The Nashville
Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (NAHCC) kicks off LatINforma, a monthly series of educative sessions to keep the Hispanic/Latino
community better informed.
The first session will take place on Monday, December 6, from 7 to 8:30 pm. at the Chamber offices inside Harding Mall,
4050 Nolensville Pike, Suite 211.
These sessions are free and open to the public.
Representatives from the Metro Police Department, Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, Emergency Communications
and Tennessee Department of Safety will meet with the Hispanic/Latino community in an informal and personal level to educate,
interact and inform about the different roles each of these agencies play in our community.
In many Hispanic countries the Police are not only responsible for law enforcement,
their roles go as far issuing passports, driver’s licenses, and IDs and even dealing with civil warrants. Therefore there is a significant need to inform the Hispanic/Latino community about the differences in
everyday life with hopes that this knowledge will prevent any confusion that could result in unintentionally breaking the
law.
This initiative is a spin-off of the community collaborative initiated one year ago by the Scarritt-Bennett Center,
that resulted in 2 listening forums and a Diversity in Dialogue Study Circle aimed at fostering relationships and understanding
between law enforcement and South Nashville’s Hispanic/Latino community. Included
in the collaborative were the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods, Metro Human Relations Commission, Metro Nashville Police
Department, NAHCC, La Noticia Spanish Newspaper, and Hispanic Link Consulting.
“It’s apparent that the growth of the Hispanic population
in our area is best defined as overwhelming, and it creates a need to rapidly assimilate at many different levels. Obtaining information is crucial and troublesome for Hispanics. This
initiative is designed to help in this process. Our Chamber is picking up where
the listening forums and study circles left off; we are taking responsibility by continuing our initial goal of providing
our growing Hispanic/Latino community with the necessary tools to better interact in our city.”, said Yuri Cunza, President
of the NAHCC.
An article covering the topics discussed in the sessions will be available through our Spanish language print media
partner, La Noticia Spanish Newspaper. The NAHCC is exploring taping the kick-off
session for future radio and television broadcast.
