NASHVILLE, Tenn. ñ Police officer John Pawelski will share the best practices of his organization, Latino Connection, in addressing the needs of the growing Latino population in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday, Nov. 7, at 2 p.m. at Vanderbilt University.
His talk, "Latino Connection: Empowering Hispanics to Access Established Community Power Structures," will be held in Room 205 of the Mayborn Building on the Peabody College campus. The event, which is free and open to the public, is part of the Community Research and Action Colloquium Series in Peabody College’s Department of Human and Organizational Development.
Pawelski founded the non-profit organization Latino Connection in March 2001 in response to the linguistic and cultural barriers that left Dayton police, hospitals, banks, courts and government offices ill-equipped to deal with the city’s growing number of Latino immigrants.
Since then, the organization has brought together police officers, hospital administrators, bankers, judges, public defenders and other city, state and federal officials to work with Latino community leaders to ensure new immigrants have access to services. This cooperative effort has resulted in Latinos in Dayton having greater access to affordable health care, increased higher education opportunities and involvement in community policymaking.
Pawelski has won numerous awards for his work with Latino Connection. This year, the mayor of Dayton presented him with the First Class Citizenship Award, and the City of Dayton’s Priority Boards recognized his efforts to teach Spanish to community leaders with a Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Service. The City of Dayton also presented him and his parents–who also work with Latino Connection–with the Community Service Award.
Media contact: Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS