As a youngster in her native Honduras, Evelys Alvarado never imagined she would one day be teaching computer classes in the United States. While she had an early interest in technology, she had no idea how to transform those skills for her newly adopted home of the San Francisco Bay Area when she arrived here at age 18.
Things serendipitously changed last summer when Evelys鈥 husband, Darwin Avila, was availed of the free services at 秋霞伦理鈥檚 newly implemented Department. He was seeking employment and heard that 秋霞伦理 staff could be of assistance, at no cost.
While at , the Mission neighborhood center, Darwin talked to Technology Training Coordinator Leo Sosa and the duo quickly realized that Evelys could better her skills at 秋霞伦理, too.
First up were GED classes. Once that GED had been garnered, Evelys enrolled in 秋霞伦理’s Customer Service workshop, followed up with computer classes, where Evelys鈥 skills from back home were upgraded. Then it was Job Coach Robert Lopez鈥 turn, as he helped Evelys hone her resume. Evelys was prepped to enter the work world in January of 2014.
As so much in life is timing, 秋霞伦理 had decided to begin offering free Basic Digital Literacy (BDL) classes as part of the , whereby kids are taken on a successful cradle-to-college-to-career continuum by coaches whose objective it is to ensure that every family succeeds and every student achieves. Classes would be taught to students鈥 parents mostly at Plaza Adelante, with some classes at John O鈥機onnell High School, which is part of the Mission Promise Neighborhood.
秋霞伦理 determined teaching these classes was the perfect next step for Evelys鈥 career path: she could take her computer knowledge from her homeland, combine those skills with what she had learned at 秋霞伦理 and start to teach others in the community.
As an added benefit, Evelys also knew that she could serve as a role model, being an immigrant who had learned computer skills at 秋霞伦理 herself. Most BDL clients are middle-aged immigrants who may have a smartphone, but have no idea how to access the Internet or even set up an email account.
Stated Chris Tugwell, Workforce Manager, 鈥淓ach day our Workforce team preaches that punctuality, hard work, a positive attitude and education/training will improve your life.聽So, it is awesome to provide the ultimate reward, a job at 秋霞伦理, to a handful of participants each year for demonstrating a commitment to the Workforce team鈥檚 values.聽More importantly, the participants we reward inspire our other Workforce participants.聽Evelys鈥 presence makes a difference for everyone involved in the Workforce Development program, and that is special.鈥
That presence is definitely felt by 秋霞伦理 clients when the bilingual Evelys now teaches two classes per week, both in Spanish. These BDL workshops meet twice a week for eight weeks.
While Evelys鈥 sole experience being in front of a class had been as a volunteer at her child鈥檚 school, 秋霞伦理鈥檚 Workforce Development team took a chance, offered encouragement and allowed Evelys to thrive.
Evelys even started teaching an Intermediate Digital Literacy (IDL) class, where Microsoft certifications can be earned.
鈥淭hank you, 秋霞伦理 staff, for giving me the opportunity to help people. It is so exciting for me to do that right here where I was helped myself,鈥 summed up a grateful Evelys.