When Claire Sheahin walked into the People’s Resource Center to explore volunteer opportunities, she didn’t expect to become a literacy tutor. But when she found that was what the group needed most, she decided to give it a try.
“I was a little hesitant because I thought, `Oh, wow, I’ve never done anything like this.’ But then I thought, `What do I have to lose?’ “
She went to two training sessions and was matched with Wheaton resident Alicia Minaya of Ancash, Peru, who has been living in the United States since she married eight years ago. Sheahin has been meeting Minaya at the Wheaton center or at an area restaurant once a week for the last year to work on her English.
“It’s been a learning experience for me too,” Sheahin said.
She relied heavily on workbooks that she got through the Resource Center and also added to the lessons herself. A teacher might have found it even easier, but you don’t have to be a professional teacher to tutor English, Sheahin said.
Minaya heard about the literacy program from a friend who works at the center. She wanted to improve her English so she could help her 7-year-old son, Edward, with his schoolwork, better understand her physician and possibly return to work as a nurse. She was a nurse in Peru, so in some of the tutoring sessions, she and Sheahin concentrate on identifying body parts in English.
“Sheahin and her student are very committed to their work,” said Geri Jender, literacy director.
Most of the literacy students have low-paying jobs, and when they lose their transportation or change jobs, they are forced to give up their tutoring sessions, Jender said.
When Minaya began, she rode with another tutor. When that ride fell through, Sheahin stepped in and now regularly drives Minaya to their 45-minute sessions.
Early in the tutoring, they met at the center and used the workbooks to practice basic English phrases. Then Sheahin had Jender ask Minaya in Spanish what else she wanted to practice, and she said she wanted everyday conversation skills.
The tutoring sessions then moved sometimes to a restaurant, where Minaya could practice ordering breakfast in English, and to the library, where Sheahin showed her books for learning English.
The visits gave them the opportunity to do more talking than they normally do in a lesson.
Although Sheahin has called on Jender to speak to Minaya in Spanish a few times, they usually speak in English. Sheahin points to objects and gestures to get her point across. She knows in a glance if Minaya understood.
“I can tell by her facial expressions if she is getting something or not getting it. And that’s important when you’re trying to get something across,” Sheahin said.
Some words and phrases that English-speaking people take for granted can be confusing to those who speak a different language. Sheahin recalled one time when she asked Minaya what time her son leaves for school in the morning. Minaya had trouble understanding what Sheahin was asking.
Later in Sheahin’s car, Minaya pointed to a tree and said, “Leaves?” That’s when Sheahin realized the source of the confusion.
“Yes, that’s leaves too,” she said, “but that’s different.”
They laugh over mix-ups like that, but the moments Sheahin truly enjoys are those when things click for Minaya, when it’s clear that she has learned something.
“It’s rewarding to make a difference, even if it’s small,” Sheahin said.
The center, 1506 E. Roosevelt Rd., Wheaton, was founded in 1975 and serves about 35,000 people a year in DuPage County. Among other services, the center provides computer classes, free dental clinic, pantry and a car-donation program. About 30 percent of the 400 volunteers first came there to seek help.
The literacy program started about a year ago. About 15 of the volunteers work with 21 adults. In addition, about 70 families are enrolled in a family literacy program where children have activities and lessons while their parents are nearby in English classes. The family program is a partnership with the College of DuPage, West Chicago Head Start and the West Chicago Public Library.
Mary Ellen Durbin, executive director of the center, said the literacy program is particularly important.
“Literacy is the basic step to any opportunity our families could have,” she said.
Before becoming a literacy volunteer, Sheahin said, she didn’t think much about the obstacles people have when they don’t know the local language.
Jender is quick to credit the work that Sheahin is doing.
“Claire is not the type to toot her own horn,” Jender said. “She just wants to do the right thing.”
Sheahin was born and raised on Chicago’s West Side. She graduated from the now-defunct Siena High School in 1963 and received an associate’s degree in occupational therapy from the College of DuPage in 1990. She has been married for 30 years to John, an attorney, and does office work for him. They have lived in Wheaton for 26 years and have three grown children.
Sheahin first heard of the center through her church, St. Michael Church in Wheaton. Through the church she helped with the resource center’s adopt-a-family program, which provides food and clothing certificates to a family in need for about a year.
Although she wasn’t sure she was suited to be a literacy tutor, now that she has been doing it for a year, she will continue for as long as she has the time.
“I think if people tried (tutoring), they would enjoy it,” she said. “There’s a need, and I think it’s just worthwhile to try it out.”
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For more information on the People’s Resource Center, call 630-682-3844.
