Five days before Christmas, 42-year-old Santos can find no work for the day at the Van Rants Place Park garage in Mamaroneck, the new “pick-up stop” where he’s come every day since last August to look for day labor. Dozens of other laborers share his unhappy fate and they are demanding a change. more>

The welfare reform signed into federal law on August 22, 1996 hurt elderly refugees, who arrived in the United States after that date. It gives the elderly Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for seven years; however, thereafter, to continue getting assistance they must be U.S. citizens. No one took into account the application processing delays at immigration services. more>

Latinos don’t speak of child sexual abuse because of cultural taboos and stereotypes – not airing the family’s dirty laundry, keeping things to yourself. Getting help is seen as a sign of weakness. But child sexual abuse remains a danger to the community. more>

Liz and Dan, a white couple who have two African-American daughters, have reflected on how they will help their children deal with racial discrimination. “We’ll make them aware of prejudice, but now it is too premature to say. We are taking courses at Rutgers [University] on such issues as building a child’s self-esteem. We realize we have a long road ahead of us,” Liz said. more>

Some of the 36,928 Haitians over age 62 who the Census Bureau estimates reside in the United States are at the beginners’ level of learning about finances. According to community organizers, typically, lower-income seniors don’t have access to information, especially if there’s a language barrier. more>