The Spanish Community Center (SCC) opened its doors in 1969 to help “improve the quality of life for Latinos, immigrants and low income people through educational and social services.” The Center offers programs such as bilingual daycare, a food pantry, English language classes, citizenship classes, housing counseling, immigration services, social services, and a youth baseball/ softball league. While Lewis has worked with the SCC in a variety of ways in recent years, this fall has brought about a significant increase in collaboration between the Center and the University. This fall, three different Lewis faculty members have been engaging students with the SCC through their democracy initiative, which is focused on voter registration, including: • Dr. Jennifer Tello Buntin’s Diversity and Social Justice class (Sociology) – students are engaging in phone banking • Dr. Jim Burke’s Christian Social Teaching and Foundations of Peace Studies classes (Theology) – students are engaging in phone banking • Tracy Hemmingway’s Community News and Information class (Communication) – students are offering news coverage of the election and the work of their peers at the SCC In addition to this exciting initiative, Rocio Rodriguez’s Spanish for Heritage Speakers class and the English Language Learning program in Education, led by Dr. Joanna Maravilla-Cano, are also exploring engaging Lewis students with the SCC. Through these collaborations, students may assist in English language courses or U.S. citizenship courses with adult students for whom English is not their first language. Finally, beginning this fall, students in Social Work are serving as interns at the SCC through their Family Advocacy Center (FAC). Focused on supporting parents to preserve or reunite their families, the FAC will engage Lewis students in directly learning about how to offer high quality services that help families to grow stronger.
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