FAQs
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
At the age of 10, I was the only one in the house who spoke English, so by default, I became the family "secretary/Social Worker" and that's how it began. I've always been around children, cared for them, worked with them, so providing tutoring services seemed like a sensible way to put my knowledge, skills and experience to good use while I upgrade my Social Work license to Ca. standards in order to practice here. (Recently moved from NY)
- What types of customers have you worked with?
General tutoring-Elementary school age, ESL (English) Tutoring, completing English forms, translating correspondence/reports, professional letter writing in both English and Spanish, phone calls to government agencies for Spanish speaking clients, referrals for services, editing of documents/reports, research.
- Describe a recent project you are fond of. How long did it take?
My last employment at the INN(the Interfaith Nutrition Network), a network of 14 soup kitchens, of which I visited 7 on a weekly basis to provide direct Social Work services. I am proud of my employment there for I met and helped many, many good, kind people from different walks of life with life experiences that some of us cannot even begin to imagine. I KNOW I made a difference in each and everyone of those peoples' lives because of how they would express their gratitude every time I helped and would look for me week after week, even though we weren't carrying on-going cases for follow up and I only went to each location once per week. They wanted to come and talk to me even if they didn't have a need, just to update me and tell me how grateful they were for the time I took to listen, the assistance I provided and the outcome after I helped them. Of all the Social Workers in the organization, I was always the one most requested because I spoke Spanish, I was nice and treated everyone with respect, not nasty. I upheld the organization's mission every day because that's my personal belief in life- to treat everyone with love, dignity and respect, the same way we'd all like to be treated, especially at a time of need.