Monograph Series

The Housing Crisis and Latino Home Ownership in Chicago: Mortgage Applications, Foreclosures, and Property Values (3.7MB)
Martha Argelia Martinez
October, 2009
The present economic downturn is rooted in a housing crisis that has spilled over to other areas of the economy. The combination of socioeconomic vulnerability with riskier credits contribute to the fact that Latinos entered this crisis in a severely disadvantaged position. This report provides an overview of the effect of the present crisis on housing-related issues for Latinos and Latino neighborhoods in Chicago and a comparison with the effects on whites and African Americans. The report concentrates on three interrelated dimensions: mortgage credit availability, foreclosure levels, and property values.
Keywords: Housing

Latino Educational Equity: Introducing a Web-Based Index plus Three Essays on Best Practice in Latino Education in the United States (12MB)  Smaller, low-resolution version of document (2.8MB)
Timothy Ready, with essays by Sonia Soltero, José R. Rosario and Christine Wedam Rosario, and James Rosenbaum
October, 2008
The future of the United States and the well-being of all Americans depend on the quality of education that our nation’s children receive. If we are to achieve the American ideal of a society in which there is equal opportunity for all, we must ensure that access to high-quality learning opportunities and resources is universal and equitable. Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the US population but historically have been among the least well-served by schools.In addition to juxtaposing information about achievement and access to learning-relevant resources through the web-based index, we hope that the information in these papers on Best Practices will help to guide efforts to improve learning outcomes, especially for Latino students.

See also the web-based educational equity index at latinostudies.nd.edu/equityindex.
Keywords: Education, Community, Families

Answering the Call: How Latino Churches Can Respond to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic (1.44MB)  Companion Paper (4.4MB)
Edwin I. Hernández, Rebecca Burwell, and Jeffrey Smith
June, 2007
The past two decades have seen a dramatic rise in HIV/AIDS infection rates in communities of color across the United States. Churches have been shown to play a deterrent role on behaviors that put one at risk for HIV infection. Other studies have found that churches play an important role in social service provision in urban neighborhoods, and that they are often the only institutions that undocumented immigrants can access for help. Using an intensive study of Latino congregations in Chicago, the report examines what Latino churches are currently doing to respond to the epidemic, and what congregational and leadership characteristics appear to contribute to such efforts.
Keywords: Religion - Ecumenical, Health, Activism, Social Services, Chicago Area/Illinois

Promoting and Maintaining Household Ownership among Latino Immigrants (2.2MB)
Martha Argelia Martinez
June, 2007
In 2005 there were approximately 11.7 million Hispanic households in the United States, of which 53 percent, or 6.2 million, were formed of individuals not born here. For this reason the 2007 study of trends in Hispanic housing, the third in the series, focuses on immigrants, who are particularly underrepresented among homeowners.
Keywords: Housing

Hispanic Housing in the United States 2006 (5.0MB)  Supplemental Table (36KB)
Timothy Ready
June, 2006
In recent years Hispanics have become a major force in housing markets across the nation. As the fastest growing segment of the US population, Hispanics are forming new households at an unprecedented rate—fueling demand in both the renter- and owner-occupied housing markets. Hispanic immigrant householders and their children, along with the many long-established Hispanic residents of the United States, are creating homes for themselves and their families and have become stakeholders in their communities.
Keywords: Housing

The State of Latino Chicago: This Is Home Now (5.7MB)
Timothy Ready and Allert Brown-Gort
November, 2005
Metropolitan Chicago is undergoing a profound transformation from a region dominated politically and demographically by European Americans to one in which no single racial or ethnic group will be the majority. Long a preeminent center of manufacturing and trade, Chicago is known as a city that works. In The State of Latino Chicago, we examine the status of the region's fastest growing and, arguably, hardest working population.
Keywords: Chicago Area/Illinois, Demographics, Immigration, Families, Education, Health, Economics, Public Policy

Measuring the Minority Education Gap in Metropolitan Chicago
The Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame, with support from the Joyce Foundation
July, 2005
The examination of the Illinois educational data system, with a special focus on the gaps that exist in ten suburban Cook County districts, provides a useful case study of the role that state education data systems can play not only in highlighting disparities in educational achievement but also in informing policies that can help achieve the twin goals of educational excellence and equity.
Keywords: Chicago Area/Illinois, Education

A Roof Over Our Heads
Eileen Diaz McConnell & Timothy Ready. Report commissioned from the Institute by Esperanza USA
June, 2005
In recent years Hispanics have become a potent force in the US housing market and they will become even more so in the coming years. As a result of rapid population growth and the youthfulness of the Hispanic population, 30 percent of the growth in US households between 1990 and 2003 is attributable to Hispanics. During the same period Hispanics accounted for one-fifth of the country’s growth in owner-occupied households and fully three-quarters of the growth in rented homes.
Keywords: Housing

Bordering the Mainstream: A Needs Assessment of Latinos in Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois (912KB)  Summary Version (488KB)
January, 2002
The Latino populations of Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois—two of Chicago’s oldest suburbs—have increased dramatically in the last decade. What issues matter most to Latinos in the two communities? Our 2002 study, Bordering the Mainstream: A Needs Assessment of Latinos in Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois, provided a timely and valuable snapshot.

The report's release is the first step in a major initiative undertaken by the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies to conduct research and promote community capacity-building in Berwyn and Cicero. On April 24, 2002, the Institute held a public briefing to share results of the study with the media and local leaders at the Second Federal Savings and Loan in Cicero.

Among the study's key findings:

• Despite lower education levels and incomes, Latino workers and business owners are making an important contribution to the local economy.
• Church and community organizations, extended families, and nascent citizen participation are among the assets that strengthen the Latino community.
• Both Latino and non-Latino residents of Berwyn and Cicero believe that the most important issues facing the community relate to children, education and youth.

The Institute for Latino Studies produced Bordering the Mainstream with funding from the MacNeal Health Foundation, in partnership with DePaul University's Egan Urban Center and Center for Latino Research and the Interfaith Leadership Project.
Keywords: Chicago Area/Illinois, Community, Demographics, Families, Immigration, Public Policy, Social Services

Understanding Obstacles and Barriers to Hispanic Baccalaureates (2.5MB)
Philip García PhD
A report for the RAND Corporation by the Inter-University Program for Latino Research with support from the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
Keywords: Education

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