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Volume 3, Issue 1
January, 2013
MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY
RESOURCE CENTER
Teacher, Mentor Extends “The Helping Hand”
MCRC noticias
Coming Events
Every Wednesday 6 to 7pm –coupon exchange – Horan Apts
Every Monday & Wednesday 5 to 6:30pm – Karate – CEC
Nepali Parenting Edu – Fridays 10-12
Feb 2—Hypertension Ed. 12-1
Feb 9—Diabetes Ed. 12-1
Feb 16—Pharmacy & Prescription Ed. 12-1
Feb 18 – MCRC closed
Feb 19,20,21 ESL new student orientation
o
Imad Diab is a man devoted to helping others with great
needs.
A native of Baghdad, Iraq, Imad arrived in
the U.S. in 2008. He says, ”My family and I
came to the U.S. to live in freedom and to
enjoy respect as human beings. Since 2003,
all of us everywhere have been living in a
very critical and sad time. The worst is to
feel you are not safe; and in Iraq, every day
we lived with that feeling.”
With degrees in Petroleum and Chemical
Engineering, Imad worked in the Iraqi oil
fields for twenty years. Then in 2003, he
began studies at Cambridge University in
England and completed a degree in foreign
languages.
Since arriving in the U.S., Imad has worked
as a Case Manager and Life Skills instructor
at MCRC and has joined the adjunct faculty
at Mercyhurst University to teach Middle
Eastern Culture and Arabic language. He may be expanding his
faculty assignment to teach
French as well.
While he has had opportunities to return to a lucrative
engineering career in the Mexican Gulf
oil fields for a U.S. company, Imad has chosen to remain in Erie
to be close to his family. He
says it is better to be close and happy with family than to be
separated and unhappy with mon-
ey. In addition, he holds great value in being able to help and
support other newcomers to the
U.S. through his teaching and case management duties.
“Teaching in America has provided many opportunities to help and
support others as they ad-
just to American life,” he says, “In my native culture, our Holy
Koran teaches us that to give is
better than to take.” Then, illustrating with his hands, Imad
emphasized that his philosophy is
that the high hand is to give: the low hand, to take. “When
others have greater needs,” he
says, “they reach to the helping hand (the high hand) that
reaches out to them.”
This is what Imad Diab has found to be most satisfying. In his
work at MCRC, at Mercyhurst, and
in his personal involvements, he freely gives the helping hand
and encouraging voice. “I teach
mercyhurst students as well as newcomers to America not to wait
for opportunity, but to look
for it, strive for it, and be positive,” he says. Cont’d
Multicultural Community
Resource Center of Erie
James Globa, Board President
Joel Tuzynski,, Executive Director
MCRC Noticias Editorial Team:
Joanna Cherpak, Assoc. Dir. - Operations
Allan Turner, PhD, Assoc. Dir. - Programs
Trish Lawrence, Section Mgr.- CEC
Al Richards, Editor
554 East 10th St., Erie, PA 16503
Ph: 814.455.0212 FAX: 814.453.2363
Email: [email protected]
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P A G E 2 M C R C N O T I C I A S
Teacher, Mentor . . .Cont’d from page 1 . . .
“My wife Aliaa has a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and when
she completes her current university studies, she will be licensed
as
a clinical mental health counselor. My son, Moustafa attends
Jefferson elementary school. It is important that he be bilingual
so
that he will be able to help other new American children
remember to keep their native culture and language as they continue
to
live here. This second page of our lives, will tell how we have
been able to help others.“
Reflecting about cultural, social, and political differences
throughout the world, Imad emphasizes how important it is for all
of us to
find ways to seek tolerance and appreciate our differences. “We
must learn to appreciate each other and support each other. And
it must start with each individual person,” he says. “If you
drop a small stone into a pool of water, it stirs the water, it
changes the
water around it by sending out ripples of its influence. The
same can be true for each individual. If you know where you live
and
respect the place you live in, you will not have problems. You
draw respect from others by the way you behave and the morals
you keep.”
‘You know,” says Imad, ‘cultural basics are the same for
everyone. We love, we laugh, we eat, we sometimes don’t get along
with
the in-laws. It’s the same everywhere —even banks are the
same.”
MCRC has recently had the opportunity to work with over 12
refugees from Bhutan who all suffer from various hear-ing
disorders. In response to the unique challenges this group
presents, MCRC has begun offering a class on Ameri-can Sign
Language. This program is housed in the Cultural Enrichment Center
and runs every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Through the help of
two volunteers, Karen Penna and Rita Belousov, MCRC has
successfully recruited a number of individuals from the local deaf
and hearing impaired community of Erie to help. Today we are happy
to
announce this program is facilitated 100% through the support of
these individuals. Because of their hard work and dedication, our
hearing impaired clients are beginning to learn how to communicate
in their new community and
develop relationships that will last a life time.
Hearing Impaired Clients Learn American Sign Language
MCRC extends deepest thanks to Erie Insurance Exchange for the
generous financial gift in the amount of $5,000 during our
Holiday Appeal. The funds will go toward purchasing supplies for
the Health and Wellness Center. Our after school program
children created a Thank You banner to present to The Erie.
Erie Insurance Supports Community Wellness Initiative
at Multicultural Center
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P A G E 3 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 1
The Latino Services Department at MCRC is still active despite
the challenges that we have faced with the decrease in program
funding over the past few years. Our staff are here to assist the
Hispanic community in various ways. We offer programs in Aging Case
Management, Drug and Alcohol Support Services, Latino Student
Support (East High School), and Truancy Prevention. The Aging Case
Management program provides specific services to the Latino senior
population aged 60 years and older. As the senior population
continues to grow, due to the baby- boomer era, so does their need
for assistance. Case managers, Isela Abreu-Arce and Jennifer
Torres-Del Valle will continue to expand this program to provide
the services needed for our clients. MCRC’s Drug and Alcohol
program assists Spanish-speaking individuals and their families who
have or are attempting to over-come drug or alcohol related
problems. We are currently assisting those clients with case
management services and referrals to other agencies. We have drug
and alcohol program group meetings for Spanish speakers every
Friday at 1:00 pm; the meetings are open to individuals and family
members who might like to attend. The Prevention Specialist is
Sarita Bonifacio. The Latino Student Support program is located at
East High School where we have a school-based Spanish-speaking
coordinator to help the Latino student’s attending 9
th-12
th grade and their parents. In this role, Karlina Vargas is the
liaison between the par-
ents and teachers. She makes sure that students are assisted and
that they are meeting their requirements for graduation. The staff
at MCRC held a Career Development Fair on January 18, 2013 for the
Latino High School students in grades 9 to 12. In time, we will
develop more activities to help support our students. The Truancy
Prevention program is a new program at MCRC. This program reaches
out to the Latino families with children who are at risk for
truancy in the Erie School District. We have two Case Managers that
are bilingual in Spanish/English. Edwin Hernan-dez and Karlina
Vargas are working with the students, families, and the schools by
providing interventions designed to help pre-vent truancy. We will
continue to look for funding to assist our youth in becoming
community leaders and successful individuals in our community. The
Center has opened a wellness clinic to provide screenings,
activities and education regarding health and healthy living. We
will produce and sponsor coming events in Spanish to assist our
Spanish speaking clients. Many of our Latino clients have numer-ous
health-related problems and take a lot of medication. Our goal is
to provide education and activities that lead to a health and
well-being. The Free Erie Taxes are being offered at the John E.
Horan Garden Apartments’ Learning Center at 730 Tacoma Road. Eddie
Ocasio will be assisting the Spanish-speaking residents of the City
of Erie Housing Authority with their taxes. Eddie is also our
Em-ployment Specialist and helps the Latino residents prepare
resumes, and find employment. In January, annual Rent Rebate
booklets will be mailed out. Latino Services will continue to
provide the services to help complete the forms for a small fee of
$5.00. We will select certain days of the week to provide help to
complete these forms, by appointment only. MCRC is delighted to
continue to serve the Latino Community. We have new staff on board
and are dedicated to make a differ-ence in helping the Hispanic
population. We will continue to search for new funding and develop
new programs to assist the needs of our clients. Our goal is to
improve the quality of service and our professionalism within our
agency for the community.
Latino Services Thrive Despite Funding Challenges
The Multicultural Community Resource Center organized and hosted
a Career Development Fair on January 18, 2013 for the Latino and
Refugee High School students (9
th
-12Th
grades). Participants at this event were representa-tives from
several institutions such as LECOM, Edinboro
University, Penn State/Behrend, U.S. Armed Forces, and Fortis
Institute to provide information regarding their pro-grams. Our
agency serves the Latino, immigrant, and refu-gee populations, and
this is our first event devoted to edu-cating and informing the
youth of these communities about meaningful options available to
them after high
school.
MCRC’s Latino Services Hosts
HS Student Career Fair
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554 East 10th Street Erie, PA 16503
Phone: 814-455-0212 Fax: 814-453-2363 Web:
www.multiculturalcrc.org
MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER
Proudly serving the needs of the Hispanic and refugee
communities since 1975.
Your Donation
is Appreciated
To make a financial gift to MCRC,
send it to Joanna Cherpak, Assoc,
Director, 554 East 10th St., Erie, PA
16503 or donate online at
www.multiculturalcrc.org.
MCRC is a 501 ( c)(3) charity and all
donations are tax deductible.
Save the Date . . . April 20, 2013
MCRC Roll for Diversity Bowling Tournament.
Start recruiting your team today!
mailto:www.multiculturalcrc.org