FT. LAUDERDALE – Broward County Libraries Division’s Outreach Services Unit has produced a new Multiethnic Resource Directory. As part of the Unit’s Newcomers/New American Program series, the online directory is an effort to inform the public of the organizations that offer resources available in the community.
The directory includes civic and political organizations, cultural groups, educational organizations, gay and lesbian organizations, media organization and religious organizations. It also includes a listing of festivals and other cultural celebrations. The web site includes a registration form that community organizations can use to submit information about their group for inclusion in the directory.
Due in large part to immigration, Broward County is becoming increasingly diverse. According to the Census Bureau, in 2000 alone, nearly 15,000 people migrated to Broward County. The largest number of immigrants comes from the Caribbean islands Haiti and Jamaica, followed by Colombia, Peru and Cuba.
These changing demographics are culturally enriching and economically beneficial as Broward County looks to the future, and the County’s local economy, including tourism, becomes increasingly international.
Outreach Services Unit’s Newcomers/ New Americans Program series offers new immigrants various interactive programs in their native language as well as English language assistance. The Newcomers/ New Americans Program series offer courses to develop employability skills, computer skills, citizenship orientation, parenting, home buying, cultural programs and young adult forums in Spanish, Haitian Creole and Portuguese. More than 10,000 newcomers have participated in a wide-range of programs designed to help them assimilate into the county.
The Directory is sponsored in part by the Broward Public Library Foundation, Comcast and the Western Union Foundation.
To view the Directory, visit www.broward.org/library, go to “Programs and Events,” and click on “Multiethnic Resource Directory.”
