Centro staff and volunteers served meals to more than 450
community members at the 10th Annual Community
Thanksgiving Luncheon.
Centro Latino was created to serve Latino families and individuals of all ages that live in the Greater Boston area. Over the years, the agency’s service area has expanded in terms of both geography and ethnicity.
The agency is headquartered in the City of Chelsea, which has the second largest percentage of Latino residents in the state, after the City of Lawrence. Chelsea’s Latino population grew by 88.3% between 1990 and 2000, and today numbers almost 17,000, or 48% of the population. The adjacent communities of East Boston and Revere experienced similar exponential growth in Latino residents.
While the largest proportion of Centro’s clients come from Chelsea, today the agency serves constituents from over 25 different communities in the Greater Boston and North Shore areas. The chart below summarizes demographic data for the four communities from which the majority of Centro’s clients come, as well as a comparison with statewide data.1
| Chelsea | East Boston | Revere | Lynn | Massachusetts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population | 35,080 | 38,413 | 47,283 | 89,050 | 6,349,097 |
| Latino Population | 16,984 | 14,990 | 4,465 | 16,383 | 428,729 |
| % Latino | 48% | 39% | 9% | 18% | 7% |
| % Under 18 | 27% | 24% | 21% | 27% | 23% |
| % Latino | 48% | 39% | 9% | 18% | 7% |
| % Foreign Born | 36.1% | 41.8% | 21% | 22.8% | 12.2% |
| Per Capita Income | $14,628 | $15,167* | $19,698 | $17,492 | $25,952 |
| % 25+ Without High School Diploma or GED | 40% | 40% | 23% | 26% | 15% |
| % Living Below the Poverty Line | 23.3% | 19.5% | 14.6% | 16.5% | 9.3% |
| Unemployment Rate2 (05/06) | 6.5% | 5.3%* | 6.1% | 6.0% | 4.7% |
| *These data refer to the entire City of Boston | |||||
As the chart demonstrates, Centro’s constituents share many similar socio-economic characteristics as well as challenges. These issues are exacerbated by the large number of newcomers to these communities. In Chelsea, for instance, 36% percent of the residents are foreign born, 58% speak a language other than English at home, and 38% of adults report speaking English “less than very well.” A substantial portion of this growing immigrant population has one or more of the following issues to contend with: lack of English language proficiency, limited employment opportunities, high housing costs, and lack of familiarity with local resources and institutions.
It is important to bear in mind, however, that the Latino population also has many strengths, and it is these strengths that Centro Latino de Chelsea seeks to encourage and reinforce, such as:
- Strong work ethic and self reliant attitude;
- Capacity to provide a bilingual/bi cultural workforce;
- Economic and social contributions as the fastest growing minority group in the U.S.;
- Optimism and resiliency despite the intense changes in moving to another country;
- Deep sense of community and commitment to family, especially extended family.
1Data from the U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html
2Data from Massachusetts Department of Employment & Training: http://lmi2.detma.org/lmi/lmi_lur_a.asp
Additional Resources
U.S. Census Bureau [www.census.gov]
City of Chelsea [http://www.ci.chelsea.ma.us/Home/]
City of Boston [http://www.cityofboston.gov/]
City of Revere [http://www.revere.org/]
City of Lynn [http://www.ci.lynn.ma.us/]
The Mauricio Gastón Institute at the University of Mass. – Boston [http://www.gaston.umb.edu/]
National Council La Raza [http://www.nclr.org/]