FOCUS GROUP FINDINGS

AUGUST 23, 2005

Church of the Incarnation

· Participation of 29 members of the Hispanic community including facilitators.
· Group broken down into four discussion groups.
· Key questions were:
o Introduction: Where are you from, how did you get to Charlottesville, how long have you been here, what do you like about living here?
o What kinds of challenges do you face in living here? Examples?
o How have you learned about services that you needed, and have you accessed such services? Which ones? How did you learn about them?
o What would you like to change that would facilitate you living here and make services more accessible?

· Results include:
o Housing: difficult for undocumented persons to rent apartments without the proper papers and identification. Leads to subletting and abuse.
o Language barriers: There are no interpreters in the courts or other offices, even though there should be. People agree to statements they do not understand.
o Transportation: Buses are too infrequent and it is difficult to know the times and routes. Range of buses is too limited and they do not run on Sundays. Many people work Sundays.
o Cannot get a driver’s license without the proper documents. There is much confusion about what the international driver’s license is and people sell them inappropriately. Need to change driver’s license law.
o Most information and knowledge is spread through friends, church, work, radio (WTJU Friday nights), and Nuevas Raices.
o Do not know how/where to continue schooling/vocational training.
o Health care is not accessible or we do not know what is available without health insurance.
o Do not have information about agencies that help. There is much misinformation.
o Do not know what to do when stopped by police. Cannot understand instructions.
Hispanic voice can be strong and some politicians recognize this.