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Latino Life in Syracuse Latino Life in Syracuse

By Jose Lara Montenegro

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According to the Census, more and more Latin Americans/Hispanic are living here at Syracuse. N-C-C’s Jose Lara talked to some expert about how Latinos and Hispanic have accommodated to living in Syracuse. Jose.

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That’s right, according to the Census there are around 5,000 more Hispanic or Latinos living in Syracuse since the year 2000. However, getting used to the “American Life,” hasn’t been easy on some of them
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(As much as we don’t want to see it, I think there’s a little of discrimination. Because people tend to say oh it’s America, you should speak English. It’s kind of the way they speak to people, sometimes it’s not right.)

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Even though she was born in the US, Candelaria has Latin American roots.
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(My mother is Guatemalan and my father is Mexican.)

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She says language barrier is the biggest problem Latinos have when they come to live in the US

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(I think it affects people when they go to any public place or go anywhere, because they are afraid, or they feel they are not going to get the service that they need because they are not going to understand.)
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However, there’s a place in Syracuse that focusses in helping people that move from Latin America to the US
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(We are the center of the Latino community in Central New York.)
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Assistant director Jesus Rolon says the Spanish Action League also assists with family services, housing problems, and career development. They are always looking to help
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(The challenge is just how to get to their goals. But we also believe in our people, and how they are hardworking, and they’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish and do the best in this country)
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(I’m a success story of La Liga.)
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Candelaria took some of the programs and after she finished was hired and now is the Language service manager. She persevered, made some friends and now can say
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Because of la Liga and Elisa Morales, I was able to buy my first home here at Syracuse.

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Assistant Director Jesus Rolon also added they help around 1,000 people every year. I’m Jose Lara, N-C-C News.
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Even though most of the people the Spanish Action League helps are Latinos, they said the programs they have can be for anyone.

More and more Latinos are living in Syracuse. According to the Census, the amount of Latinos/Hispanic has grown around 5,000 since the year 2000. The percentage has also grown from around 5 percent to more than 8 percent in 2017. A much bigger rate than Onondaga County 1 percent increase at the same time.

Even though the percentage of Latinos/Hispanic is bigger now than what it used to be, many experience big difficulties in the culture change from one country to the other.

The Syracuse Action League has been opened since 1969. The League or how many calls it “La Liga,” strives in helping foreigners adjust to the cultural norms. They have different programs that can help the participants feel more welcome in the city of Syracuse.

Assistant Director Jesus Rolon was born in Puerto Rico, and he says he believes that if Latinos give the extra mile, in the job, they will do great in their jobs.

“The challenge is just how to get to their goals. But we also believe in our people, and how they are hardworking, and they’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish and do the best in this country,” Rolon said. “We have many successful people in our programs.”

One of those “successes” is Candelaria Romero.

“I came to live in Syracuse in 2006,” Romero said. “I started taking some programs, and that helped get on my feet.”

After getting to know her, and how good of a worker she was, “La Liga” hired her. She persevered in doing her job and now she is the Language Service Manager.

“Someone very pleasant to work with,” Executive Director Elisa Morales said when she mentioned Romero.

Romero says she is really grateful for “La Liga,” and that her life would be worse if it wasn’t for her job and the people she works with.

“Because of La Liga and Elisa Morales, I was able to buy my first home here at Syracuse,” Romero said.

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