Government website pages now available in Spanish

WEST CHESTER >> also announced a grant of $25,000 for use by the La Comunidad Hispana health service.

Farrell said that key pages of the county’s website, www. chesco.org, had recently been translated into Spanish, detailing services such as the Health Department, the Department of Children, Youth and Families, and the Department of Aging.

He said that currently there are about 100 pages on the website in Spanish, and that more will come in the future. The Spanish translation pages do not replace the current English language pages.

Aiding in the project was Miguel Alban, of the county organization The Hispanic Approach, a full-service Hispanic marketing firm that “bridges the gap” between corporate America and the Hispanic markets across the United States. He said the work had been a labor of love, since it brings the non-Latino and Latino communities closer together.

“We just love our country,” Alban told the commissioners during the presentation of a proclamation for Hispanic Heritage Month. “I have seen our Hispanic community grow so much over the years, and I really really want to thank you so much for what you’ve done.”

Hispanic residents are the largest minority community in the county, making up 7.6 percent of the county’s estimated 519,000 residents, or about 39,500 people.

They are assisted with health care by La Comunidad Hispana, which is headquartered in Kennett Square but has four locations across the county, said LeeAnn Riloff, the organization’s director of development, who accepted the $25,000 grant from the county on its behalf. She said the money would be used to expand the organization’s new dental service, which has a waiting list of three months and more than 1,000 patients.

Hispanic and Latino residents, “contribute enormously to the county’s economy and vibrancy,” she said.