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A spirit that is not afraid

Esperanza House brings tutoring program to the area

<p>A student in the Esperanza program studies at the Auburn Public Library on Tuesday, March 20, 2018.</p>

A student in the Esperanza program studies at the Auburn Public Library on Tuesday, March 20, 2018.

In September, Esperanza House partnered with Opelika City Schools to bring a sister tutoring program to the area for Hispanic children and families. 

Esperanza House was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit organization to serve Hispanic children and families in the Auburn community. 

Executive Director Odalys Silvera is encouraging college students in any major to apply as volunteers to accommodate the growing number of students in the program. 

Their main purpose is to promote education for the children through after-school tutoring. They also offer Bible studies, advocate for Hispanic families and provide children with different opportunities and resources based on their attendance to tutoring.

Silvera said she believes getting students involved with tutoring is highly important.

“We want to instill the love of study, of education, and instill in them that yes, they can study and yes, they can go to college,” she said.  

Silvera also said she believes having college can inspire the students to think beyond high school. 

As a volunteer, Silvera said she wants people who enjoy working with children and don’t mind building relationships with them that extend even outside the tutoring sessions. 

“You do not have to speak Spanish to come here," she said. "The kids speak English. So our volunteers, you know [have] to have a love for the children to commit to come because usually our volunteers also create a relationship with the kids where they might go to the movies or they can go to the bowling."

The expansion of the program isn’t the only reason Esperanza House needs volunteers. COVID-19 also played a role.

When the program returned to in-person tutoring in fall 2020, they started meeting Monday-Thursdays to split up the number of children at each session. In the past, they operated on Tuesday and Thursday each week. However, they are still operating on a four-day schedule.

This adjustment created an issue with the ability of the volunteers to come every night, which makes it hard to accomplish the program’s goal of students getting one of one time each night. 

“Right now we have like 50 volunteers," Silvera said. "So ideally, we sometimes, we have Monday through Thursday. So, let's say on Monday, I have a full house of volunteers, but then on Tuesday, I only have three volunteers. So that's the reason that we are desperate for volunteers.”

Susanna Allred, junior in psychology, has volunteered at Esperanza House since her freshman year. She said getting people to volunteer has also been a challenge during the pandemic. 

“We did lose a lot of volunteers because like the comfort levels were different with Corona especially like fall 2020 obviously was a hard time for people and not everyone is comfortable coming in, which is completely understandable,” she said. “And even now, it's just kind of harder to get people who want to come like consistently every week, and we have a good group of people who do, but we are always trying to grow that network.”

Allred encourages her peers to give volunteering a chance. She said there is something for everyone at Esperanza House such as different age groups to tutor or other positions like food distribution for those who may not enjoy working with kids. 

Volunteer applications are available on their website. Additionally, Esperanza House has an internship program for students who need to complete their hours. 

“Every time I go like I might show up really tired on Tuesday and by the end, I just feel so filled up because the joy that these kids bring is so encouraging,” Allred said.

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Kelis McGhee | Community Writer

Kelis McGhee, junior in journalism, is a community writer for The Auburn Plainsman.


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