City and county officials sat down with members of the Red Cross and a group called Creciendo Juntos this morning to discuss a recent survey of area Latinos. The survey was a part of The Red Cross’ initiative to increase emergency preparedness among Virginia Latinos.
The survey consisted of members of Creciendo Juntos, and faculty and students from the UVA Spanish department going to mostly Latino communities and events. The study found that concerns about personal health care were comparable to other demographics of the region. Of those surveyed, 54 percent said they plan to return to their home country, for whom 60 percent is Mexico.
Researchers also found that economic woes are hitting the local Latino population pretty hard.
“Each time we would go out and survey, there would be more and more people who just lost their jobs,” said Amy Frazier-Yoder, a UVA grad student who helped lead the survey. “There are even people who are going back to their home countries because the economy has gotten so bad.”
Click here for a pdf of the survey results.
Read more from C-VILLE’s previous coverage of Charlottesville’s "invisible workforce".
