Room
2p.m. - 4p.m.
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Migration is changing the demographics of
the Delmarva Peninsula in a dramatic way. Over the last ten years
this region has experienced unprecedented growth. For instance, the
Hispanic population in our region has increased at astonishing
rates, as high as 300% in parts of Lower Delaware and 200% in some
jurisdictions on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. Although many
organizations in our region are already reaching out to the Hispanic
and other immigrant communities, the needs of immigrants are often
unmet due to barriers such as language, culture and transportation.
In 2000, the Business, Economic, and Community Outreach Network,
(BEACON) of the Franklin Perdue School of Business at Salisbury
University responded by initiating Bienvenidos a Delmarva. (Welcome
to Delmarva), to help area service providers prepare for the growing
needs of our changing region.
What We Do……
- Facilitate monthly
meetings of service providers.
- Coordinate and
organize outreach initiatives to introduce providers to the
immigrant communities.
- Link college
students with organizations to help them better serve the
immigrants.
- Make new contacts
in our community everyday to generate greater community
participation & more communication within our population.
- Offer on-going
support and training.
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