St. Francis Hispanic Ministries
After School Program

Try to picture yourself back in elementary school. You are learning how to read, how to add and subtract, and about how the world works. However, despite how hard you are listening, or how intent you are on learning the material you cannot understand your teacher. It is not a learning difficulty or barrier that is standing in the way of your education - it is your native language. In 2004, St. Francis Episcopal Church started a Hispanic ministries program to reach out to members of this population; a population, which, is rapidly growing in our area. Though this population is growing extensively, the resources offered are slim. Further, such resources are not readily accessible to those who most need it.

St. Francis Hispanic Ministry Center began to offer services to help this growing population.  Services such as: workshop services in Spanish, ESL classes for adults, access to a food pantry, parenting classes, and many others. The outreach program met with much success; as a branch of this success, an after school program was launched for 55 children of low-income Hispanic families. This after school program provides homework assistance, tutoring, sports, and educational games for the students. Additionally, the after school program helps the parents of the students with educational assistance.

Christ Church has been instrumental in the success of the after school program at St. Francis, but there is a lot more that still needs to be done! St. Francis is in need of 2 to 4 volunteers each day to help with the operations of the after school program. They need people who can tutor in math and reading, help children with homework and just play with the children. Volunteers do not need to be bilingual; the children speak English. The after school program runs from 2:30-6:00 on school days. A commitment of even 1 hour a week can make a dramatic difference in the lives of these children!

St. Francis also needs volunteers who will commit 2-3 hours per month to help with special events. On the last Friday of each month, St. Francis has a birthday party for the children and volunteers are always needed to assist with the party.

One area in need of assistance is parent education. As the children are being raised in a different culture than their parents, the parents need to assimilate into the culture as well. There is often a language barrier which prevents the parents from contributing to their children’s educational and academic development. St. Francis hopes to extend the after school program to include even more services for the parents of the children it serves.
If you have any interest in volunteering at St. Francis, you may contact the Mission and Outreach Ministry Connectors, Joan and Bob LeClerc at 801-8134 or the Agency Advocate Bonnie Pearce @ 627-4222.