ACLAMO's First Health Fair in Norristown  

Four inches of snow and frigid weather did not discourage members of the local Latino community from attending ACLAMO Family Center's first free Health Fair in Norristown.

Front and center during the event was the Fox Chase Cancer Center's Mobile Mammography Unit, a specially equipped van with state-of-the-art testing equipment. The enormous vehicle was parked conspicuously in front of our West Marshall Street location throughout the afternoon of the fair on February 22nd.

"Fox Chase Cancer Center is dedicated to making this unique service available to the community, especially those in most need," said Linda Torres-Hammell
Director, Community Cancer Screening. "Our goal is to return each year to ACLAMO to assure women stay in compliance with screening guidelines.  Although we are very limited with funds, we do our best to reach beyond Philadelphia to screen the uninsured."

The partnership with Fox Chase is an extension of ACLAMO's broader effort to bridge healthcare gaps within the low-income community.

"We realized that if we could bring together many health providers, covering subjects including maternal health, blood pressure screenings, HIV testing, dental hygiene, and nutrition, that we could better connect individuals and families to essential resources and services," said Juan Guerra, Executive Director of ACLAMO. "Everyone agrees that early detection and prevention are key to having a healthier community".

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Victory Christian Fellowship Donates $10,000 for Education, Social Work  

Victory Christian Fellowship Pastor Ed Crenshaw, church board member Alfred Knechel and church administrator Marian Knechel give ACLAMO Executive Director Juan Guerra the $10,000 check, accompanied by preschoolers from the Even Start Family Literacy program.   Victory Christian Fellowship gave ACLAMO Family Centers an extraordinary $10,000 donation to support our ongoing educational and social-service programs targeted to low-income, Spanish-speakers in Montgomery County.   The check was presented to ACLAMO Executive Director Juan Guerra by Victory Christian Pastor Ed Crenshaw, church Administrator Marian Knechel and church Board member Alfred Knechel.    "We believe the spiritual and the ministry of compassion go hand-in-hand, and it is important to keep those in balance," said Pastor Crenshaw, during a tour of ACLAMO's center on West Marshall Street in Norristown.   "This is a church that shares our vision of caring for the poor and disenfranchised", said Guerra. "Victory Christian Fellowship represents all that is good within the religious communities of our region."   Click here to read the full story.

Elmwood Park Zoo Partnership Begins    

Elmwood Park Zoo Director William Konstant visits our preschoolers to talk about animals.

ACLAMO and the Elmwood Park Zoo are starting to work together for the good of the Latino community.

As part of that effort, William Konstant, Executive Director of the zoo, recently visited the young children in our Even Start program to talk about animals. The zoo is located in Norristown. 

"We want our families to take advantage of the educational opportunities at the Elmwood Park Zoo, and the zoo wants to increase outreach and membership in the Latino community," said Juan Guerra, Executive Director of ACLAMO Family Centers. "We want to work with the zoo in partnership."  

Konstant and Guerra discussed possible special events and promotions targeted to the Latino community.  

Field Trip: ACLAMO Students Explore the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia

The preschoolers played a small piano and a giant one, pretended to drive a race car, maneuver a construction truck and ride a horse, handle huge construction equipment and manipulate water -- all part of the activities at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.

The children and their mothers, students in ACLAMO's Family Literacy Program, and three of their teachers, went on a very special field trip to the museum this month.

"It's very important that kids build background knowledge in places with unfettered exploration," said Linda Maldonado, Lead Teacher of the early childhood education program. "It is exposing them to a wider world. And it's important for the moms to see these educational opportunities."

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 For more photos go to facebook.com/aclamo. 

Plymouth Meeting Friends School Moms Contribute to English Conversation

Plymouth Meeting Friends School parent Genevieve Schmidt Camacho, fourth from the left, joins a group of ACLAMO student moms on a short tour of West Marshall Street.

Moms from the Plymouth Meeting Friends School spent the morning with the moms in ACLAMO's Family Literacy program, working on English conversation in small groups.

They toured West Marshall Street, stopped for coffee and pasteries at El Puerto Jarocho Mexican Bakery, and generally had a great time chatting.

"It's helpful to people here to speak English and it's helpful for us to make everyone comfortable with each other," said Joyce Colzani, school office manager, adding that the school has a student exchange program to Mexico.

The Plymouth Meeting Friends School, which just celebrated its 230th anniversary, has about 150 students in Pre-K through 6th grade.

Head of School Anne Javsicas and Colzani brought three other moms to participate in the ACLAMO "Practice Partners" program: Genevieve Schmidt Camacho, Darlene Beecham and Dawn Aparin.  

For more photos go to facebook.com/aclamo. 

New Socks from Bryn Mawr Preschool

Bryn Mawr College's Nell Anderson, left, gives a box filled with dozens of donated new socks to ACLAMO. Family Literacy student Erika helps with the box.

For the third year in a row, a preschool on the campus of Bryn Mawr College has donated dozens of new socks to ACLAMO families as part of a classroom project.

The Phebe Anna Thorne School students bring in the socks to do a sorting game, and then donate the socks. Nell Anderson, Co-Director of the Civic Engagement Office of Bryn Mawr College's Graduate School of Social Work, arranged the donation, and dropped off the socks.  

"It's a fun education activity that's also combined with a donation," Anderson said.