The English Learning Center

Our Saviour's Community Services is hiring!

Fundraising and Communications:
- Communications and Fundraising Coordinator (full-time)
- Grants Specialist (full-time)

Our Saviour's Housing:
- Case Manager - Permanent Supportive Housing (full-time)
- Shelter Worker - On Call (multiple openings)

Please take a look at these jobs at oscs-mn.org/employment and share widely.

The Grants Specialist role and the Communications and Fundraising Coordinator role work on behalf of our whole organization, including the English Learning Center.

Thanks!

Have you placed your vote for "Community Choice" organizations in Seward Community Co-op's 2024 SEED Program? Voting ends Sunday! https://buff.ly/3FePwqw

By helping to select 4 of the organizations that Seward Co-Op shoppers can "round up" their purchases for, you're deciding the fate and power of tens of thousands of dollars.

We're not on the list this year, and want to make it easy for you to support other organizations with important missions, too.

There's still time to vote for Seward Co-op's 2024 SEED Community Choice recipients. Now through Oct. 15, vote to help select 4 of next year's 12 nonprofit organizations that will receive round-up funds through our SEED program. Read about the finalist organizations and vote here: https://buff.ly/3FePwqw

Student attendance at the English Learning Center is booming faster than our current volunteer base can support. The English Learning Center has a critical, time-sensitive need to orient more volunteer teachers to our program -- especially for morning classes.

Can you help by sharing this post or signing up to become a volunteer teacher, yourself?

Online and in-person volunteer opportunities are available! Take the first step by filling out a brief online volunteer application today: https://oscs-mn.org/elc-volunteer-opportunities/

Free event tomorrow! Join Our Saviour's Community Services and Our Saviour's Lutheran Church for a community pizza party and fundraiser to help support the future East Phillips Urban Farm!

Proceeds from the silent auction and other contributions will go towards East Phillips Neighborhood Institute - EPNI's pre-development costs for the East Phillips Urban Farm.

Learn more and get your bids in online TODAY for the silent auction at https://oscs-mn.org/epni-fundraiser

Bidding ends for most of the auction items at 8PM TONIGHT, with a few items carrying over to bidding during tomorrow's event!

See you tomorrow (Sunday) from 12PM - 2PM at 2315 Chicago Avenue!

Our Saviour's Community Services and Our Saviour's Lutheran Church are hosting a community pizza party and auction to help raise funds to build the East Phillips Urban Farm!

You're invited to this free event on Sunday, September 10, from 12PM - 2PM.

All money raised will go to the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute to support predevelopment costs for the East Phillips Urban Farm.

Next month, English Learning Center students will have the opportunity to participate in special learning opportunities, including field trips to local parks, an art museum, and city hall. Stay tuned for photos and updates from these fun and educational summer classes!

Our Saviour’s Community Services staff members are looking good in their gear! After a recent staff training, we took advantage of a beautiful summer day to get a group photo in our new OSCS shirts. It’s impossible to say who styled the shirt best, but we were grateful for the opportunity to gather and learn together as a team.

Recently, we welcomed 5 new members to the Our Saviour’s Community Services Board of Directors: Dereck Arubayi, Andrea Brandt, Travis Earth-Werner, Annie Koolen, and Reika Yokooka Lucente! Visit our website to learn more about all of our Board Members:

https://oscs-mn.org/staff-board/

Do you love cooking for a crowd? Our Saviour’s Housing, another program of Our Saviour’s Community Services, is looking for volunteer groups to purchase, prepare, and serve dinner to our 21 guests. Serving guests 3 meals a day is a community effort and we are grateful for every group that helps us provide healthy meals prepared with care and kindness. Sign up today:

https://oscs-mn.org/osh-group-volunteer-application/

We’re hiring! Visit our website to learn more about our current openings including a full-time case management position and part-time and on-call roles at our Emergency Shelter.

https://oscs-mn.org/employment/

Did you know that 4 in 10 students last year at the English Learning Center came to the U.S. as refugees? Today, on World Refugee Day, we celebrate the strength and resilience of the refugee community!

Our Saviour’s Community Services offices are closed on Monday, June 19, in honor of Juneteenth. There are many opportunities across the metro to celebrate this newly-designated state holiday - click below to learn more:

Juneteenth 2023 events in the Twin Cities, and around Minnesota Juneteenth celebrations in Minneapolis go back to at least 1985, but 2023 is looking bigger than ever. Plenty of events in the Twin Cities and across Minnesota provide opportunities to celebrate, learn and come together.

Are you curious about volunteering at the Emergency Shelter at Our Saviour’s Housing, another program of Our Saviour’s Community Services? Consider hosting a game night or bingo activity! Game nights give our guests an opportunity to relax and have fun with community members like you - sign up today!

https://oscs-mn.org/osh-group-volunteer-application/

Read about our property reimagining and community engagement project, in partnership with Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, in the June issue of The Alley Newspaper! Learn how you can share your thoughts about the neighborhood and what resources and spaces you’d like to see:

https://alleynews.org/2023/06/june-23/

The latest issue of the Our Saviour’s Community Services monthly email newsletter goes out soon - are you signed up? Subscribe today to receive our latest thoughts and updates in a format that’s easy to read and share! In our newsletters, we go more in-depth on topics we share here on social media, and we share a letter from Mike, our Executive Director. Sign up today:

https://oscs-mn.org/subscribe/

Pride Month begins today! We joyously celebrate all of the LGBTQ+ members of our community.

Thank you to everyone who joined us Tuesday night for Game On! It was wonderful to gather and have fun with our supporters, meet new people interested in our mission, and play some classic arcade games.

We would love your input as we plan our next gathering! Comment below and tell us what kind of event(s) you would like to see from Our Saviour’s Community Services. We look forward to your ideas!

Time’s nearly up for securing tickets for Game On! Don’t miss out on an evening of fun, a chance to meet new friends interested in our mission, unlimited gameplay, and pizza! Register today:

https://oscs-mn.org/game-on/

Did you know that within the variety of Asian and Pacific Islander communities in Minnesota, over 100 different languages are spoken? In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, let’s learn more about the history of the immigrants and refugees who have made a new home in Minnesota for over a century:

What's Minnesota's Asian-American and Pacific Islander history? Minnesota's diversity grows every year. Of the top five immigrant groups in the state, two come from Asia. So what exactly is Minnesota's Asian-American and Pacific Islander history? Good Question.

Thank you to volunteers from St. Catherine University for volunteering with Our Saviour’s Community Services last week! Teams did an amazing job beautifying our campus and supporting our guests and residents. Thank you!

Our Saviour’s Community Services is hiring! Visit our website to learn more about our current openings including a case management position and a maintenance role. Apply online - or share this post with your network to help us spread the word!

https://oscs-mn.org/employment/

Meet Franklin! Originally from Ecuador, Franklin says he likes learning English at the ELC because “it’s very supportive” and “It’s very good, the classes and teacher, so much helpful for learning.”

He’s currently a cook, and his dreams for the future include attending college and becoming a mechanic. Thank you for being part of our community and for supporting students like Franklin who are building skills to make their dreams a reality!

What do you love about our neighborhood?

Our Saviour’s Community Services and Our Saviour's Lutheran Church recently started a new, intentional process for engaging with our community and listening to our neighbors’ hopes and dreams for the area. Add your thoughts and comment below with what you love about our neighborhood!

At the ELC, both students and volunteers can find pathways to connection. We recently spoke with four volunteers who shared how the ELC enriches their lives. Click here to read more about Kenneth, Kim, Lan Anh, and Alison:

Connection Takes Many Forms at the English Learning Center - Our Saviour's Community Services When we think about how the English Learning Center builds community and connections, we typically think of our students. Our dedicated volunteers are a part of that community, too, and have their own stories of connection to share. The range of classes that we offer gives our students options, and....

Meet Marco!

Marco takes evening classes at the English Learning Center and has a goal of getting his GED. Marco came to Minnesota from Mexico and has been part of our learning community for two months. He told us he wants to build his English skills because communication is an important skill in the workplace.

When asked what he likes about the ELC, he said it’s “the people, teachers.”

Thank you for being part of our community and supporting students like Marco on their learning journeys!

On Sunday evening, there was an arson attempt at the Masjid Omar Islamic Center -- just across Elliot Avenue from our campus.

Our Saviour's Community Services supports our Muslim neighbors and community members, and we want to amplify this call from CAIR-Minnesota (CAIR-MN) for this incident to be investigated for a possible bias motive.

(MINNEAPOLIS, MN, 4/24/23) – The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Minnesota) today called on law enforcement authorities to investigate a possible bias motive for an arson attack targeting a Minneapolis Mosque.

Muslim community leaders say a white male entered the Mall 24 Mosque about 7 p.m. yesterday with a container of flammable liquid and allegedly started a fire in the mosque’s rest room. Worshipers reportedly used a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze. Police and fire officials responded to the incident.

In a statement, CAIR-Minnesota Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said:

“If not for the actions of the worshipers, this disturbing incident could have resulted in injuries or even deaths. We thank fire and law enforcement officials for their response and hope that a motive for this arson attack at a house of worship may be determined. Given past incidents targeting state mosques and Islamic institutions, we urge law enforcement authorities to investigate a possible bias motive for this crime.”
He noted that earlier this month, CAIR-Minnesota called to for an investigation vandalism targeting Ummatul Islam Mosque in Minneapolis., Minn., as a possible hate crime.

SEE: Minnesota Mosques Vandalized, Robbed Amid Increase in Reported Hate Crimes

He urged the local Muslim community and Islamic institutions nationwide to take extra security precautions by using advice offered in CAIR’s booklet, “
Best Practices for Mosque and Community Safety.”

We can’t wait to see you at Game On! Join us on May 23 for an evening of fun and connection at Starcade. Tickets include 2 hours of unlimited gameplay, pizza, and soft drinks. Beer and seltzer will be available for purchase. Space is limited - secure your tickets today:

https://oscs-mn.org/game-on

P.S. Thanks to those who let us know the registration form wasn’t loading consistently! We’ve made some changes and we believe we’ve resolved the issues.

📢📢📢Our latest print newsletter is here! If you’re on our mailing list, we hope you enjoyed reading about several ELC volunteers, how former shelter guest Brittany found her new home, and more. To join our mailing list, contact [email protected].

Did you know that April is National Volunteer Month? Volunteers contribute to our programs in so many ways. To our teachers, meal groups, donation drive teams, and more, we are so grateful for the support and care you give to our community. Thank you!

Meet Murata! Murata was born in Ethiopia and came to Minnesota after living in a refugee camp in Kenya. Because we offer evening classes, Murata can attend the ELC after work. He comes to class so that he can work on “speaking English very well.” He appreciates that English classes also help him understand others better, too.

445 bags collected for our food shelf! We recently shared that teams across Our Saviour’s Community Services were going head-to-head to see who could collect the most bags for our food shelf guests. And we have a winner: our Permanent Supportive Housing team collected an amazing 250 bags! Across the organization, our teams collected 445 grocery bags and the OSCS Equity Committee awarded handmade tote bags to the winning team.

This week, the ELC is closed for a short Spring Break. We look forward to welcoming our learning community back on Monday, April 10! Interested in volunteering when classes start back up? Apply online to get started - we are especially in need of volunteer teachers with morning availability:
https://oscs-mn.org/elc-volunteer-opportunities/

Our Saviour’s Community Services is on Instagram! Find us for a new way to engage with us. We look forward to sharing our work and connecting with you!

When disaster strikes, it’s sometimes those who have experienced tragedy and loss who answer the call for help. Click below to learn how one group of Ukrainian refugees is heading down to Mississippi to help with disaster relief after a tornado devastated the area.

‘"This is an American thing, this is a Minnesotan thing," Rahman said. "I think we sometimes get in this mindset of people who come to this country, you know, that they're helpless and they're not able to contribute and they need to be spoon-fed or whatever. Our people are going against that grain."’

Ukrainian refugees in Minneapolis head south to help after deadly Mississippi tornadoes Jonah Kaplan introduces us to a team of volunteers made-up of Ukrainian war refugees who want to pay it forward for the kindness shown to them.

Community comes in many forms. In workplaces, classrooms, neighborhoods, and more, there are opportunities to connect and care for each other. Click below to read how a workplace can be a site where people build community as they navigate life in a new country:

Jobs mean community to Ukrainian refugees in Minnesota A Home Depot warehouse provides a lifeline to Minnesota group who fled war and are now starting work.

The competition is heating up at OSCS! Throughout March, teams across the organization are competing to collect the most bags for our food shelf. You can help by dropping off paper or plastic grocery bags for our food shelf guests. Drop offs are quick and easy: we have a donation box set up outside, on the back porch at 2302 Chicago Avenue, a white stucco house that is part of the OSCS campus.