This weekend brings the largest event for the Latino Community in Northeast Ohio: the 26th annual Convención Hispana. On Saturday, October 16, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, thousands of people will gather at St.Ignatius High School in Cleveland to highlight and discuss what is being done to enrich the Latino community.
Convención Hispana is hosted by the Hispanic Roundtable Community Programs and will focus on the organization's "E³" initiative, which stands for "Economic Development, Education and Empowerment".
Convención has always served as an opportunity to address the needs of the Latino community. The event will offer health screenings for those who don't have insurance, a job fair with resumé assistance and public issue awareness education, in addition to complimentary breakfast and lunch, daycare, raffles and prizes, music and much more. Convención also provides a forum to tackle larger issues, such as encouraging local Latinos to run for – and be elected to – government office. There are teams to address various aspects of community development, including Business and Economic Development, Civic Involvement, Community Development, Education, Hispanic Health and Social Services.
More than 2,000 people are anticipated to be in attendance at Convención Hispana, including Mayor Frank Jackson and the event's keynote speaker, the honorable Judge Keila D. Cosme, who is Cleveland's answer to Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Sonia Sotomayor. Cosme was the very first Latino ever appointed to the court of appeals in the state of Ohio. It is a very important time in the Latino Community, as census numbers will attest, recording a growing population.
Convención Hispana, which began in 1984, offers an opportunity for Latinos and non-Latinos to see that they are on the same page. At the end of the day, Latinos want the same things as other Northeast Ohio residents: access to good jobs, health care, elected officials who serve our best interest, and the ability to keep their families here.
