MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY

RESOURCE CENTER

MCRC noticias

Coming Events

August 2-3: Erie Art Museum Blues and Jazz Festival

August 8-10: St. Paul’s Ital-ian Festival

August 12: Erie Gives Day

August 15—MCRC closed for Staff Picnic

August 22-24: Polish Festival

August 25: First day of school in Erie School District

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Multicultural Community

Resource Center of Erie

Richard Perhacs, Esq., Board President

Joanna Cherpak, Executive Director

MCRC Noticias Editorial Team:

Cathie Whitmire, Section Mgr. - Educ.

Carol Pifer, RSS Elderly Program Manager

Nathan Koble, Marketing Specialist

Pamela Oduho, Staff Contributor

554 East 10th St., Erie, PA 16503

Ph: 814.455.0212 FAX: 814.453.2363

Email: MCRC@multiculturalcrc..org

Powerful Video Shows Challenges, Hopes,

and Dreams of Erie’s Bhutanese Community

Volume 4, Issue 7

July 2014

If you are reading this newsletter

you are likely interested in Erie's

immigrant and refugee popula-

tion, social services, or communi-

ty development in Erie.

You likely know Erie is home to

thousands of Bhutanese refu-

gees working to make new lives

for themselves in the same spirit

as immigrants and refugees of

generations past.

But what is their story? What

was life like in Bhutan? How did

they get to Erie and how are

they working with the communi-

ty?

Trying to unravel such complexi-

ties of geopolitics, history, and

cross-cultural transactions can be

challenging to say the least. However, thanks to the talents of an Edinboro University professor and

his wife (both Korean immigrants), anyone can quickly improve their understanding of some of Erie's

newest residents by watching a superb, well-produced documentary on YouTube titled "MCRC Docu-

mentary Bhutan Refugees." The documentary is eight minutes in length and traces viewers through

the hopes and dreams of Bhutanese through political strife, ethnic cleansing, and great personal loss

to their new lives in Erie.

"We wanted the audience to create an emotional connection with the interviewees to personalize

the challenges, understand the meaning and highlight MCRC’s dedication," said Hanjin Park, a film

production professor at Edinboro University who has won numerous industry awards and helped

produce documentaries for organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Continued on page 3 ...

In photo (left to right) Kula Dhaurali, Heyjin Jun, Hanjin Park, Carol

Pifer and Paul Jericho.

Erie Gives Day August 12

P A G E 2 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 7

Left to right: Sean Stone, General Sales Manager- Porreco Nissan; Lacy Schwab, Part & Service Director- Porreco Nissan; Paul Jericho, MCRC Associate Director; Robert P. Mallon, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Automo-bile Dealers Charitable Foundation; Bryon Kehl, New Car Sales Manager- Por-reco Nissan.

Porreco Nissan Donation Boosts Wellness

Program, Community Knowledge

The Multicultural Community Resource Center was pleased to accept a

manikin generously donated by Porreco Nissan.

The manikin will be of immediate assistance to the agency's Wellness

Center, which provides Erie's immigrant and refugee populations with

specialized care in the form of vital screenings, health education, and

referrals for follow-up care with the goal of improving prevention and

health outcomes. Specifically, the model will be used for CPR training for

the agency's diverse client base.

"Any donation to the Multicultural Community Resource Center has an

immediate impact on the clients it serves and the Erie community as a

whole," said MCRC Executive Director Joanna Cherpak. "This manikin

will be used to educate hundreds of Erie residents including our immi-

grant and refugee populations in 2014 alone with thousands more ben-

efitting in the future. We thank Porreco Nissan for this generous dona-

tion and their commitment to the Erie community."

MCRC/Porreco College

Partnership Bears Early Fruit

This August 12 we ask for your support during Erie Gives Day. By visiting www.ErieGives.org between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. you can make a donation to the agency that will receive a pro-rated match from the Erie Community Founda-tion, GE, Erie Insurance, and Presque Isle Downs and Casino. This is one of the best ways in Erie to make your donation go further to a

cause you believe in.

This year's Erie Gives proceeds will be used to enhance our transportation program, which provides clients with service to MCRC and to other leading social service agencies. Any do-nations during Erie Gives Day will support this

effort..

Last month Noticias announced a partnership with

Porreco College of Edinboro University in its Career

Pathways program. The program assists adult and dis-

located workers to return to careers with family-

sustaining wages, providing support in career decision-

making; job math, reading, and writing; and job search

and readiness training. MCRC is pleased to announce it

had 13 clients who were able to finish the program

successfully and receive certificates. Students reported

they enjoyed the program a great deal and instructor

feedback was positive. The RSS employment depart-

ment continues to work with these clients toward their

employment goals

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 7

With food prices rising and the health of our society on the de-

cline, community gardens have become a way to help subsidize

grocery bills and teach nutrition in the neighborhoods. The MCRC

community garden has been a staple activity for clients and staff

for many years.

For the second year in a row, the participants in the Elder Program

have had the joy of turning the soil, planting and harvesting the

many items that grow. The garden is a place where the elders can

learn about native plants that grow well in Erie weather and work

collaboratively as a team to make decisions about how and where

to plant, when items need harvested and how they will distribute

the produce. However, one of the most important aspects of the

garden is that it gives the elders a chance to use their skills from

their lives as farmers in their home countries to teach us about

some of their plants and ways that they know to plant them. In a

place where they feel like they have so much to learn, the garden

is an area where they have so much to teach.

Every year the garden is planted with tomatoes, peppers, beans,

pumpkins, beets, radishes, zucchini and various kinds of greens.

This year the Elders expanded their crops to include watermelon,

several varieties of squash, corn, bok choy, fava beans and various

other varieties of beans and greens that they brought from their

own gardens. Another addition this year was a 4’ tall garden

fence to help keep the garden safe from rabbits, neighborhood

pets and the occasional soccer ball. This was provided through

the help of a donation from AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania, a

local insurance company that is working to reach out to the com-

munity and promote healthy living among Pennsylvania’s neigh-

borhoods. A ribbon cutting ceremony, with representatives from

AmeriHealth, was held on July 9th

at 10:00 a.m. in the garden.

‘Green Shoots’ in

More Ways Than One

He added of his wife Heyjin Jun, who will continue studies at USC

in the fall and has a distinguished background of service though

art, music, storytelling, and even massage:

"Since Heyjin Jun was 10 years old, her parents took her to differ-

ent voluntary community services to help people who were for-

gotten by the society. As a consequence, before she moves to LA

to start her master’s degree at USC Film school, she wanted to

shoot a short documentary/promotional video for a non-profit

organization to highlight and appreciate their services.”

The video also features perspectives of MCRC Associate Director

Paul Jericho, RSS Elder Program Manager Carol Pifer and employ-

ment counselor Kula Dhaurali.

The Multicultural Community Resource Center invites all to view

the video and contact us with questions.

MCRC extends its sincere thanks and appreciation for the time and

talents of Hanjin Park and Heyjin Jun.

...Video continued from page 1

MCRC Hosts Destination

Erie Workshop in CEC

Monday, June 23 marked the last phase (Phase 3) of the Destina-

tion Erie planning process in which a workshop was held at the

MCRC/CEC sanctuary. Destination Erie is a collaborative effort of

citizens and entities in Erie County to build a vision for the commu-

nity’s future. Community groups that were present June 23 in-

cluded: MCRC, International Institute of Erie, St. Benedict, Asian

Association of Erie, Turk Islamic Group, and the Bhutanese com-

munity. These community organizations were invited to contribute

their inputs so that the voices of the community to which they

serve is heard. The reason for this is of the 2,000 participating resi-

dential inputs from Phase 2, approximately 250 residents were

minorities or New Americans. Thus, phase three allowed an op-

portunity for those groups to share their views. The meeting at

the MCRC/CEC sanctuary highlighted projects and programs that

would integrate Erie’s new residents, refugees, and New Ameri-

cans as part of the community as it gives them the opportunity to

showcase and celebrate their cultures and make them feel wel-

come. As for MCRC, our outlook for contributing is to hopefully

have a safer neighborhood and improvement of Erie’s transporta-

tion system as majority of our students are dependent on it.

Members of the RSS Elder Program work busily in the garden.

The Asian Pacific American Forum, a GE Transportation affini-ty group, conducted a book drive and donated books to the MCRC Child Care Center. MCRC Child Care teachers Cecilia Manus and Nemat Abdelrahman are shown accepting books from representatives of the group.

P A G E 4 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 7

A “Classy” Connection Brenda Savelli, co-host of Erie’s Classy 100 Breakfast Club (WXKC-

99.9 FM), recently contacted MCRC with a request. Her mother, a

retiree living in Florida, volunteers at a senior center, where the

majority of the residents speak only Spanish. Ms. Savelli was look-

ing for materials that she could share with those retirees, to help

them improve their English skills. The staff here was more than

happy to help, providing a variety of books and resources in sup-

port of the program. Even 1000 miles away, MCRC’s mission of

empowering the limited English proficient is plain to see!

On Friday, July 11 the Truancy Prevention Program’s (TPP)

middle school students traveled to WLD Ranch in Girard as

part of the Summer Student Workshop program. Ten stu-

dents and 3 staff members enjoyed an afternoon of fun on

the ropes course at the ranch. While all of the activities were

physical in nature, they also required the students to com-

municate with one another to create a strategy and build

trust among the group. The staff at WLD Ranch did a won-

derful job facilitating and debriefing each activity so that the

students were able to discover the hidden lesson behind

each task.

The Truancy Prevention Program offers services to Latino/

Hispanic, refugee, and immigrant middle school and high

school students who have a negative attitude toward school

or who are frequently tardy or absent. The program offers 8-

week student development workshops throughout the

school year and during the summer. Some other outings

and topics for the summer included a visit to the police sta-

tion, goal setting activities, a tour of the firehouse, a visit at

Emmaus Grove Urban Farm School, and a workshop on

résumés and job interviews. For more information, contact

the TPP office at MCRC 814-455-0212 ext. 341.

Truancy Program Visits Ranch

554 East 10th Street Erie, PA 16503

Phone: 814-455-0212 Fax: 814-453-2363 Web: www.multiculturalcrc.org

MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER

Your Donation

is Appreciated

To make a financial gift to

MCRC, send it to Joanna

Cherpak, Executive Director,

554 East 10th St., Erie, PA

16503 or donate online at

www.multiculturalcrc.org.

MCRC volunteer opportunities exist

for one-time or continuing activities.

Please visit the

Volunteer tab at our Website at

www.multiculturalcrc.org

or look for us on the Erie Chamber of

Commerce site at

www.eriepaconnect.com

To inquire, send an email to

MCRC@multiculturalcrc.org. Be sure

to include your name and phone number

in your message.

Proudly serving the needs of the Hispanic and refugee communities since 1975.

As I tried to decide what the message would be that I would share with everyone this month, I honestly found myself at a loss. Not that I don’t have a myriad of things to

share but I think therein lies the problem… too much to share!

The last month has been so full. Our cover story reflects on the wonderfully done film by Hanjin Park and Heyjin Jun. When I saw it for the first time, it took my breath away. I was in my office with Srdan Ninkovic, Assistant Director and Carol Pifer, RSS Elderly Pro-gram Manager. The three of us viewed it together. At the conclusion of the video, all of three of us were in total awe and speechless. Hanjin asked me if there was anything I wanted to change. My reply was “It’s perfect. I would not change anything.” Later that evening I had my husband view the video. He kept repeatedly watching it while saying “This is incredible.” It is one of those short feel good films we all need to watch now

and again.

The story of Mariam Yehya captured my heart. She is the Sudanese Christian woman sentenced to death in Sudan because of her faith. I started following her story in April when I learned she had been imprisoned because she refused to practice the Muslim faith. I must add here that I know the Muslim faith does not adhere to this kind of treat-ment so it was misrepresented. She was pregnant with her second child and eventually had to give birth to the child while she was in prison. They refused to take the chains off her legs while she delivered her baby so it made for an incredibly difficult childbirth. She was eventually set free and was trying to get to the United States. She was detained because she was told her immigration documents were not order. That got settled and how she is truly free. She arrived in Italy on Thursday, July 24

th and had a wonderful

meeting with Pope Francis. Daniel Wani, her husband (who is an American), her two

children and she will be traveling to the States to make a life here.

In closing I want to reflect on the recent passing of Prem Thapa, the Bhutanese teenage boy who perished in the waters of Lake Erie on Thursday, July 24

th. He was a client of

MCRC and from what I have heard a sweet individual. On Tuesday, July 29th

his funeral was held at Dusckas Martin funeral on Sterrettania Road. I attended with some of my managers. It was a Hindu burial ceremony which I had never been to before. The community actually carries the body to the crematorium and places it in the furnace. Honestly I was not prepared to view that and it was unsettling. But like I told others, we need to step out of our comfort zone as it makes us better people. The boy’s father was in attendance at the funeral in a wheelchair. I kneeled down to give my condolences to him. It was hard not to have a lump in my throat as I watched the tears steam down his

cheeks. I told him, “I have a son, so I know….”

August is now upon us which means school is just around the corner and summer will be winding down. I recall what Fr. Tom Brooks said at my son’s baccalaureate in high school. He said “Tempus Fugit” which is Latin for “Time flies”. Yes it does. Sometimes it

would be nice if we could just fence it in a little while longer.

Have a wonderful rest of the summer!

Genuinely yours,

Joanna R. Cherpak Executive Director

Corner of

10th & Ash

Tempis Fugit