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Building Relationships/Partnerships
with the Latino Community

• The goal is not to build a program; it is to build a system of healthy relationships.
  
  
• Relationships must be built with individuals and families as well as with organizations.
  
  
• Spend time in the beginning just listening and having conversation with community members. It will take time to establish a presence and the level of trust that is critical to future success. Relationships develop over years of being in the community.
  
  
• Become extremely aware of and sensitive to the cultures represented, including the issues faced in countries of origin as well as those faced in the local community.
  
  
• Identify partners and articulate common goals. Work to keep the focus on the youth and leave turf issues behind. Address issues of organizational competition if they arise.
  
  
• In some instances you may need to help create partners by building the leadership capacity and community involvement of the adults. Then you can move to partnering in support of youth programs.
  
  
• Find ways to let partners know how important they are. Help them be successful and recognize their successes.
  
  
• Establish times for partners to meet and share resources, coordinate activity calendars, and identify issues of concern.
  
  
• Recognize that community partnerships exist in layers, and though you may not be directly involved in a particular partnership (i.e. student/teacher) the strength of that partnership may impact ones with which you are directly involved.
  
  
• Remember, relationships (with youth, with families, with community) come before tasks. Forego the task to save the relationship.

These observations are drawn from experiences accumulated in planning and implementing the Oregon Outreach Project.