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ACLAMO Family Centers Newsletter
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Providing our community with the services and skills for success
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SEPTEMBER 20131
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From The Executive Director:
As we enter the Fall season with school in full gear, I am once again inspired by the young-and not so young, who give of their time, talents and treasure in service of others at ACLAMO.
Whether it is to teach teens, distribute bread, support education, or encourage healthy living, there are numerous unsung heroes, who by their lives and examples are positively impacting so many children and families.
We have also heard from some of you, and are grateful for your financial assistance. The next few months are crucial for us, so your continued support is greatly appreciated.
Along those lines, please mark your calendars for this December 11th, when ACLAMO will hold its first annual Bids for Kids' Education Auction at the Washington Memorial Firehouse in Conshohocken. Details will follow. Gracias!
-Juan I. Guerra
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ACLAMO BEGINS A NEW PROGRAM FOR TEENS
ACLAMO is well known for its success providing preschool and elementary school support for Latino families. We are now moving to take those successes and apply them to middle and high school students.
 | | Ana Cordova |
This summer, ACLAMO received the good news that Ana Cordova, an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer was joining ACLAMO in coordinating the Adelante program, a new education program designed for teens with the goal of encouraging higher education.
Ana's goal is to use ACLAMO´s community contacts to recruit 20 students to form a pilot group. The students will be oriented and attend a few trial workshops at ACLAMO, and a kick-off event at Bryn Mawr College. Beginning January 2014, the program will intensify, meeting once a week at ACLAMO to perform ¨Lab-In-a-Box¨ experiments and also will travel to Bryn Mawr. The primary focus of the study will be STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Ana Cordova is a dynamic and inspiring leader with family heritages from El Salvador and Mexico. She is enthusiastic about the Adelante Program. "I know this works because it is like "Bright Prospects", the program which encouraged me to set my personal goals high when I was coming up through high school in Pomona, California. If I had not had the encouragement and support of a program like Adelante, I might never have applied to college at all and would certainly not have applied to an excellent school like Bryn Mawr." Now a graduate of Bryn Mawr with majors in mathematics and physics, Ana plans to devote her life to increasing the number of women from underrepresented groups who enter scientific fields. We are fortunate that Ana has decided to dedicate a year of her life to help us launch this program.
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TEMPLE/FOX CHASE CANCER CENTER OFFERS VITAL SCREENING AT ACLAMO HEALTH FAIR IN POTTSTOWN
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Van Coordinator Jim Cherry opens the door
for medical team and patients as screening begins.
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 | | Baby Andrea and mother Andrea smile as older sister, Julietta looks on |
On a beautiful clear September day, ACLAMO Family Centers in Pottstown held its sixth annual Fall Health Fair.
Thanks to the support of the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation, ACLAMO was able to partner with eleven other health service organizations in providing information and screenings on essential health services.
As with previous years, we were fortunate to have the participation of the Temple/Fox Chase Cancer Center. Since 2010, the Center has worked with ACLAMO to provide 104 mammograms to women in Norristown and Pottstown. As is often stated, early detection is key to lowering the risk of dying from breast cancer.
Blood pressure and HIV testing were also provided, along with important information and counseling on maternity and prenatal care, child care, dental services, nutrition, insurance, and other areas of general health.
We are grateful to our participating organizations including Birthright, Bravo Health, Child Care Information Services, Community Health and Dental Care, Coventry Health Care, Maternal and Child Health Consortium, Maternity Care Coalition, Montgomery County Aging and Adult Services, Montgomery County Health Department, Temple/Fox Chase Cancer Center, and the Visiting Nurse Association.
After checking out the participating organizations, Pottstown resident Silvia Camejo summed up her opinion of the experience, "Today I learned lots of ways to live a more healthy life!"
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SALUTING TWO UNSUNG HEROES
 | | Karen and Dave Espeseth |
Some fill their days in the golf course or on the beach, but for two local residents, retirement is about something very different.
Every other week, a car loaded with rolls and loaves of bread pulls up in front of ACLAMO´s Norristown location and Karen and David Espeseth begin transferring a treasure trove of the pastries onto a large table in the ACLAMO entrance lobby. ACLAMO clients and other local residents keep a sharp eye out for this delivery and the foodstuffs disappear quickly. On alternate weeks, this same delivery is done by the Espeseth´s fellow volunteer, Ted Malecki. The bread is donated by two Giant grocery stores and is also delivered to Mother Teresa´s Soup Kitchen in Norristown.
This valuable addition to ACLAMO´s services is due to a program begun by the St. Jude Parish in Chalfont, where the Espeseth´s are parishoners. The church website listed this need for volunteers and the Espeseth´s responded.
Karen and David have been involved in service activities for many years. They moved to Perkasie thirteen years ago from Maryland, where David had worked for the Federal government. After a second career as a consultant, David is now joining Karen´s busy retirement schedule, which includes regular trips to visit their four children and six grandchildren. Three children live long distances away, while one lives locally and helps in another of the Espeseth´s volunteer projects, Manna on Main Street in Lansdale.
ACLAMO relies on many volunteers who add invaluable strength to its programs. We are deeply grateful to be able to count the Espeseth´s among our most reliable volunteer supporters. If any of our readers would like to investigate volunteer opportunities, or know of other ways to help the community, you may contact ACLAMO by using our web site http://aclamo.org/volunteer.shtml#
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WEIS MARKETS SERVES UP CHECK FOR ACLAMO
 | | Weis employees look on as Store Manager Kevin Willis presents check to ACLAMO Executive Director Juan Guerra |
On September 24, Jennifer Sands, Communications Specialist at Weis Markets, traveled to their Norristown grocery store to present ACLAMO Executive Director, Juan Guerra with a check for $2,000.
As part of the presentation, Sands stated, "Weis Markets is proud to make a $2,000 Educational Improvement Tax Credit donation in support of ACLAMO and its programs. For more than 35 years, ACLAMO has helped improve the quality of life for many low income families in the Norristown community. We are pleased to be able to support these programs as part of our commitment to give back to the communities we serve."
"Its organizations like Weis Markets, which helps provides ACLAMO with the backing to maintain our educational programming," said Guerra. "We are extremely grateful for their support."
Founded in 1912, Weis Markets, Inc. is a Mid Atlantic food retailer, operating 165 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and West Virginia.
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| Personal Profile: Dr. Javier Cevallos
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Dr. Cevallos stands beside Kutztown University´s Memorial Bell |
Few people have the rich cultural background of Kutztown University President Javier Cevallos. As a boy, he walked the cobblestone streets of Cuenca, Ecuador with his father, absorbing the sights and sounds of the indigenous people of the Andes highlands. At home, he listened to his mother telling the stories of Spain, her birthplace. When he was a teenager, his parents were offered professorships at the University of Puerto Rico and Javier and his four siblings immersed themselves in that island´s culture, with its blend of Spanish and African heritages. Javier returns to Cuenca regularly and eagerly seeks chances to visit Spain and Puerto Rico.
As a young professor at the University of Maine, Javier added French culture to his pallet when he met and married Josée Vachon, the French-Canadian editor of a French/English newspaper and a folk singer. Today Javier and Josée have two children in college. Dr. Cevallos rose through the academic ranks and in 2002 was appointed President of Kutztown University, which owns and runs the Kutztown Folk Festival, a standard bearer for Pennsylvania German culture - yet another culture to add to his fascinating life!
Dr. Cevallos is passionate about the task of giving all children, regardless of culture, an even start in their educational experience. He leans forward with earnestness as he says firmly, "Intelligence and talent are remarkably evenly distributed throughout society; opportunity is not. If a child can´t read by the third grade," he emphasizes, "that child faces an almost insurmountable barrier to meaningful participation in our society."
Dr. Cevallos added, "ACLAMO and I are striving toward the same goal. We must all work hard together to give Latino children a solid educational foundation."
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ACLAMO celebrates its 36th year of providing economic, educational, health and cultural opportunities for low-income residents of Norristown and Pottstown, especially those of Spanish language heritage.
ACLAMO stands for Accíon Comunal Latinoamericana de Montgomery County, or Latin American Community Action of Montgomery County. ACLAMO is derived from the Spanish word "aclamar," which means "to acclaim."
ACLAMO Family Centers ACLAMO Family Centers
512 W. Marshall Street 515 Walnut Street
Norristown, PA 19401 Pottstown, PA 19464
610-277-2570 610-970-2134
www.aclamo.org
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