March 5, 2010
Guadalupe Center News
Family Faith Formation
On March 6, the Guadalupe Center will offer a faith formation class in Spanish for the entire family centering on the Eucharist. Families with children preparing for First Communion will find this workshop very beneficial. The class will be 2-4 p.m. at the Guadalupe Center. The same class will be repeated May 1 in Washington. To register for either location, call 812-683-5212.
Free Immigration Consultations
On Monday March 8 from 2-7 p.m. Susan Brouillette and Celina Weatherwax will be at the parish office of Our Lady of Hope to answer questions regarding immigration. These 20-minute consultations are free, but we ask that you make an appointment. Please call the Guadalupe Center 812 683-5212 if you wish to schedule an immigration consultation in Washington.
Komen Greater Evansville Affiliate
The Guadalupe Center has a grant from the “Greater Evansville Affiliate Susan G. Komen for the Cure” to provide free mammograms for those with limited resources and inadequate health in-surance. Also, a Spanish educational session on “Tools of Hope” by Christina Rosario will be held on March 20 at 10:30 a.m. at Mi Pueblo Restaurant in Washington, Indiana. Please call the Guadalupe Center if you would like to participate in the screening and/or in the educational activity.
Get-WELL Huntingburg Presents: Walk With Jesus
The program “Walk With Jesus” is a free community program sponsored by Salem Church and the Welborn Baptist Foundation, Inc. and a project of Get-WELL Huntingburg. Each week the participants will walk or do exercises for a minimum of 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. Participants who finish the program with at least 490 points will receive a $5 gift certificate from the Huntingburg Chamber of Commerce and a water bottle. The program will begin on March 14 and end on May 8. If interested, call the Guadalupe Center to register.
Eating plan
On March 10 a bilingual talk on “Choosing a Healthy Eating Plan” will be presented at the Guadalupe Center from 7:15-8:00 p.m. The program is free and open to the public (English and/or Spanish speaking) and is sponsored by Get-Well Huntingburg.
Free Tax Help
Darin Kemp and Sister Celeste Boda are at the Guadalupe Center to help to fill out tax forms on Monday and Thursday evenings. The Guadalupe Center staff is available for those who need translation help. Call (812) 683-5212 to make an appointment.
BIG READ — April 24
The University of Southern Indiana is one of eight Indiana communities among 269 nationwide selected to host Big Read celebrations between September 2009 and June 2010. In order to promote integration of cultures, they chose the book, “Sun, Stone, and Shadows,” a book of 20 Mexican short stories written in the first half of the 20th century.
Big Read, a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) initiative de-signed to restore reading to the center of American culture, provides grants each year to hundreds of org-anizations in communities of varying sizes across the country. The Guadalupe Center will collaborate with USI to have two bilingual Big Read activities on April 24. The first will take place at 11 a.m. at the Washington Catholic Elementary School in Washington, Indiana, and will include preparing and eating Mexican food, making of a piñata with the children, as well as reading a children’s story from the book. The second activity will begin at 3 p.m. at the Guadalupe Center and will include a bilingual children’s activity with a story and crafts. If you are interested in participating in either of these programs, call the Guada-lupe Center to register.
Diocesan Hispanic Ministry Advisory Board
On February 13, the Diocesan Board for Hispanic Ministry met with the focus on needs of Hispanic youth. Steve Dabrowski, Director of Youth Ministry for the Evansville Diocese, met with youth representing the parishes where there is presently a Spanish Mass while the regular Advisory Board meeting took place. The top priorities surfaced from the youth included:
Racism: stand up for our rights, leaders need to defend the youth; if we want respect, we need to respect others
Youth group: find a leader (youth minister); then communicate that a group exists to invite other youth; activity night with food
Driving license: contact elected officials to explain the problem of the undocumented
Families (parents) need to be savvy in technology (computers, etc.): provide parents the opportunity to learn the new technologies.
Youth First: Strengthening Families
The Guadalupe Center in collaboration with Youth First is offering a “Strengthening Families Program” in Spanish. This free ten-week program is intended to help youth (ages 6-9) and their families build on family strengths, while learning new skills. Twelve families from Dale, Huntingburg, and Jasper are participating. Facilitators for this program are Reina Dubón, Sister Karen Durliat, Jaime Garay, Lorena López, and Maria Ramírez. Mirna Dubón is coordinating the food. The program is sponsored by Youth First, Inc. and the Welborn Baptist Foundation. If you would like more information, or would like to enroll in a future program, contact the Guadalupe Center.
Justice for Immigrants Postcard Campaign
The Evansville Diocese is presently participating in the Justice for Immigrants Postcard Campaign. The postcard reads: “I ask that this year you support immigration reform legislation that keeps immigrant families together, adopts smart and humane enforcement policies, and ensures that immigrants without legal status register with the government and begin a path toward citizenship. Our families and communities cannot wait!” These postcards are to be sent to senators and representatives. To sign an electronic version, go to www.justiceforimmigrants.org.
Bilingual Classes in Washington
Bilingual classes continue in Washington. Conversation classes are held each Tuesday from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the Parish Center of Our Lady of Hope Church. The next scheduled cooking class is April 24 at the Washington Catholic Elementary School. There are no fees for the classes, but donations are accepted. The primary goal of these classes is to foster integration within the community. To register for classes, please call the Guadalupe Center at (812) 683-5212.
Why Catholic? ¿Por Qué Ser Católico?
Many parishes in the Evansville Diocese are participating in the “Why Catholic?” Program of Re-new International. Study materials are provided in both Spanish and English for small groups. Spanish-speaking groups are meeting in Dale, Huntingburg, and Jasper. This is a wonderful opportunity to understand your faith better as well as get to know others in your small group and parish. Also, faith formation workshops will be held throughout the diocese the weekend of April 16-18. If you would like to participate in a small group or in the faith formation, call the Guadalupe Center for more details.
Special Thanks
Father Noel for giving a retreat to 13 couples at the Guadalupe Cen-ter on February 20.
Sister Mary Philip Berger, Fa-ther Guerric DeBona, Gary Gon-nerman, Lindsay Meyer, Ann Pow-ell, and Brother Andrew Zimmer-mann, our ESL volunteers.
Adolfo Sánchez who led the January 16 cooking class at Wash-ington.
Evelyn Rivas who is volunteering in child care at the Strength-ening Families program.
St. Meinrad Seminarians: Enrique Castro who is forming a choir at St. Joseph, Dale, and leading a Why Catholic group; Jorge Gómez who is leading a Why Catholic group in Jasper; Martin Olvera who is teaching a faith formation class to teens at the Guadalupe Center; and Ernesto Calvillo and Ignacio Jiménez who help in Hispanic Ministry in various ways, for example Holy Hours and Homilies.
Current Activities
ESL (English As a Second Lang-uage) Classes: Five levels of classes meet every Monday and Wednes-day from 6:30-8:00 p.m. New students are welcome.
WBDC, Your Catholic Compan-ion, 9:00-9:30 a.m.: Every Sunday morning followed by local an-nouncements in Spanish by Moisés Basilio.
Nurse practitioners are available for consultation one Monday every three weeks.
Christina Rosario, bilingual fam-ily counselor from Catholic Char-ities, is available for consultation two Tuesdays a month.
Transportation/Translation for Appointments: Brother Andrew Zimmermann continues to offer transportation and translation help. Call if you need help to go to an appointment to see if someone is available at the time needed.
Immigration Services: Tuesdays, 1 to 7 p.m.
The Guadalupe Center is located at 511 E. Fourth Street, Suite 1, Huntingburg, IN 47542. You can contact them at (812) 683-5212 or guadalupe@evdio.org.