Hogar Immigrant Services E-nunciations

I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself to all of you who may not have met me yet and say hello to all of those who already know me. I recently was promoted as the Group Manager of Education Services at Hogar Immigrant Services. In my previous position at Hogar, I served as the Grant Manager at our ESOL office site in Falls Church.

Hogar’s Education Team is working super hard, despite recent changes and the upsetting loss of a VA Department of Education grant, to have an excellent start to the fall 2011 semester. We have registered over 1,000 students so far across our ten sites and still have managed to maintain Hogar’s presence at ALL of our parish sites. I’d like to thank the Hogar Education team for their hard work in making this happen. But most of all, I’d like to thank the 300 (and counting!) Hogar volunteers, as we would not be able to provide ESOL and Citizenship preparation classes to as many clients as we do if it weren’t for each and every single one of you.
I’m also pleased to announce that we have successfully started up the ESOL program at St. Rita parish in Alexandria. This would not have been possible if it weren’t for Bill Kelly, Hope Adair, and Allison Corbett, who worked tirelessly alongside Father Gee and St. Rita staff to get the semester up and running. And I’d like to thank all the new volunteers who are teaching ESOL at St. Rita. Your support and assistance has been essential in this start-up process. Please join me in welcoming St. Rita to the Hogar family!

Hogar just recently received word that it received the Citizenship & Integration Grant from the Department of Homeland Security for two years! This grant will continue to fund the Legal team’s naturalization application workshops as well as Citizenship preparation classes across the Diocese. Krupskaya Elliott, who did an excellent job last fiscal year on this grant, will serve as the Grant Manager for the next two fiscal years as well.
I hope you enjoy reading this month’s edition of E-Nunciations and share it with anyone you know who might be interested in getting involved at Hogar. We’re always looking for volunteers and our door is always open!

I hope to meet all of you that I do not know yet as soon as possible, and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments. Thank you for your continued support of Hogar and its clients. I look forward to working with all of you as we move forward and working together to achieve our mission!

Volunteers Needed!
Hogar’s recruitment of volunteers to teach ESL or Citizenship classes is ongoing! If you are interested in volunteering, or know someone that is interested, please contact Lisa Ehm Waller at (703) 534-9805, x 238 or lwaller@ccda.net.

The Legal Team would like to announce that after seven incredible years of working tirelessly to assist immigrants and reunite families across the Diocese and beyond, Michelle Sardone, our wonderful Group Manager, will be leaving Hogar to begin a position with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC). It’s a bittersweet occasion for us all—we’re happy for Michelle and thrilled that she’ll be able to share her incredible wisdom with other Catholic Charities immigration legal services providers all over the country, but we’re obviously very sad that she is leaving us! Strong ties to Hogar are hard to break, however, and Michelle plans to continue on in a volunteer capacity with the legal team. Don’t be surprised if you continue to see her around the office from time to time, or at one of our Citizenship workshops.

In light of Michelle’s departure, the Legal Team has decided to temporarily close our services to new clients until November 1st. We will continue to see old and current clients, and will also provide green card and work permit renewal services during our regular Tuesday and Thursday morning intake hours. However, we will not be able to see new clients during intake, or take on new cases, during this period. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate everyone’s patience during our time of transition.

Coalition of Asia Pacific Americans of Virginia (CAPAVA), Centreville Immigration Forum (CIF), Jews United for Justice (JUFJ), Legal Aid Justice Center's Immigrant Advocacy Program, Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (UUCA) and Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO)

Where: Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (UUCA) located at 4444 Arlington Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22204.

A Farewell from Michelle

Tuesday, October 4th will mark my last official day as an employee of Hogar Immigrant Services. Although, I am excited to embark on my new journey as a Field Support Coordinator for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to Hogar. I have had the privilege of serving Hogar’s clients for over eight years; first as a volunteer ESL teacher and then as an employee.

Through my work here at Hogar I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing individuals that have profoundly touched my life. Clients have allowed me to walk with them as they navigate a complicated and often unfair immigration system. I have witnessed families saddened by years of separation as well as the happiness that comes with finally being reunited. I have seen individuals get better jobs because of their improved immigration status and then be able to fund their child’s college education. Others I have watched take their Oath of Allegiance and then register to vote in their very first election. I have been truly blessed to encounter the face of Christ in each of those I have served.

Volunteers have also inspired me here at Hogar with their never-ending patience with both our clients and staff and their willingness to help with even the most mundane tasks so that we can serve more. Hogar’s volunteers are the best volunteers I have ever worked with. The time and effort they put forth for our clients and students is unparalleled. Hogar’s mission of “welcoming the stranger” would be impossible without the assistance of so many devoted volunteers and I have been fortunate to work with many of them.

Finally, it has been my honor to work with the staff here at Hogar Immigrant Services (Hogar Hispano back in the old days). This team is made up of tireless advocates and educators who are defenders of some of the most vulnerable in our community. Although, their work is often underappreciated, they continue to strive for excellence with each of their clients and students. I am proud of them and of the work they continue to do each and every day. I just hope they each realize the incredible impact they have on people’s lives and the positive changes they are making in the world.

Muchímas gracias to all I have worked with during my time here. I hope to see you all soon because I plan to stop by to volunteer occasionally in order to help Hogar continue its’ good work in the community.

Volunteer Spotlight

This month we are debuting a new series of videos filmed and produced by Allison this summer. We hope to begin using video more often to be able to share the stories of our teachers and students in what we think is a much more compelling medium!

September's Vignette

Teacher Tip

To err is human. Many, if not all, of our ESOL and Citizenship students will naturally make mistakes as they learn but the key is how we, as teachers, use error correction. First of all, we should let our students know that making mistakes is not a bad thing but rather an excellent learning opportunity. It can serve to extend an explanation as to why an error is an error in the first place. It also gives other students a chance to assist with coming up with and understanding the right answer. Secondly, we need to create and uphold a friendly and safe atmosphere in the classroom so each student feels comfortable speaking up and perhaps, while doing so, they’ll make a mistake, but they won’t feel ashamed about it.

Three key things to keep in mind about error correction:

   1. Let the students make mistakes! They need to. We all learn best through making mistakes. Trial and error is the name of the game.

   2. Give the students time to realize they've made a mistake and try to correct it themselves. If they can't, maybe someone else can help them. The ability to correct themselves when they make a mistake is an important one for students to develop. Encourage it - don't jump in immediately to correct them. It's much better for the students if they get into the habit of listening to themselves when they are speaking and correcting themselves as they go along. Obviously they won't be able to correct all the mistakes they make but they will be able to correct a lot of them. Of course, teachers can correct their students endlessly but how will that help the students when they go out into the real world - who will be there to correct them then?

   3. When a student makes a mistake it’s usually counter-productive to say "No!", "That's wrong!", "Are you serious?", "How long did you say you've been studying English?" etc. It's often kinder to say "Not bad.", "Nearly.", "Good try.", "That's an interesting mistake." etc.
Lastly, learning English is like learning to ride a bike - you fall off a lot, but you get the hang of it in the end. Your students will make a lot of mistakes but they will be able to communicate effectively in the end. Very few students reach native fluency (which, as we all know, isn’t always error free!) but many students learn to communicate very well in English anyway. A student will probably never have error-free English so accept that he or she will always make some mistakes – just encourage them to try to learn from them and to learn to live with some linguistic “imperfections” like the rest of us.