Visibles: Iliana Barreto grew up with a big responsibility. Now, it shapes her work in Manchester

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Iliana Barreto is the coordinator at Centro Latino in Manchester. She moved to Boston from Puerto Rico with her family, and was the first to learn English. With that, she grew up with a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, translating and interpreting for her parents. It’s a reality many children in the U.S. live through.

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Iliana Barreto

“Some feel a sense of embarrassment and some people are made to feel less than. You can get frustrated,” Iliana said. “That shouldn’t limit someone from working, because even though they might not know the language, it doesn’t mean they don’t know the work.”

This is our last episode of Visibles this season. We’ll be back in January with more stories from the Latino community.


GSNC 2 ColorThese articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative as part of our race and equity project. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.

About this Author

Gabriela Lozado

Gabriela Lozada is a Report for America corps member. Her focus is on Latinx community with original reporting done in Spanish for ¿Qué hay de Nuevo NH?. She has over 10 years of reporting experience and is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who specializes in covering social issues. Her documentary, “El Ultimo Hielero Del Chimborazo” (The Last Iceman of Chimborazo) and La Marea, are the films she is most proud of. She holds an MFA in filmmaking from the New York Film Academy.