David Arocho is visually impaired. His family came to Brooklyn from Puerto Rico in the 1950s. David's father was a factory worker in New York, since at the time there was very little in the way of employment for Hispanics. They lived modestly according to David but it was much better then they would have done in Puerto Rico.

David wanted to teach English after graduating from high school, but was told that someone who is a Spanish speaker could not teach English. Discouraged from his first choice, David majored in Spanish literature with a minor in education and philosophy at Long Island University. He got his masters degree at Columbia University.

L.C. How did you get involved in disability work?

D.A. After graduation I started getting interested in the challenges that people with disabilities face. Then I met Eunice Fiorito, a woman who started New York's first Mayor's Office for the Handicapped as it was called in those days. Now it's called the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities. So I started dabbling in work advocating for rights for people with disabilities.

At home I was the spokesperson for my parents because they didn't speak English. So I started advocating for the family by translating and communicating on their behalf. When I got out of college my brother and I went to the New York telephone company for interviews. They apologized and said they didn't have any openings for a blind person. I advocated for my brother and he got the job. While I was in school I helped advocate for other students. I saw the needs that were out there, and that's how I got involved.

L.C. How many Latinos with disabilities in the Queens Independent Living Centers are you serving?

D.A. That is a little difficult to pinpoint. We get about 1,200 information and referral calls a month and we don't track the race/ethnicity of the callers. I'd estimate we currently serve about 300 to 400 persons with disabilities who have Hispanic backgrounds.

Queens has a large diverse population and we certainly hope that we continue to outreach to more Latinos with disabilities. One thing that happens, especially in a Hispanic family is that if they have a problem or situation they want to take care of it on their own. For this reason I think a lot of people don't seek help until it's absolutely necessary. We need to educate Latinos about the State and other programs that they can benefit from. That's one of the things we're hoping to do more often.

L.C. Do you have a plan to do this?

D.A. I'm developing a general plan for outreach and support. Most of our programs now are sponsored by government grants. If we can find a specific project we could get funded to reach out to the Hispanic community we certainly would like to do that. We have one grant we're hoping to renew to address the needs of the Asian American population in Queens. There are so many different ethnic groups in Queens that we hope to reach out to as many people with disabilities as possible.

L.C. What kinds of services your Latino consumers are requesting?

D.A. The top question that comes up is affordable housing. That's one of the big areas and the next one is employment. Those two things are tied together because if you're employed and you have a good paying job you can afford to get housing in New York. If you're not employed, your options are very limited. The housing stock is really not adequate and the subsidized housing is very limited, so many people have problems getting affordable housing in any part of the City.

L.C. Are there any issues or barriers that Latinos with disabilities face that others do not?

D.A. We always have the issue of discrimination. There is also the issue of poverty, which unfortunately greatly affects our Hispanic community. To a large extent the problems are similar for people with disabilities no matter what ethnic group you belong to. But poverty with a lack of information and resources is a greater problem, so I think that's where we have to work to try to even the playing field.

Most disability advocates believe that people with disabilities are the best judges of what they need. We are consumer directed, consumer based and a large proportion of our staff are people with disabilities. We have a board that is required to be at least 51 percent people with disabilities.

L.C. Are all your consumers people with disabilities?

D.A. The consumers generally are, except that we do serve the families of people with disabilities and the parents or siblings may not have a disability. Not everyone who benefits is necessarily a person with a disability.

L.C. Are you getting a large amount of Latinos with disabilities requesting employment services?

D.A. Absolutely. Although housing is a big issue, and we need to understand that the real solution for people with disabilities is to provide them with the means to become independent. If you don't have a means of support, you're not going to be independent. Many of our people are seniors so they are not in the employment market but we have a lot of younger people too. We're trying to reach out to the schools - high schools, community colleges. It's really crucial get to the younger people early on so they don't get invested in a system of welfare when they are afraid to go to work because they are afraid of losing any healthcare benefits and government assistance.

One of the challenges is getting adequate training and education for people with disabilities. Today's labor market is extremely competitive and individuals have to be competitive to get a job. They must have self-confidence, understand what their capabilities are and be able to sell them in the labor market to the employer. Unfortunately, people with disabilities have traditionally not had the education or self-confidence that it is needed. This is one of the issues we want to target at the Queens Independent Center.

L.C. Does the Queens Center have a specific employment program?

D.A. We currently don't have a specific employment program but we do assist people who come to us by accessing those resources that are out there already, for example the Vocational Education Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID). We direct people to these resources and we try to help them negotiate the various systems that are out there.

L.C. In your experience, what is a common problem that a Latino with a disability would face with finding a job?

D.A. There is a lot of discrimination in the employment field. People with disabilities unfortunately are routinely discriminated against and our current protection, the Americans for Disabilities Act, has been very unsatisfactory as an enforcer. Courts have interpreted the law in such a way that right now 94 percent of the cases that go to court wind up being decided against the person with a disability so there are societal barriers that still need to come down.

Another common problem is the lack of preparation and lack of opportunity: there are just not enough programs to get young people started in the labor market. There's not enough summer employment that people without disabilities routinely get access to.

For example when I was working as a rehabilitation counselor in Harlem, one of the things that I noticed were that blacks and Latinos were routinely not getting directed toward pursuing a college education. Most of them were not being sponsored nor getting the proper orientation. There is certain prejudice, which is not the kind of discrimination that you can document and say directly "this is happening." It's kind of an inadvertent discrimination but very much a part of our system. I also worked in an outreach project in Brooklyn back in the 80s where we found that blacks and Latinos were not getting access to the regular services that other persons were getting even in the welfare, the rehabilitation system or in the medical system. Therefore we have some societal barriers to overcome.

L.C. You hear a lot about grants being specifically assigned to minority groups. Do you think it is still the case nowadays that Hispanics and black are being discriminated against?

D.A. Absolutely, I think there are some grants and some programs but they're very limited, very small and they do benefit certain population, certain people, but it's still not enough. If you look at the census data you will find that Hispanics and Blacks generally have a lower economic status than other groups. There is still a lot that needs to be done within our own communities. We need more education, to change the attitude that people with disabilities are not capable and that they need to be cared for. You find that attitude within the Latino community and basically it's a lack of education.

L.C. We are hearing more about Latino celebrities who are donating so much to Latino outreach programs. What is your feeling on this?

D.A. The programs are very laudable and they do make an impact, however, they reach a very small minority of people. Unfortunately there's no way that a small grant or any movie star no matter how generous they might be can deal with the kinds of problems that we face.

You need many different ways of approaching it. We find that what we do is a small but important step even though the independent living centers may not reach as many people as we'd like to. The funding is very limited and we hope to change that for the better but all these programs are important in that they play a part. We have to be careful not to assume that this is the answer.

There are two areas that need improvement: government programs (because they currently do not meet the need); and, the private sector (that should take more responsibility). There has been a movement toward corporate responsibility in the last few years and that is encouraging, but the private sector has not done enough to contribute to solving the country's social problems.

L.C. Do you see a trend in the living and working situation of the Latino population? Do you think its getting better or worse?

D.A. I think it's getting better but I am not an expert on the demographics of the Latino population. From my experience, yes - in my lifetime I've seen great strides in the Latino community here in New York. You now can go up to Albany and find a lot of Latinos employed in our State government. When I was growing up you didn't have those role models. Progress is not very fast as social change takes a lot of time and dedication, but I think there is improvement.

L.C. Do you feel that recent immigrants to the United States face the same problems as the Latinos who immigrated years ago?

D.A. The problems are the same in many ways: the Puerto Ricans for example faced a lot of discrimination and lack of opportunities in the 1950s and today those from El Salvador might find the same kind of limitations and same lack of opportunity. I think it's more acute for a recent immigrant and it's more difficult to not have a system of support from many of your own people when abroad.

L.C. How can we motivate Latinos with disabilities to seek employment services?

D.A. There are several ways that we can do it. Reflecting on what motivated me, having role models to look to was very important. I was very fortunate with my father and my family because my father had a strong work ethic. We need to find those models within the community to reach out because as I said before we tend to stick to our own little clan and not really think that our problems are problems that other people can help us with. We can do more outreach and show people that we're there.