October 7, 2024 • 30 mins
National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15th through October 15th. The reason it starts on September 15th is that it coincides with the independence days of several Latin American countries. This month celebrates the cultures, histories and contributions of Hispanic people.
In this episode, we find out about the rich culture and history of the Hispanic Community in Connecticut. Co-chairs of the Stratford Hispanic Heritage Committee, Gladys Ramos and Olga Pena, emphasize their efforts to raise funds for scholarships and the importance of community events like the Latin Festival and Three Kings celebration. They also share their rich Hispanic traditions, and stress the importance of family, religion and partnerships in the community. Andrea Torres Fodor is the President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Bridgeport, and she talks about the beauty of her homeland of Ecuador and the importance of family and traditions. She discusses the growth of Hispanic businesses in Connecticut, and the importance of their contributions to the greater Bridgeport community. She talks about the Latino Business Expo, which is a great way to network with other businesses and to find out about the resources available in the state that are here to help the Hispanic businesses and community. She also highlights the significance of Connecticut Paid Leave, particularly the caregiver benefits, which align with the multi-generational households in the Hispanic community in Connecticut. She said it's important to make sure people in the Hispanic community know about state programs like CT Paid Leave that can help them when they need it most.
To get in touch with the Stratford Hispanic Heritage Committee please use this link: (20+) Hispanic Heritage | Facebook
To get in touch with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Bridgeport please use this link: HCCGB | Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
To get information or to apply for benefits please go to: CT Paid Leave
https://ctpaidleave.org/s/?language=en_US
https://www.facebook.com/CTPaidLeave
https://www.instagram.com/ctpaidleave/
https://twitter.com/CTPaidLeave
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ct+paid+leave
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nancy Barrow (00:01):
Hello Connecticut, and welcome to The Paid Leave
Podcast. The title basicallysays it all. I'm Nancy Barrow,
and I will be delving into thisnew state program and how it can
help you and your family. Thispodcast will give you
information you should knowabout Connecticut Paid Leave and
maybe just a little bit more.
Connecticut Paid Leave bringspeace of mind to your home,
(00:22):
family and workplace. Welcome toThe Paid Leave Podcast.
National Hispanic Heritage Monthbegins each year on September 15
and goes through October 15, andthis month celebrates the
cultures, histories andcontributions of people from
various countries like Spain andMexico, the Caribbean, Central
(00:45):
and South America, just to namea few. And the start date
coincides with the IndependenceDays of several Latin American
countries. Hispanics and Latinoshave played a major role in the
US population growth over thepast decade, and are now the
second biggest population in theUnited States. In Connecticut,
according to a recent report, itsays just over 637,000 people
(01:08):
identify as either Hispanic orLatino. I have a few guests
joining me today in theconversation. First are the
co-chairs of the StratfordHispanic Heritage Commit tee,
Gladys Ramos and Olga Pena.
Thank you both for being on thepodcast, ladies.
Gladys Ramos (01:25):
Thank you for asking us to join you.
Nancy Barrow (01:27):
Tell me a little bit about what the Stratford
Hispanic Committee does and andwhat you do as co chairs. It's
pretty cool. There's two womenas co- chairs, I might add.
Olga Pena (01:35):
Just to give you a little history, we've been doing
this for 19 years. This will beour 20th year, coming in 2025
and I was Gladys firstvolunteer. So basically, what we
do is we volunteer to make theseevents happen. And during the
year, we have the LatinFestival, which is also under
(01:56):
the umbrella of celebrateStratford. And that came 10
years after we startedcelebrating in Stratford
Hispanic Heritage. The townreally embraced us as being a
focal point of the town, asStratford is growing to be a
large population of Hispanicshere in town, we do that. We
(02:18):
celebrate three kings. We aremain focus, personally, my main
focus has always been education,empowering our children to do
better. And so what we do is weraise dollars, monies to give
scholarships to Hispanic youththat are either involved in the
Hispanic community or want to beinvolved with the Hispanic
(02:42):
community and want to continuetheir education in college. So
that's really our focus rightnow. We're working on having a
gala in February of 2025 toraise funds as well for the
scholarship.
Gladys Ramos (03:00):
What we do and what we are allowed to do with
the town of Stratford, iscelebrate events that are
important in the culture, ineducation and the people embrace
it. Olga mentioned three Kingsthe first Sunday in January in
many Spanish speaking country,three kings is celebrated as a
(03:23):
big deal. I mean, I rememberwhen I was, when I came from
Puerto Rico, as a little girl, Iremember in the town I lived in,
it was celebrated and not thepeople come together. The
children are invited to come. Wehave a small celebration. We
give them gifts. We havecommunity services. They donate
(03:46):
gifts to us, and it's just a funday of a little snack, music,
and it's reminding the childrenof their culture. And many of
their culture. We celebrate thekings so we do that. Olga also
mentioned the scholarships. Now,in a month or so, we start
(04:08):
getting applicants from Spanish,Latino, Hispanics, children that
want to go to college. We startgetting their applications that
we get as a big job when do theapplications, and we continually
as all that works in differentcommunity or activities in the
community, and so do I. We'realways focusing on scholarships.
(04:33):
I'm always begging for money.
How's that? Now? I'm really goodat asking, and it's 500 or is it
a 200 whatever is given. Becausewhen we give these children
scholarship, they use it well. Iremember years back and still
some students, when I see themin the community, to go, you
(04:57):
know. Of that $200 scholarshipyou gave me, but I bought a
computer, and it still works. Imean, whenever there is an
opportunity and we're invited tospeak, or we're invited all the
participants, and like I saidbefore, many of the community
committees and boards and so doI, so people know when they see
(05:19):
us, they run because we might beasking for money!
Nancy Barrow (05:26):
Or someone to volunteer or somebody to
volunteer.
Gladys Ramos (05:30):
Basically, we bring out our richness. I mean,
our we have so much to give andso much to learn from, because
it goes vice versa. We have theHispanic community, you know,
enriching their lives with, youknow, non Hispanic traditions
and and we do the same. So tous, it's a beautiful blend of
(05:55):
cultures as we celebrateHispanic Heritage.
Nancy Barrow (05:59):
Well tell me bit about growing up in the Hispanic
community. I mean, you weretalking about your childhood
from Puerto Rico and coming in.
Do you have a favorite memoryfrom your childhood where you've
felt strongly a sense ofbelonging in community? Are
there certain memories that youhave as growing up?
Gladys Ramos (06:16):
My memories are church. My mother used to take
us to church and celebration oflike I mentioned, the three
kings, the food, you know, thesmell of the food, holidays. I
mean, holidays are so importantin our community, like any other
(06:37):
community, you know, it means alot to us family. You know,
everything is a family member.
Olga Pena (06:44):
I'm first generation American here. Brought up in
Brooklyn. My parents are PuertoRican, and they came here in the
40s, and so my memories werereally family foods, speaking
Spanish to my mom, which wasvery important. And to this day
I'm bilingual my children. Ithink I've passed that on to my
(07:06):
some of my to my children, someof my children. I have two
children. My son is my firstborn is better at it than my my
second, but she's working on it.
The fact that we have familyreligion, I remember in Brooklyn
and the apartments celebratingthree kings with my aunts. I
think that was very important tous. The religion was key, faith,
(07:27):
love, family and the Empower.
The only thing that my parents,I remember, being empowered to
be educated. Make sure you doyour homework, make sure you go
to school. It's important. Don'tdo anything until that's all
done. That's empowering yourchildren to do better.
Nancy Barrow (07:50):
Yeah, I think that's really important. Tell me
about the food and the music andthe dance. Why is that so
important to the Hispaniccommunity?
Olga Pena (07:59):
It's so rich, and so so flavorful the people, we tend
to be loud, but yet we tend tohave a lot of fun with each
other. So we, I think, I thinkHispanics takes life lightly,
you know, we we play hard, wework hard. And so that's really
(08:19):
key about our culture and ourfoods and dance. I mean, how
could you not want to dancemerengue and salsa?
Gladys Ramos (08:30):
We have so much fun every time we go to an event
or something, and there's acelebration and there's a
wonderful band or a wonderfulgroup dancing, we'll we recruit
them, and I would bring them toour celebrations at our
festival, the most importantthing is the food and the
dancing. We make sure we have aa dance floor now and this year
(08:57):
was bigger.
Nancy Barrow (08:57):
Do you prefer to speak Spanish when you're with
other people in your community?
I mean, I mean, I know that youmentioned that Olga with your
family, that you think it's veryimportant that you, you know,
give that to your family and youcontinue that. Do you prefer to
do that when you're with otherpeople in your community?
Olga Pena (09:14):
I think Spanglish has become very popular. We'll talk,
I mean, I'll talk with my kidsand my and my family and
friends, you know, both inEnglish and in Spanish, because
I am bilingual, but you know,again, we do like to speak both
languages. Sometimes you kindof, you know, take a step back,
because it could be a littlerude to do that in front of
(09:37):
people that don't understand thelanguage. So I think that we're
very conscious of that, andmaybe that's why Spanglish has
become an issue. But no, I thinkI enjoy speaking Spanish or
Gladys sometimes or speakEnglish. It depends on what
we're doing and how we're doingit.
Gladys Ramos (09:54):
I love speaking Spanish. You know, you need to
be aware of your surroundingswhen you know people don't
understand. I think a long timeago, people used to feel
uncomfortable. Nowadays you aresurrounded by so many languages.
It's like with the story youhear one language another. So I
don't think people feel asoffended as they do. I love
(10:17):
speaking Spanish. I really doit. And like I said, as a former
Spanish teacher, it's fun!
Olga Pena (10:25):
Not only that, I think it's really important
nowadays that our children,second, third generation, learn
the language, because it's anopportunity to serve as a
community. Yeah, our communityhas grown with so many different
language, Spanish language,people from different countries,
that job opportunities actuallyare better. That's one thing
(10:49):
that we lack here. We lackeducating our children in many
languages. It doesn't have to bejust Spanish. The biggest
language I spoke in the US, Ibelieve, would be Spanish. It
is. But you know, in Europe,people speak various languages.
Again, they do no problem. So Ithink that that's something that
(11:10):
our country should really belooking at.
Nancy Barrow (11:13):
What would you like people to take away from
Hispanic Heritage Month and fromthis podcast? What would you
like people to know who arewatching or listening.
Gladys Ramos (11:22):
Maybe once in a while, you know, just be
friendly to people. Justappreciate people and their
culture and respect it. That'swhat I think.
Olga Pena (11:36):
I think that has whether you're of Hispanic
descent or not. I guess weshould all try to be cordial to
each other, understand eachother's culture. But as a
Hispanic, I'd like as a firstgeneration Hispanic and having
raising children that are bornhere in the US, I'd like
Hispanics to understand thatit's important to empower our
(11:58):
children, whether you'reHispanic or not, empower our
children to do better, educate,get involved, be a part of the
community. Take a take a seat atthat table to make sure that
others are doing the same. Youknow, Gladys and I have worked
so hard in this community, andwe see that. I know it's hard
(12:20):
when you work and you havechildren and family, but we've
done it, and you can do it too.
So be part of the community. Bepart of where you live. Teach
your children Spanish. If youcan, you even should learn
Spanish and continue the culturethat we have. We all have
different, diverse cultures, butyet, like Gladys says our
(12:40):
tagline, together, we are one.
And that's really cool. It'sreally important. It's really
nice. Again, I think that theAmerican Community love Hispanic
foods. I think they love themusic, not all, but you know,
for the majority, everywhere,oh, I really enjoyed coming to
(13:02):
this festival because I reallylook forward to it every year.
So it's a rich and empoweringcommunity that we are. So we
need to continue to grow.
Nancy Barrow (13:12):
And how can people contact you at the Stratford
Hispanic Heritage Committee, ifthey wanted to help you or
volunteer?
Gladys Ramos (13:20):
They could contact us. We have our our email and
our information on Facebook.
Also, I would like to make it apoint that we are looking for
sponsors for our gala. Our galawill be February the eighth,
2025 and that money we get arefor scholarships. We need to
(13:42):
give more money, morescholarships to the children,
and now we're thinking of addingsome of the other high schools
from the area so we could givemore. Support Hispanic
businesses support theConnecticut Leave and just have
fun.
Nancy Barrow (14:04):
I think that that wraps it all up. I want to thank
my guests, Gladys and Olga, theco chairs of the Stratford
Hispanic Heritage Committee, forjoining me to talk about
Hispanic Heritage Month. Thanksfor being on the paid leave
podcast.
Olga Pena (14:16):
Thank you very much.
Bye.
Nancy Barrow (14:18):
Now joining me to talk about Hispanic Heritage
Month. Is the current presidentof the Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce of greater Bridgeport.
Andrea Torres Fodor, welcome tothe paid leave podcast Andrea.
Andrea Torres Fodor (14:30):
Good morning. Nancy, thank you very
much for the opportunity. We'reexcited to be here. Thank you
for giving us the space, ofcourse.
Nancy Barrow (14:37):
And why don't you tell me a little bit about what
Hispanic Heritage Month means toyou,
Andrea Torres Fodor (14:44):
Well, Hispanic Heritage Month is
incredibly important to me. As awoman that was born and raised
in Ecuador and moved to theUnited States at a very young
age, I was actually very excitedto learn that in the United
States, there was a whole monthfocused. Celebrate the heritage
that comes from all of ourdifferent countries, to me, is
(15:04):
an opportunity to just highlightthe beauty of of what the Latino
culture in general is, and toand to give others from the
different communities theability to learn a little bit
more about who we are, howvibrant our culture is, how
there, there's so many facets towho we are. We are more than
(15:25):
music, and we're more than thanjust a different language. All
of the different Latin Americancountries, the Hispanic
countries, have their own littleflavor. And you know, knowing
something about Mexican food orMexican culture is valuable and
is special. Yeah, you may bemissing out on so much more if
(15:45):
you don't get to embrace thewhole Latino culture, the
Hispanic, Hispanic community. Soif you go down you know, you
know the hemisphere, and youstart with, you know, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Guatemala, CentralAmerica in general. Then you
come down to Venezuela, Ecuador,Brazil, all these different
(16:06):
countries who are so vibrant andso similar and yet so different.
I think that is an opportunityto highlight that, that each one
of our countries has its ownidentity, united by the common
ground, which is we speakSpanish, right?
Nancy Barrow (16:21):
Tell me a little bit. Paint a little picture of
Ecuador for me.
Andrea Torres Fodor (16:25):
Well, I'm going to be a little bit biased,
but I will tell you that Ecuadoris incredibly beautiful. One of
the most important parts aboutmy country is the natural beauty
that it has. So Ecuador is asmall country located right on
the equator, right on SouthAmerica. North to us is
Colombia, South to us is Peru,and we have pacific coast. So
(16:48):
because of the Andes mountainsthat cross through Ecuador, we
have a beautiful biodiversity.
We have four zones, four naturalzones. We have the highlands.
That is, all of the, you know,the the the Andes cross through
the center of a country. Thenthe Amazon forest. We have the
coast. And then those of you whoknow, the Galapagos Islands are
(17:12):
part of our country as well. Sowe have four very diverse and
very different zones within, youknow, this tiny, little country
that it is, Ecuador. One of thethings that I can tell you
struck my husband, who isAmerican, when we went to visit
Ecuador, was when you land intoQuito, you're able to You're
welcome by the Andes, right bythe beauty of the Andes
(17:35):
Mountains, so perpetual snow,with the Cotopaxi, you know,
kind of staring you down fromfrom the south, and then within,
within an hour or two, you canbe in a very in a humid
rainforest. In mind, though, youknow, which is a beautiful town
that I just recently visitedwith my friends earlier in the
year, and you find yourself in acompletely different climate
(17:56):
within an hour and a half, maybetwo hour drive. So so that is,
that is what makes my country,Ecuador, so very special and so
beautiful.
Nancy Barrow (18:06):
Well now you have made me want to go buy a plane
ticket go down and visit yourcountry, because it sounds
incredible. Why don't you tellme a little bit about what you
do at the Hispanic Chamber ofCommerce as president, which I
think is fantastic as a woman aspresident, you know, I'm all for
that.
Andrea Torres Fodor (18:24):
Thank you.
Thank you. The Hispanic Chamberof Commerce has been serving the
Latino business merchantcommunity for over 50 years. I
was fortunate enough to getconnected to the chamber about
right before covid, I want tosay maybe six years ago, and
very quickly I found out thatthere was definitely
opportunities for me to getinvolved with with the business
(18:44):
network community in the greaterBridgeport area and beyond, and
that there was opportunities forus to spark up a little bit more
enthusiasm into highlighting,you know, the kind of work that
we did. So at the time, a goodfriend of mine, Marisol Herrera,
she was the president, and Ibecame part of the board. Very
quickly, took on theresponsibilities for being vice
(19:06):
president, and then after myourselves, you know, wonderful
service to the chamber. I becamepresident. This is the end of my
first term. And the HispanicChamber of Commerce is a
volunteer board, you know. Soall of the people that serve
with alongside me are allvolunteers, people from the
community, you know, Latinoleaders that are experts in each
(19:29):
one of the year, individualindustries. Part of the mission
of the Hispanic Chamber, part ofthe mission of me as the
president, is to continue tosupport their the mission, which
is to provide our businesscommunity the ability to connect
with others. Connect them withConnecticut paid leave. We
connect them with otherorganizations that a lot of the
(19:49):
Hispanic merchants are not evenaware exist. There is a great
growth in the Hispaniccommunity. One of the reasons
behind that is theacknowledgement. There's some of
those merchants who might havegone and worked for somebody
else and have learned theirtrade, know that their business
is something that they can do,and they're like, You know what?
I can do it on my own. So partof the education that we provide
(20:10):
is exactly that, saying, youknow, we can, we can learn. We
can teach you how to set up yourLLC. We can teach you how to go
and create your own brand. Wecan connect you with, you know,
key members of the communitythat either provide the services
for free or that can, you know,teach you and and guide you and
(20:30):
charge you, you know, you know aprice that is appropriate to to
you as a small, micro business.
One of the most impactfulconversations I've had over the
past six months, where wouldConnecticut paid leave I had
members of your team reach outto us proactively to kind of,
like, educate us and tell us howwe can, you know, disseminate
(20:52):
this information to our to ourmembers. And that was that was
big to me. It was important forme to understand and to get to
realize that there was truepartnership coming, you know,
from your agency, seeking theopportunity to to educate more
and to do what your job is, todo right to to to let people
know that these benefits areavailable to them and that they
(21:16):
can take advantage of them ifthey need them. Because, as I
had mentioned to you in the pastor just before. It's not part of
our culture and the Latinoculture. You work and you work
and you work. And if you'resick, you keep working. Because
in our in our it's embedded intoour, our way of being raised,
almost that you know, you justwork. You kind of like muscle
(21:39):
through it. And there's nothingwrong with the with the strong
work ethic. Yet when you needsomething, if the possibility is
there for you to take advantageof it, then that's something
that we need to share with thosewho can benefit from.
Nancy Barrow (21:54):
Can you tell me a little bit about the 2024 Latino
business expo. It's at theKnowlton in Bridgeport on
October 18, and I hear it's alot of fun. So what can we
expect? We're going to betabling there and getting our
information out to all the smallbusinesses that you have and all
the people that come. So tell mewhat we can expect.
Andrea Torres Fodor (22:13):
Well, you can expect a good old Latin
party on October the 18th. Sofor the past four years, the
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce hasbeen hosting the Latino business
expo at the Knowlton and what wewhat we do is it's a resource
fair and business expo that isreally the best description to
(22:35):
it. We have over 60 vendors thatcome in, set up their booths and
have the ability to do businessamong each other, and also have
the ability to display theirtheir services and their and
their products to the public.
This event is open to thepublic, and it's free to the
public, and you know, it is awonderful celebration of
(22:57):
Hispanic Heritage Month in theLatino business community as a
whole. We have, you know, alldifferent industries being
represented large banks. Wehave, you know, MT bank is our
main sponsor, and we could notpossibly do that without them.
We have Cabaniss and Associates,who is our title sponsor. They
are, you know, an immigrationlaw firm that recently has
(23:19):
expanded their operations herein the state of Connecticut, and
a variety of different ofdifferent, you know, businesses
there. So what to expect? Youcan come in and enjoy a
wonderful evening filled withinformation, entertainment. We
have an open bar open throughoutthe entire event and food
samplings from our members. Thatis something that we take pride
(23:41):
on. When we are looking atevents that we host. The
Hispanic Chamber looks into ourmembers first. We go back to our
members and say, Hey, member athis is the kind of business
event that we're trying to do.
Are you interested in cateringit? Can we give you the business
first? And oftentimes they sayyes. So you are not only going
(24:04):
there to to see, you know, avariety of different vendors,
but you are seeing the membersof the chamber being fully
represented.
Nancy Barrow (24:13):
What would you like people to take away from
Hispanic Heritage Month and andfrom this podcast,
Andrea Torres Fodor (24:20):
One of the things that are important to me
is to to show that, you know,for me, representation is key.
You know, being given the spotin your podcast, to be able to
come in talk on behalf of theHispanic Chamber of Commerce and
on behalf of my community, it isa great honor for me so learning
that you the you can do morewhen you put the time and the
(24:42):
effort into it, and when youreally want to highlight
something beautiful about yourculture, your household, your
family, your job, you knowthere's ways to to respectfully
do that and broadcast it andshare it with the with the
public. And he spent a heritagemonth to me. It's more of an
opportunity to to really engagewith others, right? Go beyond
(25:06):
just oh, it's Hispanic HeritageMonth. They get a whole month to
themselves. The perspective, inmy opinion, what I would like
for people to take out of thisis, here's my opportunity to
learn something different aboutthe people that live around me.
There is a great amount ofLatinos that live in the United
States. Spanish is the, is the,is the most spoken language
(25:27):
other than English in the UnitedStates. So for those in the
community who may not knowenough about us, engage. We want
to. We want to learn more aboutyou. Learn a little bit more
about us. Because I do trulybelieve that it is that the
differences that we have, thebeauty of our backgrounds is
(25:48):
something to celebrate andembrace for growth, rather than
to divide us. So HispanicHeritage Month is a good
opportunity for you to justlearn, open your open your
senses, to all that Hispanicculture can bring to you and
and, you know, find yourselfpleasantly surprised to learn
(26:09):
maybe something that you didn'tknow before.
Nancy Barrow (26:11):
Yeah, I think enriching your life and and
learning more is alwaysimportant, right? It's always
important to learn, of course.
How can people contact you withthe Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
of greater Bridgeport.
Andrea Torres Fodor (26:23):
You can visit us on our website. Our
website is www, dot h CC, GB,dot O, R G, that is
www.hccgb.org, or you can emailus at info@hccgb.org,
Nancy Barrow (26:48):
Any final thoughts about Hispanic Heritage Month or
Connecticut Paid Leave.
Andrea Torres Fodor (26:54):
Connecticut Paid Leave, in my opinion, has
been an eye opener, and it hasbeen one of those things that
I'm very proud to share and tolearn a little bit more about I
myself received a wonderfuleducation from when you and I
had a conversation about what,what you know as an employee of
a company, you should do toprotect yourself and what your
your the possibilities tosupport others are. The
(27:19):
caregiver a portion of the ofthe Connecticut paid leave is
something that is reallyimportant, and it hits home with
the Latino community, because,as you may be aware of, in the
Hispanic community, multigenerational homes are are the
norm. They're not the exception.
Multi generational homes likemine, where I have my mother,
who lives with us are the norm.
(27:43):
And knowing that if the in theevent my mom was sick and had,
you know, some surgery thatrequire support from me, who is
her caregiver, and theConnecticut Paid Leave is there
for me to potentially takeadvantage of that, if that
became, you know, an event forus is huge, and I don't think a
lot of people realize that. Sothere is different, you know,
(28:06):
parts of the Connecticut PaidLeave Act that you know, I think
are important to to know. But inmy opinion, the caregiver act is
something that directly affectsand supports the lifestyle of
the Hispanic community and thestate of Connecticut, because,
as I just mentioned, you know,multi generational homes are the
(28:28):
norm for us, not the exception.
And as you have an aging parentwith you, the needs are simply
just there. They just, you know,as part of the aging process. So
I think that that is one ofthose things that I really would
love for, you know, thelisteners, to dive a little bit
more into and to come in andtalk to you guys about on the
day of the event.
Nancy Barrow (28:48):
Well, thank you so much, and we're so happy that we
have this partnership, you know.
I think it's very important.
Like you said, family is huge,and that's one of the things
that we support. We supportfamilies, you know, and it's
terrible that you'd have tochoose between your job and
taking care of a family memberwho's sick. You know, especially
in a tragic situation like that.
You know, we have the greatthings, like, we'll give you up
to 12 weeks of incomereplacement if you have a baby,
(29:10):
or if you're adopting or you'refostering, like, those are
wonderful things. But when, whenyou need it, when someone is
sick, it's it's really nice thatit's there, and I'm thankful
that we have this wonderfulpartnership. And we're really
excited about partnering withyou and being there on October
18.
Andrea Torres Fodor (29:29):
We thank you for supporting us. We thank
you for reaching out to us. Andyou know, as I mentioned before,
we are excited. We look forwardto continuing our mission, which
is to share valuable informationto our members and to the
community as a whole. And youknow, Connecticut paid leave is
certainly one of those thingsthat we want people to learn
more about.
Nancy Barrow (29:48):
Well, I want to thank my guests, the current
president of the HispanicChamber of Commerce of greater
Bridgeport, Andrea Torres Fodor,for all this great information,
and thanks for being on theConnecticut Paid Leave podcast.
Andrea Torres Fodor (29:59):
Thank you Nancy it was my honor.
Nancy Barrow (30:01):
For more information or to apply for
benefits, please go toctpaidleave.org This has been
another edition of The PaidLeave Podcast. Please like and
subscribe so you'll be notifiedabout new podcasts that become
available. Connecticut Paidleave is a public act with a
personal purpose. I'm NancyBarrow, and thanks for
listening.
Hello Connecticut, and welcome to The Paid Leave
Podcast. The title basicallysays it all. I'm Nancy Barrow,
and I will be delving into thisnew state program and how it can
help you and your family. Thispodcast will give you
information you should knowabout Connecticut Paid Leave and
maybe just a little bit more.
Connecticut Paid Leave bringspeace of mind to your home,
(00:22):
family and workplace. Welcome toThe Paid Leave Podcast.
National Hispanic Heritage Monthbegins each year on September 15
and goes through October 15, andthis month celebrates the
cultures, histories andcontributions of people from
various countries like Spain andMexico, the Caribbean, Central
(00:45):
and South America, just to namea few. And the start date
coincides with the IndependenceDays of several Latin American
countries. Hispanics and Latinoshave played a major role in the
US population growth over thepast decade, and are now the
second biggest population in theUnited States. In Connecticut,
according to a recent report, itsays just over 637,000 people
(01:08):
identify as either Hispanic orLatino. I have a few guests
joining me today in theconversation. First are the
co-chairs of the StratfordHispanic Heritage Commit tee,
Gladys Ramos and Olga Pena.
Thank you both for being on thepodcast, ladies.
Gladys Ramos (01:25):
Thank you for asking us to join you.
Nancy Barrow (01:27):
Tell me a little bit about what the Stratford
Hispanic Committee does and andwhat you do as co chairs. It's
pretty cool. There's two womenas co- chairs, I might add.
Olga Pena (01:35):
Just to give you a little history, we've been doing
this for 19 years. This will beour 20th year, coming in 2025
and I was Gladys firstvolunteer. So basically, what we
do is we volunteer to make theseevents happen. And during the
year, we have the LatinFestival, which is also under
(01:56):
the umbrella of celebrateStratford. And that came 10
years after we startedcelebrating in Stratford
Hispanic Heritage. The townreally embraced us as being a
focal point of the town, asStratford is growing to be a
large population of Hispanicshere in town, we do that. We
(02:18):
celebrate three kings. We aremain focus, personally, my main
focus has always been education,empowering our children to do
better. And so what we do is weraise dollars, monies to give
scholarships to Hispanic youththat are either involved in the
Hispanic community or want to beinvolved with the Hispanic
(02:42):
community and want to continuetheir education in college. So
that's really our focus rightnow. We're working on having a
gala in February of 2025 toraise funds as well for the
scholarship.
Gladys Ramos (03:00):
What we do and what we are allowed to do with
the town of Stratford, iscelebrate events that are
important in the culture, ineducation and the people embrace
it. Olga mentioned three Kingsthe first Sunday in January in
many Spanish speaking country,three kings is celebrated as a
(03:23):
big deal. I mean, I rememberwhen I was, when I came from
Puerto Rico, as a little girl, Iremember in the town I lived in,
it was celebrated and not thepeople come together. The
children are invited to come. Wehave a small celebration. We
give them gifts. We havecommunity services. They donate
(03:46):
gifts to us, and it's just a funday of a little snack, music,
and it's reminding the childrenof their culture. And many of
their culture. We celebrate thekings so we do that. Olga also
mentioned the scholarships. Now,in a month or so, we start
(04:08):
getting applicants from Spanish,Latino, Hispanics, children that
want to go to college. We startgetting their applications that
we get as a big job when do theapplications, and we continually
as all that works in differentcommunity or activities in the
community, and so do I. We'realways focusing on scholarships.
(04:33):
I'm always begging for money.
How's that? Now? I'm really goodat asking, and it's 500 or is it
a 200 whatever is given. Becausewhen we give these children
scholarship, they use it well. Iremember years back and still
some students, when I see themin the community, to go, you
(04:57):
know. Of that $200 scholarshipyou gave me, but I bought a
computer, and it still works. Imean, whenever there is an
opportunity and we're invited tospeak, or we're invited all the
participants, and like I saidbefore, many of the community
committees and boards and so doI, so people know when they see
(05:19):
us, they run because we might beasking for money!
Nancy Barrow (05:26):
Or someone to volunteer or somebody to
volunteer.
Gladys Ramos (05:30):
Basically, we bring out our richness. I mean,
our we have so much to give andso much to learn from, because
it goes vice versa. We have theHispanic community, you know,
enriching their lives with, youknow, non Hispanic traditions
and and we do the same. So tous, it's a beautiful blend of
(05:55):
cultures as we celebrateHispanic Heritage.
Nancy Barrow (05:59):
Well tell me bit about growing up in the Hispanic
community. I mean, you weretalking about your childhood
from Puerto Rico and coming in.
Do you have a favorite memoryfrom your childhood where you've
felt strongly a sense ofbelonging in community? Are
there certain memories that youhave as growing up?
Gladys Ramos (06:16):
My memories are church. My mother used to take
us to church and celebration oflike I mentioned, the three
kings, the food, you know, thesmell of the food, holidays. I
mean, holidays are so importantin our community, like any other
(06:37):
community, you know, it means alot to us family. You know,
everything is a family member.
Olga Pena (06:44):
I'm first generation American here. Brought up in
Brooklyn. My parents are PuertoRican, and they came here in the
40s, and so my memories werereally family foods, speaking
Spanish to my mom, which wasvery important. And to this day
I'm bilingual my children. Ithink I've passed that on to my
(07:06):
some of my to my children, someof my children. I have two
children. My son is my firstborn is better at it than my my
second, but she's working on it.
The fact that we have familyreligion, I remember in Brooklyn
and the apartments celebratingthree kings with my aunts. I
think that was very important tous. The religion was key, faith,
(07:27):
love, family and the Empower.
The only thing that my parents,I remember, being empowered to
be educated. Make sure you doyour homework, make sure you go
to school. It's important. Don'tdo anything until that's all
done. That's empowering yourchildren to do better.
Nancy Barrow (07:50):
Yeah, I think that's really important. Tell me
about the food and the music andthe dance. Why is that so
important to the Hispaniccommunity?
Olga Pena (07:59):
It's so rich, and so so flavorful the people, we tend
to be loud, but yet we tend tohave a lot of fun with each
other. So we, I think, I thinkHispanics takes life lightly,
you know, we we play hard, wework hard. And so that's really
(08:19):
key about our culture and ourfoods and dance. I mean, how
could you not want to dancemerengue and salsa?
Gladys Ramos (08:30):
We have so much fun every time we go to an event
or something, and there's acelebration and there's a
wonderful band or a wonderfulgroup dancing, we'll we recruit
them, and I would bring them toour celebrations at our
festival, the most importantthing is the food and the
dancing. We make sure we have aa dance floor now and this year
(08:57):
was bigger.
Nancy Barrow (08:57):
Do you prefer to speak Spanish when you're with
other people in your community?
I mean, I mean, I know that youmentioned that Olga with your
family, that you think it's veryimportant that you, you know,
give that to your family and youcontinue that. Do you prefer to
do that when you're with otherpeople in your community?
Olga Pena (09:14):
I think Spanglish has become very popular. We'll talk,
I mean, I'll talk with my kidsand my and my family and
friends, you know, both inEnglish and in Spanish, because
I am bilingual, but you know,again, we do like to speak both
languages. Sometimes you kindof, you know, take a step back,
because it could be a littlerude to do that in front of
(09:37):
people that don't understand thelanguage. So I think that we're
very conscious of that, andmaybe that's why Spanglish has
become an issue. But no, I thinkI enjoy speaking Spanish or
Gladys sometimes or speakEnglish. It depends on what
we're doing and how we're doingit.
Gladys Ramos (09:54):
I love speaking Spanish. You know, you need to
be aware of your surroundingswhen you know people don't
understand. I think a long timeago, people used to feel
uncomfortable. Nowadays you aresurrounded by so many languages.
It's like with the story youhear one language another. So I
don't think people feel asoffended as they do. I love
(10:17):
speaking Spanish. I really doit. And like I said, as a former
Spanish teacher, it's fun!
Olga Pena (10:25):
Not only that, I think it's really important
nowadays that our children,second, third generation, learn
the language, because it's anopportunity to serve as a
community. Yeah, our communityhas grown with so many different
language, Spanish language,people from different countries,
that job opportunities actuallyare better. That's one thing
(10:49):
that we lack here. We lackeducating our children in many
languages. It doesn't have to bejust Spanish. The biggest
language I spoke in the US, Ibelieve, would be Spanish. It
is. But you know, in Europe,people speak various languages.
Again, they do no problem. So Ithink that that's something that
(11:10):
our country should really belooking at.
Nancy Barrow (11:13):
What would you like people to take away from
Hispanic Heritage Month and fromthis podcast? What would you
like people to know who arewatching or listening.
Gladys Ramos (11:22):
Maybe once in a while, you know, just be
friendly to people. Justappreciate people and their
culture and respect it. That'swhat I think.
Olga Pena (11:36):
I think that has whether you're of Hispanic
descent or not. I guess weshould all try to be cordial to
each other, understand eachother's culture. But as a
Hispanic, I'd like as a firstgeneration Hispanic and having
raising children that are bornhere in the US, I'd like
Hispanics to understand thatit's important to empower our
(11:58):
children, whether you'reHispanic or not, empower our
children to do better, educate,get involved, be a part of the
community. Take a take a seat atthat table to make sure that
others are doing the same. Youknow, Gladys and I have worked
so hard in this community, andwe see that. I know it's hard
(12:20):
when you work and you havechildren and family, but we've
done it, and you can do it too.
So be part of the community. Bepart of where you live. Teach
your children Spanish. If youcan, you even should learn
Spanish and continue the culturethat we have. We all have
different, diverse cultures, butyet, like Gladys says our
(12:40):
tagline, together, we are one.
And that's really cool. It'sreally important. It's really
nice. Again, I think that theAmerican Community love Hispanic
foods. I think they love themusic, not all, but you know,
for the majority, everywhere,oh, I really enjoyed coming to
(13:02):
this festival because I reallylook forward to it every year.
So it's a rich and empoweringcommunity that we are. So we
need to continue to grow.
Nancy Barrow (13:12):
And how can people contact you at the Stratford
Hispanic Heritage Committee, ifthey wanted to help you or
volunteer?
Gladys Ramos (13:20):
They could contact us. We have our our email and
our information on Facebook.
Also, I would like to make it apoint that we are looking for
sponsors for our gala. Our galawill be February the eighth,
2025 and that money we get arefor scholarships. We need to
(13:42):
give more money, morescholarships to the children,
and now we're thinking of addingsome of the other high schools
from the area so we could givemore. Support Hispanic
businesses support theConnecticut Leave and just have
fun.
Nancy Barrow (14:04):
I think that that wraps it all up. I want to thank
my guests, Gladys and Olga, theco chairs of the Stratford
Hispanic Heritage Committee, forjoining me to talk about
Hispanic Heritage Month. Thanksfor being on the paid leave
podcast.
Olga Pena (14:16):
Thank you very much.
Bye.
Nancy Barrow (14:18):
Now joining me to talk about Hispanic Heritage
Month. Is the current presidentof the Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce of greater Bridgeport.
Andrea Torres Fodor, welcome tothe paid leave podcast Andrea.
Andrea Torres Fodor (14:30):
Good morning. Nancy, thank you very
much for the opportunity. We'reexcited to be here. Thank you
for giving us the space, ofcourse.
Nancy Barrow (14:37):
And why don't you tell me a little bit about what
Hispanic Heritage Month means toyou,
Andrea Torres Fodor (14:44):
Well, Hispanic Heritage Month is
incredibly important to me. As awoman that was born and raised
in Ecuador and moved to theUnited States at a very young
age, I was actually very excitedto learn that in the United
States, there was a whole monthfocused. Celebrate the heritage
that comes from all of ourdifferent countries, to me, is
(15:04):
an opportunity to just highlightthe beauty of of what the Latino
culture in general is, and toand to give others from the
different communities theability to learn a little bit
more about who we are, howvibrant our culture is, how
there, there's so many facets towho we are. We are more than
(15:25):
music, and we're more than thanjust a different language. All
of the different Latin Americancountries, the Hispanic
countries, have their own littleflavor. And you know, knowing
something about Mexican food orMexican culture is valuable and
is special. Yeah, you may bemissing out on so much more if
(15:45):
you don't get to embrace thewhole Latino culture, the
Hispanic, Hispanic community. Soif you go down you know, you
know the hemisphere, and youstart with, you know, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Guatemala, CentralAmerica in general. Then you
come down to Venezuela, Ecuador,Brazil, all these different
(16:06):
countries who are so vibrant andso similar and yet so different.
I think that is an opportunityto highlight that, that each one
of our countries has its ownidentity, united by the common
ground, which is we speakSpanish, right?
Nancy Barrow (16:21):
Tell me a little bit. Paint a little picture of
Ecuador for me.
Andrea Torres Fodor (16:25):
Well, I'm going to be a little bit biased,
but I will tell you that Ecuadoris incredibly beautiful. One of
the most important parts aboutmy country is the natural beauty
that it has. So Ecuador is asmall country located right on
the equator, right on SouthAmerica. North to us is
Colombia, South to us is Peru,and we have pacific coast. So
(16:48):
because of the Andes mountainsthat cross through Ecuador, we
have a beautiful biodiversity.
We have four zones, four naturalzones. We have the highlands.
That is, all of the, you know,the the the Andes cross through
the center of a country. Thenthe Amazon forest. We have the
coast. And then those of you whoknow, the Galapagos Islands are
(17:12):
part of our country as well. Sowe have four very diverse and
very different zones within, youknow, this tiny, little country
that it is, Ecuador. One of thethings that I can tell you
struck my husband, who isAmerican, when we went to visit
Ecuador, was when you land intoQuito, you're able to You're
welcome by the Andes, right bythe beauty of the Andes
(17:35):
Mountains, so perpetual snow,with the Cotopaxi, you know,
kind of staring you down fromfrom the south, and then within,
within an hour or two, you canbe in a very in a humid
rainforest. In mind, though, youknow, which is a beautiful town
that I just recently visitedwith my friends earlier in the
year, and you find yourself in acompletely different climate
(17:56):
within an hour and a half, maybetwo hour drive. So so that is,
that is what makes my country,Ecuador, so very special and so
beautiful.
Nancy Barrow (18:06):
Well now you have made me want to go buy a plane
ticket go down and visit yourcountry, because it sounds
incredible. Why don't you tellme a little bit about what you
do at the Hispanic Chamber ofCommerce as president, which I
think is fantastic as a woman aspresident, you know, I'm all for
that.
Andrea Torres Fodor (18:24):
Thank you.
Thank you. The Hispanic Chamberof Commerce has been serving the
Latino business merchantcommunity for over 50 years. I
was fortunate enough to getconnected to the chamber about
right before covid, I want tosay maybe six years ago, and
very quickly I found out thatthere was definitely
opportunities for me to getinvolved with with the business
(18:44):
network community in the greaterBridgeport area and beyond, and
that there was opportunities forus to spark up a little bit more
enthusiasm into highlighting,you know, the kind of work that
we did. So at the time, a goodfriend of mine, Marisol Herrera,
she was the president, and Ibecame part of the board. Very
quickly, took on theresponsibilities for being vice
(19:06):
president, and then after myourselves, you know, wonderful
service to the chamber. I becamepresident. This is the end of my
first term. And the HispanicChamber of Commerce is a
volunteer board, you know. Soall of the people that serve
with alongside me are allvolunteers, people from the
community, you know, Latinoleaders that are experts in each
(19:29):
one of the year, individualindustries. Part of the mission
of the Hispanic Chamber, part ofthe mission of me as the
president, is to continue tosupport their the mission, which
is to provide our businesscommunity the ability to connect
with others. Connect them withConnecticut paid leave. We
connect them with otherorganizations that a lot of the
(19:49):
Hispanic merchants are not evenaware exist. There is a great
growth in the Hispaniccommunity. One of the reasons
behind that is theacknowledgement. There's some of
those merchants who might havegone and worked for somebody
else and have learned theirtrade, know that their business
is something that they can do,and they're like, You know what?
I can do it on my own. So partof the education that we provide
(20:10):
is exactly that, saying, youknow, we can, we can learn. We
can teach you how to set up yourLLC. We can teach you how to go
and create your own brand. Wecan connect you with, you know,
key members of the communitythat either provide the services
for free or that can, you know,teach you and and guide you and
(20:30):
charge you, you know, you know aprice that is appropriate to to
you as a small, micro business.
One of the most impactfulconversations I've had over the
past six months, where wouldConnecticut paid leave I had
members of your team reach outto us proactively to kind of,
like, educate us and tell us howwe can, you know, disseminate
(20:52):
this information to our to ourmembers. And that was that was
big to me. It was important forme to understand and to get to
realize that there was truepartnership coming, you know,
from your agency, seeking theopportunity to to educate more
and to do what your job is, todo right to to to let people
know that these benefits areavailable to them and that they
(21:16):
can take advantage of them ifthey need them. Because, as I
had mentioned to you in the pastor just before. It's not part of
our culture and the Latinoculture. You work and you work
and you work. And if you'resick, you keep working. Because
in our in our it's embedded intoour, our way of being raised,
almost that you know, you justwork. You kind of like muscle
(21:39):
through it. And there's nothingwrong with the with the strong
work ethic. Yet when you needsomething, if the possibility is
there for you to take advantageof it, then that's something
that we need to share with thosewho can benefit from.
Nancy Barrow (21:54):
Can you tell me a little bit about the 2024 Latino
business expo. It's at theKnowlton in Bridgeport on
October 18, and I hear it's alot of fun. So what can we
expect? We're going to betabling there and getting our
information out to all the smallbusinesses that you have and all
the people that come. So tell mewhat we can expect.
Andrea Torres Fodor (22:13):
Well, you can expect a good old Latin
party on October the 18th. Sofor the past four years, the
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce hasbeen hosting the Latino business
expo at the Knowlton and what wewhat we do is it's a resource
fair and business expo that isreally the best description to
(22:35):
it. We have over 60 vendors thatcome in, set up their booths and
have the ability to do businessamong each other, and also have
the ability to display theirtheir services and their and
their products to the public.
This event is open to thepublic, and it's free to the
public, and you know, it is awonderful celebration of
(22:57):
Hispanic Heritage Month in theLatino business community as a
whole. We have, you know, alldifferent industries being
represented large banks. Wehave, you know, MT bank is our
main sponsor, and we could notpossibly do that without them.
We have Cabaniss and Associates,who is our title sponsor. They
are, you know, an immigrationlaw firm that recently has
(23:19):
expanded their operations herein the state of Connecticut, and
a variety of different ofdifferent, you know, businesses
there. So what to expect? Youcan come in and enjoy a
wonderful evening filled withinformation, entertainment. We
have an open bar open throughoutthe entire event and food
samplings from our members. Thatis something that we take pride
(23:41):
on. When we are looking atevents that we host. The
Hispanic Chamber looks into ourmembers first. We go back to our
members and say, Hey, member athis is the kind of business
event that we're trying to do.
Are you interested in cateringit? Can we give you the business
first? And oftentimes they sayyes. So you are not only going
(24:04):
there to to see, you know, avariety of different vendors,
but you are seeing the membersof the chamber being fully
represented.
Nancy Barrow (24:13):
What would you like people to take away from
Hispanic Heritage Month and andfrom this podcast,
Andrea Torres Fodor (24:20):
One of the things that are important to me
is to to show that, you know,for me, representation is key.
You know, being given the spotin your podcast, to be able to
come in talk on behalf of theHispanic Chamber of Commerce and
on behalf of my community, it isa great honor for me so learning
that you the you can do morewhen you put the time and the
(24:42):
effort into it, and when youreally want to highlight
something beautiful about yourculture, your household, your
family, your job, you knowthere's ways to to respectfully
do that and broadcast it andshare it with the with the
public. And he spent a heritagemonth to me. It's more of an
opportunity to to really engagewith others, right? Go beyond
(25:06):
just oh, it's Hispanic HeritageMonth. They get a whole month to
themselves. The perspective, inmy opinion, what I would like
for people to take out of thisis, here's my opportunity to
learn something different aboutthe people that live around me.
There is a great amount ofLatinos that live in the United
States. Spanish is the, is the,is the most spoken language
(25:27):
other than English in the UnitedStates. So for those in the
community who may not knowenough about us, engage. We want
to. We want to learn more aboutyou. Learn a little bit more
about us. Because I do trulybelieve that it is that the
differences that we have, thebeauty of our backgrounds is
(25:48):
something to celebrate andembrace for growth, rather than
to divide us. So HispanicHeritage Month is a good
opportunity for you to justlearn, open your open your
senses, to all that Hispanicculture can bring to you and
and, you know, find yourselfpleasantly surprised to learn
(26:09):
maybe something that you didn'tknow before.
Nancy Barrow (26:11):
Yeah, I think enriching your life and and
learning more is alwaysimportant, right? It's always
important to learn, of course.
How can people contact you withthe Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
of greater Bridgeport.
Andrea Torres Fodor (26:23):
You can visit us on our website. Our
website is www, dot h CC, GB,dot O, R G, that is
www.hccgb.org, or you can emailus at info@hccgb.org,
Nancy Barrow (26:48):
Any final thoughts about Hispanic Heritage Month or
Connecticut Paid Leave.
Andrea Torres Fodor (26:54):
Connecticut Paid Leave, in my opinion, has
been an eye opener, and it hasbeen one of those things that
I'm very proud to share and tolearn a little bit more about I
myself received a wonderfuleducation from when you and I
had a conversation about what,what you know as an employee of
a company, you should do toprotect yourself and what your
your the possibilities tosupport others are. The
(27:19):
caregiver a portion of the ofthe Connecticut paid leave is
something that is reallyimportant, and it hits home with
the Latino community, because,as you may be aware of, in the
Hispanic community, multigenerational homes are are the
norm. They're not the exception.
Multi generational homes likemine, where I have my mother,
who lives with us are the norm.
(27:43):
And knowing that if the in theevent my mom was sick and had,
you know, some surgery thatrequire support from me, who is
her caregiver, and theConnecticut Paid Leave is there
for me to potentially takeadvantage of that, if that
became, you know, an event forus is huge, and I don't think a
lot of people realize that. Sothere is different, you know,
(28:06):
parts of the Connecticut PaidLeave Act that you know, I think
are important to to know. But inmy opinion, the caregiver act is
something that directly affectsand supports the lifestyle of
the Hispanic community and thestate of Connecticut, because,
as I just mentioned, you know,multi generational homes are the
(28:28):
norm for us, not the exception.
And as you have an aging parentwith you, the needs are simply
just there. They just, you know,as part of the aging process. So
I think that that is one ofthose things that I really would
love for, you know, thelisteners, to dive a little bit
more into and to come in andtalk to you guys about on the
day of the event.
Nancy Barrow (28:48):
Well, thank you so much, and we're so happy that we
have this partnership, you know.
I think it's very important.
Like you said, family is huge,and that's one of the things
that we support. We supportfamilies, you know, and it's
terrible that you'd have tochoose between your job and
taking care of a family memberwho's sick. You know, especially
in a tragic situation like that.
You know, we have the greatthings, like, we'll give you up
to 12 weeks of incomereplacement if you have a baby,
(29:10):
or if you're adopting or you'refostering, like, those are
wonderful things. But when, whenyou need it, when someone is
sick, it's it's really nice thatit's there, and I'm thankful
that we have this wonderfulpartnership. And we're really
excited about partnering withyou and being there on October
18.
Andrea Torres Fodor (29:29):
We thank you for supporting us. We thank
you for reaching out to us. Andyou know, as I mentioned before,
we are excited. We look forwardto continuing our mission, which
is to share valuable informationto our members and to the
community as a whole. And youknow, Connecticut paid leave is
certainly one of those thingsthat we want people to learn
more about.
Nancy Barrow (29:48):
Well, I want to thank my guests, the current
president of the HispanicChamber of Commerce of greater
Bridgeport, Andrea Torres Fodor,for all this great information,
and thanks for being on theConnecticut Paid Leave podcast.
Andrea Torres Fodor (29:59):
Thank you Nancy it was my honor.
Nancy Barrow (30:01):
For more information or to apply for
benefits, please go toctpaidleave.org This has been
another edition of The PaidLeave Podcast. Please like and
subscribe so you'll be notifiedabout new podcasts that become
available. Connecticut Paidleave is a public act with a
personal purpose. I'm NancyBarrow, and thanks for
listening.
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