Research & Outreach on Latinos and Changing Communities in Missouri

Cambio Center News - August, 2006

Cambio de Colores in Southwest Missouri: A Workshop for Healthier Communities
Crowder College, Neosho, Missouri - September 29, 2006

This is the first one-day event organized by the Cambio Center, in cooperation with Crowder College, MU Extension, and Missouri State University, to extend the annual conference to different regions of the state. This Workshop will address issues of health care, integration of youth, and employment verification. Please find details at the Workshop's website. Fellows Jim Wirth and Anne Dannerbeck will be two of the presenters.

Research News: Asset Accumulation Strategies in Three New Settlement Communities
(USDA National Research Initiative Grant to Cambio Center)

As we announced back in June, the Cambio Center obtained its first competitive grant for a three year research project (US$416,000).  The research team is led by fellows Corinne Valdivia and Anne Dannerbeck, and involves also Steve Jeanetta, Keith Jamtgaard, and Domingo Martínez; work will start in September, 2006. The study will focus on the economic, social and cultural experiences of immigrants in three Missouri towns. More information is available in an MU Press Release. We are preparing a fact sheet about the project.

Huyen Pham's move
Cambio Center fellow Huyen Pham (School of Law) has moved to Texas Wesleyan University.  She was of great help in organizing the Civil Rights and legal sessions at the Cambio de Colores conferences. Her  academic knowledge and her goodwill will be dearly missed.  Let us wish her and her family the best in their new endeavors.

Cambio de colores 2007 - Kansas City

A first organizational meeting was held at Kansas City (UMKC) back in July.  We will start work shortly.  We will send a message today requesting Cambio Center fellows to take part in the Planning Committee (some have already signed).  Please note that all levels of commitment are needed and welcome.

New publications available at Cambio Center

• The following are Spanish and English versions of a resource book about federal programs for sustainable agriculture, forestry, entrepreneurship, conservation, and community development put together by USDA.  We have several copies available at the Cambio Center, and we can send them to fellows by campus mail as well:
  Construyendo Mejores Lugares Rurales – USDA –Ago 2005 (142pp)
  Building Better Rural Places  – USDA –Aug 2004 (140pp). Also available in CD-ROM.
  
• Financial Access for Immigrants: Lessons from Diverse Perspectives – Federal reserve Bank of Chicago
• The Mizzou Latino Student Orientation – MU Multicultural Center & HALO
• Crossing the Border – Research from the Mexican Migration Project – Jorge Durand and Douglas Massey (this will be with Lisa, that order)

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Some external reports and papers of interest

• Anna Paulson, Audrey Singer, Robin Newberger, Jeremy Smith: "Financial Access for Immigrants: Lessons from Diverse Perspectives." Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and The Brookings Institution, May 2006 (100 pp)
  PDF version available (2Mb)
  Executive summary and download: http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060504_financialaccess.htm
  
• Children of Immigrants: Facts and Figures (The Urban Institute)
  http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/900955_children_of_immigrants.pdf
  
• Gender and Migration
  Pew Hispanic Center's report that examines the gender composition of migration to the U.S.
  http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=64
  
• Roberto Suro and Gabriel Escobar: "2006 National Survey of Latinos - The Immigration Debate"
  Pew Hispanic Center's report on Latinos' perceptions and attitudes about the current political climate
  http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=68
  (Check also the comparative tables at: http://pewhispanic.org/files/other/68.1.pdf)
• Glenn Flores, M.D.: "Language Barriers to Health Care in the United States"
  http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/355/3/229
• "Growth in the Foreign-Born Workforce and Employment of the Native Born"
  Pew Hispanic Center's report showing that rapid increases in the foreign-born population at the state level are not associated with negative effects on the employment of native-born workers.
  http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=69
• Flora, C.B. 2006. "Immigrants as Assets." Rural Development News. 28:3:1-3. http://www.ag.iastate.edu/centers/rdev/newsletter/Vol28No3-2006/immigrants.htm
• Ernesto López-Córdova y Alexandra Olmedo: "International Remittances and Development: Existing Evidence, Policies and Recommendations,"  Inter-American Development Bank, 2006
  http://www.iadb.org/intal/detalle_publicacion.asp?idioma_pub=eng&idioma=eng&cid=234&pid=337&tid=8