WILLMAR -- A project to encourage and strengthen Willmar's Latino community got off to a strong start Friday evening.
About 100 people joined for the opening night of the Ra?ces project, a cross-cultural, community-organizing effort that will focus on the Willmar/Pennock area in the coming years. Raices means roots in Spanish.
"The concept of Raices is cultural," said John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas of the Northwest Area Foundation in St. Paul. "It's very important, because our roots feed us, they give us strength, they keep us tied to the earth. ... The roots are already there, and our population is already growing."
Raices is a partnership between the Northwest Area Foundation, the Main Street Project and the University of Iowa Institute for Support of Latino Families and Communities.
Similar efforts are already under way or about to begin in Iowa, Idaho and Oregon. One rural community has been chosen for the project in each state.
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The foundation and its partners have dedicated $5.4 million to the overall project, said Chaisson-Cardenas, and that money will be used as needed in the four Raices communities.
The project will begin shortly with one-on-one interviews with members of the communities and with some small focus groups. The initial interviews will help identify some needs in the community.
Maria Diaz, the local coordinator of the project, said several people had already volunteered to help with interviews, and they will probably start within a few weeks. Results of the interviews should be compiled and made public sometime next year.
In Raices, decisions will be made by people in the community, said Amalia Anderson, one of the co-leaders of the project. The information from the interviews will be used to determine the next steps in the project.
The community will determine that, and Raices will provide resources where necessary, Anderson said.
One of the first results of the Raices project is a translation system that will be available through the West Central Integration Collaborative. The group Friday night included a mixture of Anglo and Latino residents. Many of the speakers spoke in Spanish, and those who needed translation into English used wireless receivers with earphones to follow along. The system will be available for bilingual meetings in the future, organizers said.
Willmar Mayor Les Heitke welcomed the project to the community. Building an inclusive community is a challenge, he said, but Willmar needs to include all of its people to continue to grow.
Willmar's minority populations are an important part of the community's growth and success, Heitke said.
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In 2002, Willmar had two minority-owned businesses. In 2006, that number has grown to 31.
"These businesses are hiring people locally to help develop their business," he said. "They are buying their supplies locally."
Willmar Schools Superintendent Kathy Leedom said the Willmar community and school system cares about everyone living here.
"Hopefully, the Ra?ces project will help people feel more comfortable, not only about the community but also about the school system," she said. "It's all about establishing roots in the community but also roots in the school system."
