Hispanic council aids cultural integration in Ore.

ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) — The growing Hispanic community on Oregon's north coast and the well-entrenched Anglos are getting pointers in cultural differences intended to help each understand the other better.

For example In Mexico, many arrive late for a doctor's appointment, firm in the knowledge that they would just have to wait if they didn't.

That doesn't work here.

"It's just not knowing these little cultural things," said Norma Hernandez of the Lower Columbia Hispanic Council.

Her job is to help integrate the two communities, economically and socially, in Clatsop and Pacific (Wash.) counties, where even small differences can lead to misunderstandings.

Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the population in those counties and even among Hispanics, who come from many countries, there are different customs.

Patricia Morrissey, one of the council's founders, told the Daily Astorian newspaper that they have worked with Hispanics since the early 1990s and have watched the community grow.

In Clatsop County the Hispanic community grew 10 times faster than the county as a whole between 2000 and 2007.

The council conducts activities such as celebrations, cultural events and health clinics and accepts donations of food, furniture and clothes for Hispanic families.

It operates programs providing cheap car loans, migrant programs, immigration attorneys and contact with the Mexican Consulate.

Many Hispanics face a trade-off between earning a living and adapting to the local culture.

Jesus Diego, 28, from the west Mexican state of Michoacan, studies English when he isn't working at a fish-processing plant.

"I study a lot," he said through an interpreter. "When the cannery slows down, I am able to study more."

Some people believe the Hispanic community takes advantage of government services without giving back, Hernandez said. But she says they pay taxes like anybody else.

"They are not taking anything. They are contributing to your pot," Hernandez said.

The community lives frugally, she said, with many fearing deportation and the subsequent loss of their savings.

They just need a level of comfort that some local banks have provided by making a Spanish-speaking teller available, Hernandez said.

"They do the things that the rest of us that are citizens do," she said. "This is something we do to help them integrate. The Hispanic Council helps the Latino community, and helps the rest of the community to understand."

In 1992, there were few Hispanics in the area but those who were there understood the need for unity.

The group became better organized in 1998 under the leadership of Morrissey, when it became the Clatsop Hispanic Council and fell under the umbrella of the Healing Circle. which helps the council raise awareness about the community.

Morrissey realized the council wasn't reaching the entire Hispanic community and approached ShoreBank to see how the nonprofit organization that strives to strengthen communities through consulting, financial and business assistance, could help.

ShoreBank hired Fernando Rodriguez Casillas — a volunteer for the council — who was working in southwest Washington. ShoreBank executives asked him to survey the needs of the Hispanic community.

Small cultural misunderstandings happen in both directions and can be as simple as what people eat.

Rodriguez said he'd had a housewarming party in which he'd served tamales, and had invited guests from outside the Hispanic community.

He said some had the courage to ask, "How do I eat this?'"

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Information from: The Daily Astorian, http://www.dailyastorian.com