By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
In a quiet room of the old rectory beside Holy Name Church Oct. 12, Sister of Charity of Nazareth Ruth Ann Humphrey tutored Rocio Murillo, an immigrant mother of three seeking to earn a General Equivalency Diploma (GED).
Upstairs, Xaverian Brother John Shaughnessy worked quietly with Ana Perez, an immigrant from Guatemala learning English.
Sister Humphrey and Brother Shaughnessy are volunteers at Doors to Hope — a ministry founded by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in 2012 that’s housed in Holy Name’s old rectory on South Third Street.
Doors to Hope aims to help break the cycle of violence and poverty by educating immigrant women and their families. The non-profit started with eight Sisters of Charity of Nazareth — one serving as director and seven as volunteers, including Sister Humphrey. They had one student seeking to learn English.
Five years later, 50 volunteers are serving 80 students five days a week, said Lorena Miller, the center’s director, during an interview Oct.12. The center is currently looking for more volunteers, said Miller, who is one of two full-time and one part-time employees.
Doors to Hope will celebrate its fifth anniversary at Spalding University’s Egan Center, 901 South Fourth St., Oct. 22 at 2 p.m.
Miller describes Doors to Hope as a “vibrant learning community.” It offers adults help with English as a Second Language (ESL) and preparation for GED and U.S. citizenship classes. For children, the center offers tutoring and help with homework.
What makes Doors to Hope unique, said Miller, is that students receive help individually. As a result, the volunteers really get to know the students and learn what their needs are, she said.
The center also offers a women’s group, which provides resources and support tailored to the women’s needs, said Miller. Women who attend group sessions have learned about such issues as the dangers of human trafficking, personal finance and banking, handling stress and depression and learning their legal rights.
Doors to Hope is also family-oriented, said Miller. Some women come in the evenings to learn English while their children receive help with homework. Learning English empowers the women and that helps the entire family grow stronger, said Miller.
“The mothers are more comfortable going to their children’s school and talking to teachers,” she said. “When the children see the development of their parents, they become stronger, too.”
The center assists immigrant families from all over the city.
“We don’t ask about religion or legal status. We embrace them. We love them” Miller said.
Inside Doors to Hope on Oct. 12, in a quiet room on the second floor of the old rectory, Brother Shaughnessy helped Ana Perez read sentences in English. Brother Shaughnessy said he spent 11 years in Mexico teaching ESL classes, so serving as a volunteer at Doors to Hope is a good fit.
He feels as though he’s “helping students reach their dreams,” he said.
Perez, for instance, dreams of being a nurse, but didn’t go beyond the fourth grade in her native Guatemala, he said.
Perez, noted Brother Shaughnessy, is a hard worker. She’s a mother of young children, works two jobs and is dedicated to her education at the center. She has a long way to go before nursing school will be possible, said Brother Shaughnessy, but reaching out for assistance at Doors to Hope is a good first step.
Back on the first floor, Murillo, a native of Tijuana, Mexico, concentrated on her lesson with Sister Humphrey. Murillo helps operate a Mexican grocery across the street from Doors to Hope.
She has been receiving help at the center for a few years, she said. She meets with Sister Humphrey twice a week before going to work.
Murillo said she started as an ESL student at Doors to Hope and is now preparing for the GED test, which provides the equivalent of a high school diploma. She has progressed to the second workbook used in preparation for the GED exam.
“The people are kind and friendly and make me feel like I’m part of a family,” said Murillo of Doors to Hope. “Sister Humphrey is very patient and helpful. I’m more confident speaking English now.”
Sister Humphrey said she sees the work at Doors to Hope as a “real opportunity to be part of helping immigrants become more comfortable with our country.”
She’s inspired, she said, by the eagerness to learn shown by the families she encounters. They are very grateful as well, she noted. Sister Humphrey also expressed pride in her community for establishing Doors to Hope.
Sister Rebecca Miles — the center’s first director who is now retired — set a tone that cultivates caring relationships at Doors to Hope, noted Sister Humphrey.
“It makes you so proud to be a part of this. This is the work of our foundress (Mother Catherine Spalding). It’s exactly what she would have wanted for us,” said Sister Humphrey. “It’s also what Jesus asks us to do in the Gospel.”
Miller said individuals who wish to help Doors to Hope can do so by volunteering their time or by making a financial donation through the center’s website www.doorstohope.com.
The center is also in need of a television and dry erase whiteboards, items they will gladly welcome as donations, she said.
