One to One Learning: Providing Help at the End of a Long Day
In the pre-dawn morning, the traffic light on 9W in Palisades changes its pace from flashing red and yellow, to alternating red, yellow and green, signaling the start of the workaday world. About that time, the first commuter bus and some cars and vans, usually heading south to the City, stop by the side of the road.
Silhouetted-passengers, mostly women, mostly Hispanic and Haitian, exit the vehicles, and walk east and west to the homes of Palisades residents, to assist with the daily work of cleaning, cooking and childcare. A little later, during the spring, summer and fall, men in trucks, also often Hispanic, arrive to provide the labor required for local landscaping. In the winter, many of the same men arrive much earlier, actually throughout the night and day, to shovel the snow from private roads and driveways–that is, if the weather cooperates to allow them some seasonal work
At work day’s end, about eight in the evening, two nights a week, these same men and women, who live throughout Rockland County, as many as three hundred each year, return to their vehicles. Tired but determined, they make their way to the Marydell Center in Upper Nyack to attend English classes provided by One to One Learning.
The work of One to One Learning was started in 1993 by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, and Sr. Cecelia La Pietra, its Executive Director. Living their motto, “Women Making a Difference,” they observed the growth of a concentrated Hispanic population at the Diplomat Gardens on 9W, and with the help of Maria Cartaga, a Thorpe Village resident who had been reaching out to the new immigrants on her own, English language classes were initiated. A few local volunteers, including Judy Platt, a Palisades resident, were there from the beginning.
Now, organized as a not-for-profit corporation, One to One Learning’s stated mission is to “provide English classes and other supportive services to immigrants to empower them to reach their full potential and to lead meaningful lives in the communities in which they live.” Its mission is carried out through the help of approximately 50 volunteer teachers and 10 young volunteer students who assist in the children’s program. Since its inception, One to One Learning has provided services to over 3,600 students on a two day per week schedule. Attending students are divided into as many as 27 learning groups ranging from beginner to pre-GED. Computer classes are given in 12 week sessions, to approximately 100 students offering instruction in basic computer, internet, word processing and key board skills.
One to One Learning needs volunteers and donations. Contact:
One to One Learning, Inc., 640 North Midland Avenue, Upper Nyack, NY 10960
Attention: Sister Cecelia (845-512-8176)
Please visit One to One’s website at: www.one2one-learning.org
David Englander