These immigrants are helping others who came from their homeland. DP
By SUE ONTIVEROS
suntimes.com: They have hopes and dreams for their lives in the United States.
No matter what their age when they arrived here.
And once they felt they had a little confidence in understanding the ways of this new country of theirs, they decided to help others from their homeland settle in, too.
I spent a fascinating Sept. 11 with the members of the Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly. This group of 49 social service agencies serves older, often immigrant populations. As the name implies, often English was not their first language, and despite trying to embrace it, the new language sometimes is a challenge. Yet they continue to attempt to make it their own. (When I hear from people who lambaste immigrants for not speaking enough English, I often think, "I'd like to see you plopped in a foreign land and left to figure out the language. Then see how easy you think it would be." But I digress.)
Anyway, the group invited me to its annual meeting and dinner, where they were honoring several volunteers. The elderly helping the elderly. (Much to my surprise, when I got there, I realized I was getting an award, too. But I would have found the evening fascinating even without the plaque.)
What I noticed immediately was that I was pretty much in the midst of a mini-United Nations. Beth O'Grady, executive director for the coalition, said about 30 ethnic groups were in the house that night. All together, all getting along.
That spirit of cooperation is something that goes on year-round, O'Grady told me later. Knowing that their shared goal is to help limited-English-speaking elders get the services they might need, the different organizations point potential clients to sister organizations all the time. But back to the event. All around me were people dispelling different notions held by so many in the anti-immigrant crowd.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
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