This month we welcome summer, celebrate graduations, and PRIDE month. June is also Immigrant Heritage Month (formerly Refugee Awareness Month) with World Refugee Day taking place on June 20th. We invite you to join us in a La Colectiva de Delaware storytelling campaign to share your immigrant stories with us. We will share these stories on a special page on the La Colectiva website. We are a nation of newcomers and descendants of immigrants, enslaved, and indigenous peoples. My own story includes the migration of my ancestors from Ireland, in response to famine, violence and difficult subsistence living conditions. My ancestors believed that a new story for their families could unfold in these new democratic United States of America. They faced their own trauma and perils on their journeys and arrivals to the US and eventually Delaware. Here they found opportunities to work, make a home, provide for their families, and access education.
Share a paragraph or 30-second video about your story your immigration story here.
Last month I announced that I would be taking a bigger role in coordinating with the LCD network to make progress on some projects we’ve been working on together. I’m happy to share that the ESL Network has been mapping programming in Sussex County and planning and designing gap programming to meet the needs of learners who, for one reason or more, can’t enroll or attend in other options. Our Young Immigrant Families Affinity Group is planning a provider resource fair to support and energize service and program providers working with these families with this networking and referral opportunity. Contact us if you would like to get more involved in these projects!
I’m also happy to share that we have an active group of parent leaders working with our Arsht-Cannon Fellow, Mauricio Salinas; Parent Engagement Affinity Group members, Maydelis Gomez-Samon and Keysly Hernandez; and myself, to plan, give feedback and execute a Hispanic Parent Engagement in Schools Summit in October. A group of educators and advocates have been meeting since January, researching and discussing best practices for parent involvement and engagement, observing existing programming, and now taking feedback and learning from parents. We’re very excited to go through this process and pilot our first Summit in the fall. We couldn’t do this work without the support of our long-time partners and funders, Dr. Christine Cannon of Arsht-Cannon Fund, and the Matthew Haley Trust. Stay tuned for more updates!
Jennifer Fuqua, PhD
Executive Director, La Esperanza
