Washington State Human Rights Commission

HOW IT BEGAN
            The City of Puyallup Latino Outreach program grew from the seed planted by the Puyallup Police Department when it implemented a department specific Latino Outreach program. Signature events for this program, all of which were presented primarily in Spanish included Latino versions of the city’s already successful Community Oriented Government neighborhood meetings; Puyallup Police Department’s Latino Community Academies; and the First Annual Latino Celebration Day at the Western Washington Fair. The Mayor proclaimed the week of September 19-26, 2004 as Latino Appreciation Week to coincide with the Fair’s Latino Celebration Day.
            According to the US Census, the Latino community is the fastest growing community in the City of Puyallup. It increased from .2% of city population to 5% between 1980 and 2000 and 83% of the Latinos in Washington are Spanish language dominant. This made it the most logical population to target. We knew we would need to build effective partnerships and establish meaningful communications in order to make dignity and respect a part of every day life for all community members regardless of race, color, religion or ethnicity.
            When it came to communication, normal methods of government advertising such as newspaper announcements did not work. Consequently, we had to find alternate methods of “getting the word out.” The Puyallup School District helped us by sending flyers home with Latino children. Local churches also posted flyers and allowed us to paper vehicles in their parking lots. Tiendas and radio stations, especially the Seattle/Tacoma Spanish station, were invaluable when delivering our messages. Patrol officers carried flyers in their vehicles and hand delivered them to those they thought might benefit from attendance at any of the functions.
            By consciously choosing to avoid formal government buildings as meeting places and presenting these programs in Spanish, attendees were assured they had our undivided attention and were included in all conversations. This created an atmosphere of trust from which to address issues of specific interest to community members and the city as well as fostering an overall positive image of cultural diversity in this city.

CONTINUING OUR COMMITMENT
            The Puyallup Police Department continues to hold a Latino Academy to help Spanish speakers learn about the police department services. The police department teaches proper documentation and interaction during the Crime Resistant Multi Housing Landlord Training courses as well as sponsoring INS personnel to speak at various meetings. The police department also provides child safety seat inspections in both English and Spanish and partners with a Latino Pre-school to speak about safety and share traditional information such as stickers and coloring books written in Spanish. The department includes Spanish translation materials during Landlord training classes. It partnered with the Fair Housing Authority, other local police departments, rental communities, church groups and non-profits, to help facilitate opportunities for immigrants to obtain legitimate housing.
            The police department’s success helped convince the City Council to fund small grants to help with more citywide outreach programs--$20,000 to start a Spanish collection at the Puyallup Public library; financial support to St. Francis House to provide ongoing ESL classes in our area at no expense to participants. Other examples of staff commitment abound. The city’s bi-lingual Domestic Violence Advocate serves as a translator; Fire Department personnel make fire prevention information and emergency preparedness information available in Spanish. The city also lent its support to state legislation that would allow local governments to accept Matricula Consular, a document issued by the Mexican Consulate as valid identification. The Western Washington Fair expanded its Latino Celebration Day and has plans to continue the program in future years.
            Puyallup’s Latino Outreach Program has been a contagious and overwhelming success. This success was recognized by the National League of Cities when they named the City of Puyallup as the Runner-Up recipient for their 2005 National Diversity Award. The City was awarded the 2005 City Cultural Diversity Award by the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.

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City of Puyallup LATINO OUTREACH PROGRAM

City of Puyallup
LATINO OUTREACH PROGRAM