April 2020
MCOP CONTINUES TO SERVE
in the midst of the crisis
Names have been changed to protect privacy.
Our volunteer English language tutors Melissa Weier, Kathy Chase and Pastor Nick McElrath, among many others, continue to share lessons with their learners via Skype, Zoom, Text and other ingenious methods. Whatever works! Contact Kathy Chase, our tutoring coordinator, for ideas as to how you can stay in touch with your students contact Kathy Chase at kchase9er@gmail.com or 608-732-2512.
Our bilingual MCOP Help Line is constantly fielding calls from struggling families who need help with finding food, medical assistance, translations, interface with doctor’s offices, rent concerns, immigration fears, transportation needs and many other issues. For assistance, call or text us at 608-642-1753.
Teachers at the Iowa-Grant Schools have reached out to MCOP “Founding Mother” Martha Boyer who is now virtually helping some of the immigrant children with their on-line homework.
Despite social distancing, volunteer Mary Michal continues to be in the process of helping “Luisa” and her 8-year-old daughter “Marisol” find desperately needed legal help for their asylum case. “Luisa” and “Marisol” were forced to escape threats and violence in El Salvador, where they were badly beaten. They walked across Mexico, arriving in Texas to seek asylum. MCOP is also helping Luisa obtain food and other basic necessities and coordinating with Marisol’s school.
“Alicia,” who is 9 months pregnant, was told by her landlord that she and her family would be evicted in two weeks. Our MCOP staff contacted the landlord to point out the Governor’s orders prohibits evictions at this time. The eviction order was rescinded.
“Gabriela” needed a ride to an urgent medical appointment. MCOP was able to make the arrangements, despite the dearth of available volunteers.
“Jose” was one of a number of people who were concerned about being stopped while driving to the farm where he continues to milk cows. MCOP was able to provide information establishing that he is an “essential worker” and needs to drive to get to his work, alleviating his fears and clarifying the situation with local law enforcement.
Our MCOP Facebook page continually alerts our Hispanic community as to where to obtain food and urgent medical attention. Information is also being provided regarding safety measures and other issues of immediate concern. We also send text alerts to members of the community when new information becomes available. To add your name to our text messaging alert system, CALL OR TEXT 608-642-1753.
Another of our founding mothers, Kathy Warpinski, recognized the importance of encouraging our Hispanic families to fill out the Census 2020 forms so that SW Wisconsin will be fairly treated
with federal funding in the coming years. She posted the information in Spanish on our Facebook page. Any of our Spanish speaking friends who need assistance with filling out the Census may contact:
Kathy Warpinski at kashkaj46@gmail.com
Martha Boyer at marta@gmail.com or
call us at 608-642-1753.
A special thanks to Wally Orzechowski and his entire staff at SWCAP, our parent organization, who are working tirelessly to help the MultiCultural Outreach Program (MCOP) continue to serve our local immigrant community in these difficult times. For more information, check out our Facebook page at Multicultural Outreach Program and our website at www.mcopwi.org