Some of the people in the room get paid to watch other people’s kids, while their own children are supervised by a stranger. Some pay state and federal taxes, yet they will never qualify for unemployment benefits or Social Security.
They are people some Americans say shouldn’t be here.
But these immigrants press on, playing a critical role in the nation’s invisible economy as they work at jobs that frequently offer no health-care benefits and require 60-hour workweeks to ensure a livable wage.
On this day, 30 of them are gathered at the McCormick-Tribune YMCA on Chicago’s Northwest Side for something that has proved effective at helping new immigrants escape life in Chicago’s economic shadows: learning to read, write and speak English.
“I came here to fulfill a dream,” said Doribeth Rodriguez, a new immigrant from Mexico who is enrolled in an English as a Second Language class sponsored by the Greater Northwest Chicago Development Corporation.
“I want greater opportunities out of life,” said Rodriguez, 28, a laborer in a small Chicago factory. “If you can’t speak English, a good part of the world is closed off to you. I don’t want to live like that.”
James Lemonides, the development corporation’s chief executive officer, said his non-profit group has sponsored English classes like this one for nearly a decade. The courses, attended mostly by Spanish-speaking immigrants, have helped thousands learn the basic communication skills needed to find and retain good jobs.
“The classes make a big difference,” Lemonides said. “This is a skill they need to start down the road to economic advancement.”
The development corporation generates most of its income from government and foundation grants. Among its sources of support is Chicago Tribune Holiday Giving, a campaign of Chicago Tribune Charities, a McCormick Tribune Foundation fund.
The corporation was founded in 1977 in response to what its leaders call “the malaise of urban disinvestment, job loss and neighborhood decline.” In addition to offering classes in English, it promotes economic development on the Northwest Side, offers job training and helps small businesses obtain funding.
In over 28 years, the group says it has helped create or retain nearly 4,000 jobs in its service area, leveraged more than $11 for every dollar it’s invested and served more than 300 local businesses per year.
“But we also make a big difference in people’s lives by something so simple as teaching them to speak English,” Lemonides said.
Miriam Soto, who oversees the group’s language classes, said most of the participants are from Mexico. Many have paid smugglers upwards of $2,000 for help crossing the border before making their way to Chicago.
“They’ve been through some very difficult circumstances,” Soto said. “For a lot of them, they are just happy to be here and have jobs. But they also understand you need to be proficient in English to advance.”
Soto said the classes have helped improve the lives of thousands of new immigrants in recent years. It’s helped many get pay raises, negotiate salaries and open doors to more opportunities.
“Before they couldn’t communicate with their employers. After this language training, you see those lines of communication start to improve,” Soto said. “Starting that line of communication between employee and employer helps everyone.”
Jazmin Garcia said she arrived from Mexico four months ago and struggled to pick up bits of English in the workplace before enrolling in the corporation class a few weeks ago. She’s known several people who wanted to do the same thing over the years–friends who never were able to find enough free time.
“You have to think they hurt their own job prospects,” Garcia, 19, said before class.
Right now, she has a job that pays her cash under the table. There are no benefits like health or dental coverage. There are no paid sick days either.
“I’m fortunate to have this job,” Garcia said. “But no one wants to work at a job where you are unappreciated. I think learning to speak English will help me.”
———-
rquintanilla@tribune.com
