Helping Link-Một Dấu Nối Programs
Language and Computer Education Classes
This cluster of programs offers multi-level English language classes and bilingual computer training to limited English language learner (ELL) adults and seniors. All classes are based on practical information for daily living and employment for refugees and immigrants and their families. We also provide job-site language classes.
Youth Link Program
This program offers a safe and constructive after-school alternative for children and young people who need assistance with homework and tutoring. The Summer Youth Link Program offers rotational learning in the areas of reading, writing, science, and math, and is accompanied by activities such as field trips, arts and crafts, rooftop herb gardening and cultural education projects.
Information and Referral Services
The Information and Referral Link is the safety net program of our agency. It serves our clients by providing the practical day-to-day bilingual information needed by refugee and immigrant families with limited English language skills or cultural familiarity. It also connects families to community resources and opportunities for greater self-sufficiency.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
This past year we served over 1,150 family members in the immigrant and refugee community with the help of 164 volunteers who contributed over 10,000 hours as language instructors and tutors, computer instructors, IT technicians, and a variety of program support personnel.
We helped to narrow the digital divide faced by low-income, immigrant families through a two year grant from the federal Broadband Technology Opportunity Program of CCN (Communities Connect Network).
Updated Computer Laboratory – We completely modernized our 15-station computer laboratory with needed hardware and software updates, lab furnishings and an array of multi-media equipment. This was made possible through grants from the Boeing Employees Fund and BTOP.
Bilingual Vietnamese-English Computer Manual – This year we produced a new and updated version of the Helping Link computer-training manual in Vietnamese and English which will be distributed nationally.
Current Challenges:
Helping Link - Một Dấu Nối is primarily a volunteer-driven agency which enables us to leverage far more service than our limited budget would allow. Therefore, our primary need is for assistance to sustain the coordination and administration of our core educational programs – those programs that have been most in demand from our community.