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We could simply list
here all of the institutions and organizations that are available to our adult
learners however, it would not capture the essence of how support actually
unfolds within a given community of adult learners.
In order
to have the time and energy necessary to pursue their goals, both ESOL and ABE
students in our community told us that they must be able to rely on responsive,
consistent and sustained supports rather than having to constantly focus on
survival and meeting basic needs. The Changes Project Report concluded the
following from their interviews with 652 adult learners in our region. They
said that the learners need:
·
Practical
supports,
including affordable food, clothing and housing; health care; childcare; and
transportation.
·
Practical
supports also
include access to information, including specifics about rights as a worker,
welfare recipient, or newcomer to the U.S.; and information about how to enroll
and do well in school, as well as other academic, career and job guidance.
·
Inner
resources, including
hopes, dreams, motivation, focus, determination, knowledge and ability and
spiritual faith
·
Personal
supports,
including emotional and practical support; advocacy for individuals and
programs; and the respect of peers, social workers, teachers, family members,
and community
·
Institutional
supports,
including responsive institutions (schools, training programs, and workplaces);
responsive state and national policies; and regulations that accommodate the
needs and circumstances of individuals.
The supports
cited above become more complex when explored within the context of an
individual's life. It is not enough, for example, that daycare is available; it
must fit with a mother's schedule and it must meet her criteria for quality.
Nor is transportation useful just because it is available; it must fit a
learner's schedule and go where the learner needs to go.
In our
assessment we see the relationships individuals have with one another and
within their communities as an asset. In talking about community in the Changes
Project Report, people used terms such as "working together; "
"people of different backgrounds teaching each other;" "a
thousand million hands reaching out to help;" "respecting our elders,
teachers, neighbors, family members and friends." Many participants
interviewed by the Changes Project said that one of their goals for getting an
education was the ability to "give something back" to their
communities.
Some
adult learners find that school becomes a meaningful place to build new
relationships. The director of the
Ware Adult Learning Center describes it in this way...
Its
amazing how ingenious they are - their resiliency, their drive and
motivation. They depend on each other.
I have seen people who have started classes with us with few social skills, or
had restraining orders against each other, or family arguments - before you
know it they are working on schoolwork together at home or giving each other
rides or taking care of each other's
children. One of the assets for the adult learner is the classroom itself - it
helps to create community - often the only healthy social network they have -
for just a few hours a week.
According to learners in the Center for New Americans and the International
Language Institute the kinds of support they need changes over time. They used the term "step by step"
to describe the importance of beginning with simple tasks and eventually moving
out into the community and then perhaps toward a job interview or citizenship. [1]
Executive Director
of the Center for New Americans concurred that learning for a person with Low
English Proficiency is a continuum that could lead to citizenship:
The
first step is learning the language, then integration into the community
(becoming comfortable, getting involved with their kid's schooling), and then
the actual citizenship. We would like to help people all the way through. The
final 2 pieces, getting them integrated into their community, and then the
citizenship, well there is not much funding available. It is part of our
mission and so we do it. We would like
to see more public financial support for that.
He
added:
The
last need is employment assistance and I am not sure that the career centers or
the career systems generally are set up to be limited-English friendly. I would like for us to be able to provide
some kind of low-level employment assistance -interview practice. It isn't enough to give them the number of
the career centers. At what point can
we provide some kind of service and then pass them on to the centers. Those taking computer classes at community
colleges or career centers have found the experience frustrating because of the
pace of the teaching and the vocabulary and the atmosphere generally. So, we
have begun our own computer classes, they are warm and friendly, taught by
immigrants and then we see this as a stepping stones to more advanced computer
classes.
What we hope we have
created here for the reader is a more heartfelt/integrative view of what a
community asset can mean in the life of an adult and young adult learner. We ask that you keep this view in mind as
you perhaps skim over this very long list of assets below and in the appendix.
B. Institutions and Service Providers Available in Our Adult Education Planning Region for ABE learners and the community at large
There is a comprehensive
list of these institutions and service providers in the appendix compiled by
type of institution or type of service offered.
C. ABE/ESOL/Family Literacy related services.
There is a matrix showing
class schedules and types of classes for all DOE-funded programs in the
appendix. There is also a list of non-DOE funded programs in the appendix and
some descriptions below.
The Coordinating Team Organizations
The Literacy
Project
The Literacy
Project provides services to adult learners, ranging in age from 16 to 80 plus
within a 1,100-square-mile rural region of Western Massachusetts. The Literacy
Project is a singular resource in this region of the state. It is the only
organization providing free adult education and literacy services designed to
address the total needs of the learner. It is the only adult education program
that integrates health education, leadership development, and peer tutoring. It
is unique in employing full-time teachers who offer a rich range of education
opportunities in indigenous community locations. Through learning centers in
Orange, Turners Falls, Greenfield, Northampton, Amherst, and Ware, TLP offers
classes in reading, writing, math, GED preparation, computers, creative
writing, science, and social studies. During the past five years, the number of
community members receiving TLP services has doubled.
The Center for New Americans
The Center for New
Americans (CNA) is a community-based, non-profit adult education center
providing the immigrant, refugee and migrant communities of the Pioneer Valley with education and
resources to learn English, become involved members of their communities and
obtain tools necessary to maintain economic independence and stability. In
response to student needs, CNA offers a comprehensive menu of services
including ESOL classes, civics and citizenship education, volunteer tutoring
support, basic computer skills training, family literacy activities, and
counseling and referral services.
International
Language Institute
The International
Language Institute of Massachusetts (ILI), begun in 1984, is a
Northampton-based, non-profit language school
providing comprehensive training in English and other languages. ILI
is accredited by the Accrediting
Council for Continuing Education and Training and serves approximately 650
learners per year. The school's teaching philosophy is learner-centered and participatory.
In Northampton, ILI provides free ESOL classes, with employment and computer
literacy components. Instruction is supported by trained volunteer tutors from the community. ILI also matches
immigrant learners and native English speakers who are interested in practicing
each other's native language. Learners also have access to ILI's Self-Access Center, which houses an Internet-connected computer lab, video
and audio equipment, books and workbooks. ILI's free programs include an ESOL
and pre-GED Distance Learning pilot program based in Springfield. The project
is a collaboration with the Corporation for Public Management. ILI also offers
workplace language and cultural awareness training on-site at area businesses
and organizations, ESOL Teacher certificate courses (in collaboration with
Vermont's School for International Training) and other teacher training
programs, and a small international Intensive English program. It also provides
the language program at Hampshire College in Amherst.
Three Even Start programs (two brand new), one in Greenfield and one in
Northampton and an older one in Orange/Athol serve or will serve approximately
60 parents and children ages 0-3 onsite in early childhood rooms or will place
them in early childhood programs in the area. The Northampton site will be
offering native language literacy classes at Casa Latina.
Holyoke
Community College (HCC) offers ESOL Day Classes approximately 50 minutes each
day, 5 days per week with approximately 5 levels of competency. Students are
mostly traditional college-age adults (see class schedule in appendix).
Evening ESOL classes are three levels: Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced and
meet 2X per week. About 10-16 in a class and ages ranging from 25 - 50. About
75% non-traditional students. The majority of these students are wanting to
either keep a job or gain eligibility for advancement. These non-traditional
students who tend to be more engaged
with their work, attend quite regularly.
HCC day school students are generally from Holyoke, Springfield, Chicopee, S.
Hadley, Westfield. Evening students are from Westfield, W. Springfield,
Chicopee, Ludlow, Granby, Belchertown,
Northampton, Hadley and Amherst.
Free programs are offered as a community service in Ludlow at the Ludlow Area
Adult Learning Center through a grant from MassDOE. Students are employed,
non-traditional with ages 30-50. The
curriculum in the community programs are more workforce based. For the
traditional students, we establish during intake what their goals are and
include information they need to succeed in college courses. There is
participatory group work and peer assistance is available.
HCC has the largest GED testing center in Western Mass. area and has the
capacity to work with community-based organizations. I sense that these
community organizations are overwhelmed with their own students and their own
concerns which makes it difficult to find the time to put together additional
alliances or collaborations.
This spring semester (Jan 2003) HCC will be offering credit and non credit
classes at Belchertown High School. There is a possibility that GED testing
could also be offered at Belchertown High School, though there are no plans
currently to do that this spring. HCC
also offers credit and non credit classes in Hampshire County at Smith College
in Northampton. They do this in collaboration with Greenfield Community
College. As a matter of fact, HCC and GCC are the only two Community Colleges
in the commonwealth that collaborate in such a way: they pool their students in
order to fill classes and, of course, they also share costs and resources. This
is an example of a successful collaboration that brings educational benefits
into Hampshire County which does not have it's own community college but is
served jointly by GCC and HCC.
Greenfield
Community College (GCC) was the site of
a transition to college program called Step Up that served graduates from the
ABE and ESOL programs in both Franklin and Hampshire counties. This program was cut in 2002 leaving a
service gap in the community (see below).
Currently, GCC offers ESOL classes. They are not for free.
The
Literacy Project in Greenfield has a history of linkages with GCC including a
two-way web site linkage. GCC refers
all applicants who need pre-tests. A woman from GCC also offers classes at Lite
Life and the Women's Resource Center is an essential connection for women
students. There is other support at GCC
that is offered for new students.
Other
Community Colleges - Springfield Technical
Community College or Quinsigamond Community College in Worchester may offer
services for adult students but we are looking into what they might be.
University
of Massachusetts at Amherst offers an ESOL program, if students can afford
tuition and fees.
Other
ESOL and ABE Services in the Community
Hampshire County
South
Hadley Library has reading tutors.
Quabog
Palmer Literacy Volunteers has tutoring
Sister
James in Ludlow offers general and GED tutoring
First
Baptist Church of Amherst has higher level ESOL classes on Wednesdays and
Fridays
(9:30-12 noon).
The
Jones Library in Amherst has an ESOL Tutoring Program
UMass
Foreign Students Program occasionally offers a free series of classes for
spouses of students.
Even Start
Northampton -This program has not yet opened, however, there will be bi-lingual
literacy classes offered in Spanish to parents and will be conducted at the
Casa Latina offices in Florence.
Franklin County
The Brick House is
a social service agency serving residents of Montague, shares occupancy with
the Montague Adult Learning Center. The two programs collaborate on the M.I.N.D.
(Montague Institute for New Directions) program, an alternative employment
readiness program for female residents of Montague. M.I.N.D. addresses a variety
of areas, including computer literacy, communication skills, career preparation,
interviewing skills, etc. The Montague Adult Learning Center provides the
computer literacy component of the program.
The Greenfield
Library is a site for CNA ESOL classes (see appendix for class schedule).
The
Greenfield Housing Corporation. Within several housing projects in Greenfield
(Oak Terrace), there are computer classes, and other classes for adults and
children.
The Carnegie Library-Turners
Falls sponsors Family Literacy activities and a summer reading program for
children with 350 participants.
Montague Social Services -
Turners Falls runs a family center that has computers, a parent library, a
children's play group and offers food vouchers.
Greenfield Even Start -This
program is not yet opened.
(Also see appendix for
class schedule-see Primary Data Section for specifics about their programs and
the ESOL/ABE referral relationships.
Two correctional facilities are located
in Franklin/Hampshire Planning Region. Both offer ABE, GED and Title One
opportunities to inmates along with substance abuse programs, counseling, and
treatment, as well as LifeSkills, anger management, and group support. Hampshire County House of Correction also
offers a volunteer run program to help with decision-making. Each county also
has Community Corrections facilities that continue the programs listed above as
inmates are released on probation or parole.
D. Existing Partnerships and Interagency Collaborations
Referral and Information Coordination Efforts
There have been some recent
initiatives taken up in our Franklin/Hampshire region attempting to create a
more systematic compilation of available human service resources. Some are
found in web sites on-line, some are on CD Discs, some are in "big red
books" and some are on "little red disks". Some are for our
learners and are on cards that one can hold in the palm of the hand or
brochures left in bus stations, food pantries, survival centers and church
foyers and drop-in centers (see assets for learners, below).
The most recent and
ambitious referral and information resource in Hampshire County is called BATON
((Better Access to Organizational
Networks). BATON was instigated by Sen.
Stan Rosenberg, after he realized the need for better coordination of social
services in Hampshire County. He helped to develop a task force to look into
this problem. His goal was to make it easier for people to access social
services, and to provide individual case coordination for those who need it.
Now, Valley Human Services and Ware Adult Education Center (one of the TLP
sites) are participating in a prototype for the BATON Project. [2] Presently, First Call for Help will be the
hub of the case coordination efforts, and Valley Human Services in Ware and
WAEC will refer those people who are qualified and in need (especially of DTA
services) to the BATON phone number at First Call. The three key components of
the BATON project are case coordination, interagency collaboration, and
technology.
Another resource
coordinating effort made specifically for families and youth is called SPIFFY
(Strategic Planning for Family and Youth).
This is a project developed under the Hampshire Educational
Collaborative to map all services for children and families both in school and
in the community in Hampshire County.
Data is being collected from surveys and needs assessments both in the
schools and the community. Among other uses, the information can be used for
funding requests. An additional goal of SPIFFY is to identify gaps in services
using the data that is gathered. This effort is supported by the Community
Foundation and is being guided by a coalition and many of the school systems
across the county are involved.
The Hampshire County Action
Commission's First Call for Help's "Big Red Book" and Little Red Disc
are both a hands-on and electronic directory of social service organizations in
Hampshire County. Organized in alphabetical order, the listings contain descriptions
of services offered, contact information, who is eligible to obtain services,
how to approach the resource, if its handicapped accessible, what languages are
spoken, and a description of the organization's service area.
Franklin County Resource Network -Coordinated by Sara Cummings - also the
Director of Special Programs at the Franklin Community Action Corporation. This
is a diverse service-oriented group, representing 60 social and human service
agencies. They organize presentations and projects that are vital to the
community such as Franklin County Women and Violence Project and a day-long
Mental Health forum. There is a monthly newsletter and a quarterly agency
spotlight that focuses in depth on a member agency or program.
COSA (Council of Social Agencies) in Hampshire County- A group of social
service agencies who meet monthly to discuss service coordination and relevant
issues in Hampshire County. TLP, ILI
and CNA send representatives to these meetings.
ABEAWest. As a result of extensive discussion
among the members of ABEA West, the Collaborative Resource Development Working
Group has been created just recently to explore the possibilities of
coordinated fundraising efforts among ABE programs in western Massachusetts. A
small group of interested parties met in the early part of 2003 and began a
process of brainstorming potential funders as well as potential funding
projects. The group, which is still very much in an exploratory phase, is open
to all ABE providers in western Massachusetts.
Franklin County Youth Programs
and the REB Youth Council: The FCAC
Youth Program Coordinator and the REB Youth Council work together under a WIA
contract and two adult education providers, one from TLP and one from ILI who
serves on the board of the REB. Some grants have been written, but no formal
connection has been made - yet.
The western and
central parts of Franklin County are fortunate to have a number of
youth-serving agencies that form a continuum of care from prevention, to
support and intervention, to treatment and shelter. FCAC Youth Programs is in the middle of this continuum and is
tied closely into other levels through shared case management as well as
community-wide advocacy and networking groups.
FCAC is just now beginning to work with local leaders, including the Channing Bete Company, to bring Communities that Careâ to Franklin and North Quabbin.