The Roman Catholic Archdiocese started its first bilingual English and Spanish program this year to attract more Hispanic families.
And City Hall set up a commission two years ago to determine the education, job, public health and social needs of the growing Hispanic population, which increased 45% to 16,000 in 2008 from 11,000 in 2000.
'They live in every community. ... We're seeing more restaurants, stores and shops that are just sprouting up,' says Baltimore Councilman Jim Kraft. 'It's creating a new identity.'
In cities like Baltimore across the USA, the impact of Hispanics is wide-reaching and growing. The number of Hispanics in the U.S. is expected to reach 133 million by 2050, when the group is projected to make up almost a third of the nation's population.
