January 2020 | Vol. 20 Iss. 01
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¡VIVO SANDY! HOW SANDY’S LATINO/A COMMUNITY THRIVES By Heather Lawrence | heather.lawrence@mycityjournals.com
W
ith the 2020 census just around the corner, it’s likely that the numbers will reaffirm the 2010 results: at 8.9%, the reported Latino/a population is the biggest minority in Sandy, and continues to grow. With roots in everything from education to sports, here is a look at how the Latino/a community became an essential part of Sandy. (Statistics from www. census.gov.)
EN ESCUELA
Dr. José Enriquez, founder of Latinos in Action (LIA), creates Latino leaders beginning in middle school. “Our mission is to educate and empower Latino youth to lead and serve their communities. Alta, Hillcrest and Jordan High Schools all have active branches,” Enriquez said. Jordan’s Assistant Principal Dina Kohler works with LIA. “One of the beautiful things about this program is how it lets us come together and celebrate our heritage, while also encouraging growth,” Kohler said. “Our system needs to allow these kids to develop,” Enriquez said. “They already come with talents. They can join choir and band while they’re still learning English. And why not debate? Could we have an ESL debate team so they can learn debating skills while learning English fluency? It’s a language barrier, not a cognitive barrier.” “One thing our community can do is get parents involved. The squeaky wheel, you know. When parents are immigrants, they try to help their kids, but they don’t know how to navigate the education system,” Enriquez said. A graduate of BYU, Enriquez said members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who learned Spanish on a mission can help. “Please continue to serve and advocate for your neighbors at home,” Enriquez said. Enriquez is looking forward to a new LIA Sandy office in 2020. It will occupy a vacant building near Indian Hills Middle School.
“It’s so good!” Brazilian native Lais Naiscimento brings friends to the Sweet Spot Bakery and Café in Sandy to try Brazilian food. (Heather Lawrence/ City Journals)
to learn about the culture and what it takes to make a business succeed,” McCoy said. Many Latino businesses in Sandy, like the Sweet Spot Bakery and Café in Union Square, share food from their home countries. “We catered for a long time. But people asked us to open a place so they could get Brazilian food any time they wanted it,” said Perola Pereiro, whose family owns the café. The Sweet Spot has lots of Brazilian regulars. Lais Naiscimento comes in when she’s feeling homesick. She brings friends and introduces them to the food. “Our most popular foods are the coxinha and the pasEL NEGOCIO Retired attorney Brian McCoy was inspired by his church tel. For pastries, it’s the brigadeiro and beijinho. It’s a way to service. “I was a missionary in the South Texas Spanish-speak- share our culture. We love when Americans come in and want ing mission. I fell in love with the people and culture. But I to try things,” Pereiro said. saw a great deal of racism and that offended me. I resolved IMIGRACIÓN Many Latinos who immigrate to the U.S. have to rethink when I got home to do anything I could to help,” McCoy said. McCoy has worked with several community groups, their work options. Walter Franco is a resident of Sandy. He including a Latino business program in Sandy. He currently serves as bishop of the Spanish-speaking Union Park Ninth Ward. He knows some members of his ward made great career works with the Mexican-Latino Institute of Utah. “We work with the Mexican consulate and provide train- sacrifices to come to the U.S. “I know people who worked as lawyers or doctors in their ing for Latino small business owners. It’s a holistic approach
native countries, but they come here and their education isn’t accepted. They take blue collar jobs to make a living. They left a lot behind to come here,” Franco said. Immigration concerns can interfere with cultural identity. “I grew up in San Diego. My parents are from Mexico, and I spoke Spanish until I went to school. Then English took over,” Franco said. “For me and a lot of my peers, our parents said, ‘I’m in the U.S., I need to adapt and speak English.’ So we lost language skills. I didn’t learn grammar rules for writing Spanish, and I didn’t learn to read it until I served a Spanish-speaking church mission,” Franco said. Franco sees bilingualism as an asset. “My wife Haydee and I have had more opportunities and more success because we are bilingual.” Franco’s children are in a dual-immersion school program. They speak Spanish at home. “Well, I speak Spanish. My wife speaks Spanglish,” Franco laughs.
ESPIRITUALIDAD
Many churches in the valley offer services in Spanish. Kay Rudd is an elder at the Fellowship Church at 615 East Sego Lily in Sandy. Rudd has a degree in Spanish and serves Continued page 9
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