BSP Newsletter July 2012 by Building Skills Partnership

Building Skills Partnership News l etter, Jul y 2012

Dear Partner,

Please support BSP's work in training lowwage workers and their families. Take Action:

Strategic partnerships help non-profits do more with less and achieve what they never could on their own. Building Skills Partnership (BSP) has become a key partner for the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) for reaching low-wage immigrants such as janitors whose work schedules make it difficult to attend regularly-scheduled classes. BSP collaborates with building owners, employers and the SEIU union to offer English, computer, citizenship, vocational, health and other basic skills classes to janitors at their union halls or worksites in exact hours they can attend. Now more than ever, lowwage workers need opportunities to upgrade upgrade skills for advancing their careers and supporting their families. Each time a janitor achieves promotion, a job opens up at the bottom for LA's most needy. Though only a few of BSP's partners statewide can be highlighted in this newsletter, all play a vital role in helping BSP brighten the futures of immigrant workers and strengthen California's economy. Chito Cajayon, Ed.D Vice Chancellor for Workforce Development, Los Angeles Community College District

Partnering with Los Angeles City College to Assist Students with Citizenship

Regional Offices Los Angeles 828 W. Wa s hi ngton Bl vd. Los Angel es , CA 90015 (213) 284-7744 Orange County 1200 North Ma i n St. Sui te 900 Sa nta Ana , CA 92701 (714) 245-9700

Citizenship Drive Volunteers and Participants

ext. 1102 San Francisco/East Bay 3411 Ea s t 12th St. Sui te. 200 Oa kl a nd, CA 94601 (510) 437-8116 Silicon Valley 1010 Ruff Dri ve Sa n Jos e, CA 95110 (408) 280-5329

As part of BSP's training partnership with LACCD, a Los Angeles City College instructor teaches Citizenship classes Saturday mornings at BSP's office in downtown Los Angeles. Over 40 immigrant students a year are introduced to United States history and government in addition to strategies needed to successfully pass the citizenship interview. For students needing additional guidance with the naturalization application and process, BSP partnered with Los Angeles City College, CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles), and SEIU-USWW to sponsor a citizenship fair held on Saturday, July 14th. Over 50 BSP participants attended to receive free assistance in filling out the naturalization application and guidance regarding the process. BSP's event was a great success thanks to the help of its partners in bringing four attorneys, four community college instructors, and over 8 volunteers with expertise in the naturalization process to help staff the citizenship fair. Participant Mayra Tovias said, "The naturalization process seemed to be very difficult to me. However, attending the Citizenship fair facilitated the process for me. Now I'm eager to become a citizen and vote."

Volunteer Voice: Maria Fernandez, Replicating Stanford's Student Tutoring Partnership at U.C. Berkeley

Please support BSP's work in training lowwage workers and their families. Take Action:

"Being a tutor, coordinator, and president of the Hab la tutoring program for janitors at Stanford was the most meaningful and life-changing experience I had as an undergraduate at Stanford. My time both coordinating the program and working with Miriam, my tutee, has changed how I see and understand social and health inequities, which ultimately led me to the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. When I came to Berkeley, I saw that there was no ESL program for the subcontracted night janitors. I became inspired to work again with BSP and the janitors and to recruit new student leaders and supporters, such as UC Berkeley's Center for Health Leadership, to help to create a Vocational ESL, Life Skills ESL and Citizenship program modeled after Hab la. I am incredibly moved by the commitment of both the student volunteers

and the workers to the newly established PUENTE program, which meets on Monday and Wednesday nights from 10-11p.m., in the hour before the workers' graveyard shift begins. I am now thrilled to hear that BSP is providing educational and tutoring opportunities at St. Mary's College in Moraga. BSP is partnering with the College's janitorial contractor and the CILSA (Catholic Institute for Lasallian Social Action). Through these unique partnerships, BSP forever improves the lives not only of janitors, but of the college students further privileged by the chance to tutor them."

Training more through Community College & Adult School Partnerships

Please support BSP's work in training lowwage workers and their families.

Juniper Class w ith Sunnyvale-Cupertino Adult School

Take Action:

As BSP has expanded statewide, partnerships with adult schools and community colleges have helped it keep up with increased demands for its ADVANCE Workplace English & Job skills program. In May, the SunnyvaleCupertino Adult School started providing in-kind Vocational ESL instruction to janitors at Juniper Networks and will also provide a free CPR class and possibly a citizenship class at BSP's San Jose office. Nearby, the Palo Alto Adult School has helped BSP provide more consistent training, coaching and curriculum for tutors at the fore-mentioned Habla by sending an ESL instructor to Stanford four times a week. Sandwiched between Sunnyvale and Palo Alto, the Mountain View Adult School will soon provide an instructor for BSP ADVANCE classes at either Microsoft or Intuit, depending on the timing. Grant support from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation has enabled BSP to outreach separately to each of local adult school to develop win-win partnerships. And through BSP's capacity to set up classes at janitors' worksites and mostly on paid-time, adult schools and community colleges gain access to the hardest to reach low-wage immigrant workers. Yet the most important beneficiaries are the additional 200 more janitors in BSP training statewide thanks to adult school and community college instructors. Maria Nerey, a participant in BSP's classes at Juniper with Sunnyvale-Cupertino Adult School, says "navigating life in the United States without English is a challenge. Even the bills and other mail that arrive to my house, I often don't understand. After the classes at Juniper end, I would like to continue improving my English in adult school classes. With more English, I might have the opportunity to change to the day shift."