Members of Revelstoke’s growing Latino community are striving to unite and share their culture with the community, starting off with hosting two dance parties at the Revelstoke Legion in the past months.
The new Latinos en Revelstoke group organizes through a Facebook group that has helped organizers connect with more and more residents who are originally from South America, Central America and Mexico.
Organizer Gina Rodriguez, who moved to Revelstoke from Colombia and works as an education assistant at a local elementary school, estimated there are about 80 Latino migrants in the community now, adding that they’ve met new community members through the party events.
“Everyone is looking for a better lifestyle,” said Rodriguez, who moved here with her husband. The majority of the community is from Colombia, with contingents from Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina and several other countries.
Many are employed in food services jobs, where worker shortages is a big issue. “I think that Canada offers us great opportunities,” Rodriguez said. “As long as Revelstoke keeps growing we will be growing and increasing our presence here.”
The Latinos en Revelstoke group has grown to over 150 people, including non-Latinos, and its organizers estimate the community is about 80 people. They are planning a survey of the Latino community to better understand their wants and needs.
Belia Navarro, who was a Kindergarten teacher in Mexico and works as a nanny here, said Revelstoke has a nice environment and community feeling, but that breaking into the community can be challenging. Making friends within the Latino community her is easy, but “when they have to make friends outside of that community, it becomes a little hard.”
Navarro and Rodriguez said they created the Latinos en Revelstoke group to make connections, to “find our community and at the same time share with the community,” Rodriguez said.
Their parties were a first step to make connections, but in the future they want to branch out into more cultural activities. Their next big project is a food festival event featuring foods from different cultures. They are also hoping to establish a formal society to enable more formal organizing.
When asked about how the transition to life in Revelstoke has been, both Navarro and Rodriguez said the community is welcoming, but that newcomers experience challenges integrating into Canadian systems, giving practical examples like doing income taxes, navigating the healthcare system, or finding information on how to start businesses. They often rely on word of mouth from other newcomers.
“Relations are easy to make friends, because our Latino community has passion,” Navarro said. “We are energetic, we are passionate so it’s not hard for us to make friends. It makes it feel more like home.” To connect, look for the Latinos en Revelstoke Facebook group.
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