■ Flooding shifts residents at New Moms. PAGE 4
FREE Vol. 37 No. 30
July 26, 2023 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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Joining 7th District race, page 3
Austin’s Hispanic residents face hurdles dealing with flood Activist sites language barrier, immigration status, lack of outreach By IGOR STUDENKOV Staff Reporter
As Austinites continue to grapple with the fallout from the July 2 flooding, local churches and community organizations tried to step in to help – but the community’s growing Hispanic population may be getting left behind. During a July 18 community meeting organized by the Westside Health Authority’s Good Neighbors Campaign, Maricela Delgado, who has lived in Austin for the past five years, asked whether the organization was doing anything to reach out to Spanish-speaking residents. She pointed to several issues – many of these residents speak little to no English, so they struggle to navigate the city’s 311 service calls systems and other resources. Some of them are also undocumented and are thus reluctant to reach out to any government service. In a follow-up interview with Austin Weekly News, she also said many support systems that exist are geared toward the more established Black population. During the meeting, WHA staff acknowledged the lack of Spanish-speakers is an issue – but they were determined to do their best to help Latino Austinites. See FLOOD on page 4
TODD BANNOR
SEIU HCII President Greg Kelly speaks at a press conference giving a 10-day strike notice outside Loretto Hospital on Wednesday July 19.
Loretto Hospital workers deliver 10-day strike notice
Healthcare workers and union members demand increase in wages and safe staffing By FRANCIA GARCIA HERNANDEZ Staff Reporter
Loretto Hospital staff and their union reps on July 19 delivered a 10-day strike notice to the West Side hospital’s
management and demanded competitive wages and an increase in staffing levels. Unionized workers denounced the hospital and said it is in a crisis “they cannot fix without management’s cooperation” saying it is severely un-
WS ! NEF H S A L
derstaffed which undermines worker safety and performance. “Today they are standing up for themselves to say what they are faced See LORETTO on page 9
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