On any given weekday afternoon, the Outreach Community Center of Carol Stream might best be described as a veritable United Nations of cultures. In just about every room at the center, one finds a multitude of ethnic groups represented. In fact, no fewer than 27 languages are spoken there.
In a kindergarten gym class, a dozen children of nearly every hue cavort in a game of “London Bridge.” Nearby, in a 6th-grade study group, African-American children work on homework with Hispanic and Indian children.
And even though the workers who run the center, 345 S. President St., celebrate the diverse backgrounds of the children, director Vanessa Roth said: “We’re still trying to learn what it means to be multicultural. I would not consider us experts.”
Expert or not, the center does serve as a good illustration of the growing diversity of DuPage County, where minorities constitute about 18 percent of the county’s population, up from about 11 percent of the population in 1990 and 7 percent in 1980, according to the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference.
“It’s a rate of change that is expected to escalate and not moderate,” said Lynn Montei, executive director of the conference, a consortium of towns working together for the betterment of the region.
And nowhere is that growing diversity more apparent than in schools.
In 1990, for example, 15 percent of the children enrolled in county schools were minorities, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. This school year, minorities make up almost 23 percent of the enrollment, state figures show. Hispanics make up the largest minority group with 9 percent, followed by Asians at 8 percent and African-Americans at 4.5 percent.
Those trends are what prompted the Mayors and Managers Conference to spend a number of years studying diversity in the county, ultimately publishing a document in 1996 devoted to promoting “sustainable, diverse communities,” Montei said.
“We really need to think of ways to frame these changes as opportunities,” she said.
Experts say the county’s growing diversity is part and parcel of the growing globalization of the region.
The county has become a destination for many minorities, who say they are searching for better jobs, better education and a better quality of life. Others arrive as they are recruited by the high-technology businesses that line the Interstate Highway 88 research-and-development corridor.
“DuPage is undergoing a lot . . . and it’s going to become part of a larger world,” said Richard Guzman, professor of English at North Central College in Naperville and the head of a recent task force that looked at diversity issues in Naperville Community Unit School District 203.
“Sometimes we still hold on to the ideology that color does not matter and that differences will divide us,” said Guzman, who is from the Philippines.
“But, in fact, if we acknowledge our differences, then we can work through them,” he said, “and we realize that we don’t all have to be the same to get along.”
And, indeed, some of that work is being done. Towns all over the county are working on projects to help define who lives in their communities, the needs of the different groups and how to promote multicultural activities.
These municipal leaders are working to address issues of housing, jobs, education and social services.
Carol Stream and West Chicago, for example, have been working to understand the characteristics and needs of the ethnic groups in their towns.
In Carol Stream, community leader Yvonne Austin is putting together a study circle, a group of residents interested in introducing one another to their different cultures and in promoting awareness either through performing arts or community celebrations.
“We’re trying to find something proactive to do in order to bring the community together before a problem develops,” said Austin, a retired visiting nurse.
“We want all the people in Carol Stream to feel that they are part of the community. It’s that old-time feeling that this is my home, my village and I do know my neighbors.”
Carol Stream officials estimate that 82 percent of their nearly 38,000 residents are Caucasian, 7 percent Hispanic, 7 percent Asian or Pacific Islander and 4 percent African-American.
“If you are going to govern effectively in a county like DuPage, which is increasingly becoming diverse, you need to begin dialoguing with the community that you serve,” said Christopher Oakley, assistant to the village manager.
Similar attitudes have helped drive a project in West Chicago in which officials and residents have worked over the last several years to bring together people of different backgrounds.
The Alliance for a Healthy West Chicago, which comprises local officials, residents and business owners, is an outgrowth of a number of initiatives, including one to promote diversity and to bring into the fold voices that can speak for the town’s Hispanics, who make up about 30 percent of its more than 15,000 residents.
“It’s an issue of participation; how do we generate greater participation and involvement in the Hispanic community?” said Police Chief Gerald Mourning, alliance coordinator.
Serving as a liaison for DuPage County Hispanic youths is one of Michelle Roman’s jobs. As the multicultural outreach community manager for the College of DuPage, she helps ease the transition for Hispanics from high school to college, helping them learn English, find scholarships and the like.
Her job was created as part of the Glen Ellyn college’s efforts to reach out to the county’s growing Hispanic community. Of the college’s 34,000 students, nearly 8 percent are Hispanic.
A lot of students are new emigrants from Mexico or other Latin American countries and need help with their English, she said. Others need advice on how to apply and get into college and how to decide on a major.
“A lot of time the parents want them to go to college but don’t have much knowledge to draw from themselves,” said Roman, who was raised in a Puerto Rican community in Chicago.
“We want to get them prepared for college. We teach them how to use the library, the Internet,” said Roman, who also advises the college’s Latino Ethnic Awareness Association, a student organization that sponsors social and cultural activities to raise money for scholarships for Hispanics.
“My role used to be part-time, but the college saw a need,” said Roman, who now holds a full-time position.
“The demographics of DuPage are changing dramatically.”
For more information on:
– The Outreach Community Center of Carol Stream call 630-260-7600.
– The Alliance for a Healthy West Chicago, call 630-293-2222.
– The Latino Ethnic Awareness Association at the College of DuPage call 630-942-3039.
