APRI-Maine Launches English Language Tutoring Program

PHOTO: Ina Demers and Garrett Stewart of APRI Maine.

APRI-Maine is creating a pair of programs to help immigrants and people of color in the workplace. The AFL-CIO constituency group is in the process of setting up a mentorship program where union members of color can connect with other union members who can offer guidance on how to deal with issues like racism and discrimination in the workplace.

“I have my uncle, Michael Calvin, who was on a phone company for 30 years. So when I had a problem with racism or other issues I would go to him for advice,” said APRI-Maine President Garrett Stewart. “We want to help pair up union members of color with other mentors who can help them with any issues that arise in the workplace.”

APRI-Maine has lined up several volunteers who have agreed to mentor other union members of color, including a young nurse at Maine Medical Center. In addition, APRI-Maine has started a program to tutor immigrant workers in English to help them become more proficient for the workforce. The group came up with the idea because there are such long waiting lists for Portland Adult Ed English language programs.

APRI member Ina Demers, who is an English language instructor and Maine Education Association member, proposed the idea after running a similar program for many years in Portland. After offering her services to pre-apprentices enrolled in the Maine AFL-CIO’s Union Construction Academy, Demers began teaching English to a pre-apprentice from Angola for two hours, five days a week at a Panera Bread. UCA gave Demers a 12-page list of construction vocabulary to prepare the man for a union job.

“This Angolan man was reading through the list and you know, I try not to correct too much so that he can have some confidence and all that,” said Demers.

During the ICE surge in January, her student was afraid to leave his home, so Demers taught him online. Since then, the Bayside Neighborhood Association helped APRI secure a space to teach students at a housing complex in Portland. Stewart also began helping out with the English conversation class to share some of the workload. They have also brought in some additional volunteer tutors, including a retired nurse, a carpenter and a retired accountant from the Czech Republic. In addition to the Angolan student, they also tutor workers from Somalia and Iraq. The sessions are generally informal and focus on conversational English. Volunteers bring tea and snacks to each meeting.

“I am just so proud of being a part of it. It's very rewarding to help these people out,” said Stewart. “Ina has been doing a phenomenal job and done some remarkable things.”