Multiple presenters at the Nov. 14 council meeting described coordinated efforts to expand leadership and language services for Kosciusko County’s Hispanic residents, including a community-run Facebook page, an AI-enabled bilingual call center and expansion needs at Warsaw Adult Education.

What presenters said: Marlene Betancis (Chamber representative) and Diana Diaz Perrigo (Zimmer Biomet) described a Hispanic leadership development initiative formed through a county program that identified 15 prospective leaders and used “strategic doing,” a collaborative method, to develop small, actionable projects. The group created Todos Kountos Kounty (a Facebook page) to improve visibility of resources; presenters said the page has several hundred followers and a daily reach up to thousands for some posts.

Language Matters and bilingual call center: Lucas Fonseca, CEO of Language Matters, said a pilot bilingual call center launched with the City of Warsaw recorded 225 interactions January–October 2023 and about 471 interactions in the same period this year, with projections exceeding 500 calls for the year. Fonseca said the service is projected to save the community more than 150 hours of staff time by centrally routing Spanish-language requests and that the service recently began integrating local resource guides into an AI “smart hub” to answer county-specific questions. Call-center phone number provided: (260) 222‑5131.

Warsaw Adult Education demand: Leo (last name Patino) said Warsaw Adult Education runs English-language classes (six proficiency levels) and that program year 2023–24 saw 72 enrolled English-language learners (ELL) with a 42% level gain. He said the program currently has 64 enrolled adult learners (39% level gains to date), a wait list of at least 77 people and 93 HSE (high‑school‑equivalency) students with about a 70% level gain. He said the local K–12 Hispanic student population is rising and adult services are not keeping pace with demand.

Why it matters: Presenters said the initiatives build community capacity, help residents navigate services, and support workforce and business development. County leaders applauded the partnerships and asked staff to continue coordination.

Next steps: Presenters plan a second round of programming and additional outreach; Warsaw Adult Education and Language Matters seek resources to expand services and staffing to meet demand.