Story reposted with permission from The Times-Standard.
English Express provides no-cost adult English language education and citizenship classes to immigrant and refugee families in Humboldt County. It also connects them to vital resources and helps them build social and community networks that promote resilience and self-sufficiency.
I spoke with Ursula Bischoff, a local strategic management consultant who has worked closely with the founder of English Express, Mary Ann Hytken. Ursula signed on to help with strategy, capacity-building and fundraising as English Express has grown and the policy and funding environment has changed significantly over the past couple of years.
Serving immigrants in this era, Mary Ann and Ursula have recently seen quite a bit of change. Many more students seek English classes. They are also showing an increasing interest in the English Express Community Connections program, which offers students the ability to connect with guest speakers who educate participants on things like starting a business and renting property. Another program feature is Workplace English, which offers on-site instruction customized to employers’ workplace as well as lessons supporting everyday activities; expanding that is a current focus.
Closures of companies like Sun Valley Floral Farms and Redwood Meats have caused employment dislocations affecting local immigrant communities. In addition to losing the job, an immigrant might have lost easy access to English Express. For example, Mary Ann used to go on site and teach at Sun Valley. Now, many of those people seek her out in her community course offerings.
When immigrants seek jobs, it clearly helps to speak some English, but instruction goes beyond that. English Express helps prepare people for their naturalization interview and citizenship test. They provide referrals to other community resources, such as the food bank, health facilities, and Centro del Pueblo, which provides workshops that help immigrants to know their rights.
Fall classes are scheduled to begin in September. To learn more, students can go to https://englishexpressempowered.com/english-classes/. There are regular updates on Facebook.
Over a dozen volunteers help in various ways, including providing instruction. When we spoke, Ursula and Mary Ann were seeking an instructor volunteer to offer an in-person citizenship course.
The funding environment is just plain dicey, and long-term sustainability remains an ongoing challenge. Shifting funding priorities, notably including local foundations, have negatively impacted English Express resources. They seek funding from outside the area but face the same limitations that affect all rural grant-seekers. If you want to help, you can donate here: https://englishexpressempowered.com/donate/.
I noticed a pretty diverse group of organizations who were credited as sponsors on the website. I asked about the common threads. The foundations listed provide much-needed funding. The Humboldt County Office of Education provides meeting space.
The Ink People Center for the Arts serves as nonprofit/fiscal umbrella. Sponsors include businesses, such as the wonderfully involved-in-the-community Eureka Books and nonprofits such as Humboldt Waterkeeper, which provides a yearly free tour on the Madaket. Still others connect students to resources.
Mary Ann is a fourth-generation Eureka resident. She goes on walkabouts seeking sponsors and providing 10-minute English lessons at spots like food trucks. Mary Ann is a regular presence at markets, restaurants and community events to share and gather information that helps English Express respond to student and community priorities in real time. In the 10 years Mary Ann has been running English Express, she has served people from over 40 countries. 61 have become citizens.
Ursula recounted the story of one of those new citizens. A young woman and single mother had participated with English Express for a substantial time. She then attended College of the Redwoods. Mary Ann served as a reference when the woman secured her first post-college job. Over time, the woman opened a business, became a citizen, got engaged and invited Mary Ann to her wedding.
The success stories are often as simple as a participant saying that now “I can talk to my child’s teacher. I can talk with the doctor.”
The immigrant community here is large, thriving and plays a critical role in our local economy. Mary Ann’s goal, beyond English language skills and citizenship, is to build connections and, by doing so, build the community.
Michael Kraft writes the Good Work series, volunteering on behalf of the Northern California Association of Nonprofits (NorCAN). NorCAN, also a DreamMaker project, supports connections between people and organizations that work every day to keep our communities strong by offering professional development, board support, networking connections and more. Learn more at https://norcal-nonprofits.org/. To nominate a deserving nonprofit organization to be profiled, email michael@kraftconsultants.com.