Nonprofit works to support English learners during COVID pandemic
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The number of students learning the English language in Indiana is growing and schools are feeling the impact.
This week, News 8’s Camila Fernandez is taking a deep dive into dual-language education and how some schools in Indianapolis are meeting their students’ cultural and linguistic needs.
Across Indiana, there are nearly 78,000 students called English learners who receive lessons in both English and Spanish. The number of English learners in Indiana schools has increased by almost 27,000 from six years ago.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — For some students who are learning English, the pandemic hit them especially hard.
The pandemic disproportionately impacted Hispanic communities, so the group came up with new ways to help the students get access to resources.
“Our mission has been more than anything to teach advocacy for parents in the community to learn how to advocate for their kids’ education,” the bilingual community organizer at Stand for Children, Carolina Figueroa, said.
To help English language learners students survive the pandemic, the nonprofit, Stand for Children, turned to mothers like Irma Perdomo that work to fight for equity in the immigrant community.
Perdomo says some families aren’t able to communicate in English, which makes it harder for them to get the help they desperately need.
“At some point, an entire family was infected with COVID. They had no family. They had just moved here. I mean, these are things that really hurt you because there are children in the home,” Perdomo said.
“Some of the problems that were really identified even more during the pandemic was basic information like where to find resources, how to obtain the homework packages when everybody had to go to school virtually all of a sudden,” Figueroa said.
The group shares information online in Spanish on how to get essential items like diapers, where to find food drives, and other resources.
“For example, if there’s a mom that knows here at the parking lot of the school they’re going to be giving away food at such hours, then one of us will post it,” Perdomo said.
The organization’s bilingual community organizer, Carolina Figueroa, says she’s working to help community leaders like Perdoma by providing them with tools that will amplify their voices for years to come.
“There’s no way that we would be able to make the impact that we do without our fellows and parent leaders. They are the heart of our work,” Figueroa said.
Perdomo says they also connect the families with organizations like La Plaza that provide services for Latino families.