Gratitude for the Chance to Serve: A Pandemic Thanksgiving Story

Gratitude for The Opportunity to Serve Others in a Time of Crisis

Two SMAS students, Vanessa Santos and Xin Ying Li, and two staff members, Stephanie Kriebel and Marina Kravtsova, were recognized by San Mateo City Council as CERT volunteers active in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic this past summer.

SMAS Staff Member Marina Kravtsova writes:

 

I personally want to thank Stephanie Kriebel who provided an opportunity to receive the CERT training for SMAS students and staff in Summer 2019.  Opportunities like that make the difference in immigrants' lives (speaking from the experience).

 

With pride and gratitude,

Marina

 

SMAS Student Vanessa Santos writes:

 

I appreciate this opportunity to be useful to the community.

I am really happy to be part of the San Mateo Adult School.

I am grateful to Marina for sending me the slide.

Thank you Stephanie for your caring and hard work for the school community.

Vanessa Santos

 

Former SMAS and current CSM Student Xin Ying Li writes:

 

My name is Ying, a former student at SMAS and a current student at the College of San Mateo.

 

Having seen too many heart-broken stories in China, I decided to participate in the SM senior center lunch delivery program when COVID 19 began to attack our community last spring. For me, it was not only an action to protect the most vulnerable among us but also a practice to cope with my own sadness, fear, anxiety, and anger. I heard the call from my heart that I had to do things to fight against the invisible virus. 

 

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I’d like to give thanks here to those who helped me throughout my participation in the program.

 

First thanks to teacher Stephanie, I gained an opportunity to attend basic Community Emergency Response Team training at SMAS in 2019 summer, so I was qualified to volunteer the lunch delivery program after receiving three other short online trainings.

 

Thanks to Sandra and Carolyn who both gave the volunteers detailed instructions, I’ve learned how to respect others and protect myself while carrying out the non-contact senior lunch delivery processes.

 

Thanks to dear Marina, when I saw her beautiful eyes and heard her crisp voice at the SM senior center parking lot, I was so excited and knew that I was not alone in the battle against the virus.

 

Thanks to my Chinese classmate Lucy in Room 41, who immediately donated medical masks to the SM senior center when I told her that there were two staff wearing cloth masks.

 

Thanks to the old gentleman who said that “I’m waiting for the sunshine” when he opened the door in front of me and thanks to the lady who would greet me with smiling eyes outside her house every time. I was so touched at those moments.

 

Last thanks to my husband and my son, who always understood and supported me when I  was volunteering as a CERT member. 

 

My inner fear and anxiety has been reduced since I volunteered for senior lunch delivery. It’s clear that we are not isolated as we practice social distance. As SM community members, we can work together to get through the present hard time.

 

Housing: Crisis, Information, Resources

Housing means somewhere to live, a house or apartment.

During this EL-Civics unit, students are learning more about housing from their ESL teachers.  

Apartment Complex

Learning about housing is very important because there is a housing crisis in the San Mateo area now.  A crisis is a big, intense problem.  It is hard to find an apartment or a house to rent.  It is also difficult to buy a house or condo because they are very expensive.   There are many people here but not enough housing - houses or apartments.  And the prices - to rent or lease or buy - are very high. 

Recently, Representative Jackie Speier had a Townhall so people could discuss this situation and consider solutions.  You can read about it here and here.

On Wednesday, March 16th in the evening and Friday, March 18th in the morning, speakers from SFOP/PIA will talk to ESL students about housing.

SFOP/PIA is an Inter-Faith Group in San Francisco and the Peninsula.  They help people with housing, health-care, education, immigration, and more.  You can see their Facebook page here.

Aracely and David will speak about what students can do if they have housing problems.  They will speak in both English and Spanish. 


Resources:

If you need to find somewhere to live or you must leave where you are living now, here are some resources that might help you:

SFOP/PIA – San Francisco Organizing Project/Peninsula Interfaith Action – is a grassroots coalition of congregations and schools working to create solutions to the economic and racial injustices on the San Francisco Peninsula.   They can provide help or information about housing, evictions, etc.  Aracely Mondragon   Her email is aracely@sfop.org   http://www.sfop.org  http://www.sfop.org/issues-results/affordable-accessible-housing/  San Mateo Residents for Renter Protection is part of SFOP/PIA.  Look for it on Facebook.  Some of our students are involved with this group. 

Samaritan House helps people meet immediate basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, worker resources, and counseling. 

Hip Housing – home sharing program.  Matches residents with renters.  http://hiphousing.org/

Neighbors Helping Neighbors:  volunteer organization that helps with housing problems. Housing Coordinator:  NHN.HousingProgram@gmail.com  Phone: 650-283-0270 (no texting please) 

NHN Events Calendar: http://teamup.com/ks1b6f74434be230d5/                                                

Facebook: https://facebook.com/NeighborsHelpingNeighborsPaloAlto

Legal Aid Society of San Mateo - free legal help for low-income San Mateo County residents.


You can also go to smace.org website.  Click the dropdown menu to go to “students” and then click on “community resources.”  Look for the house icons.

Information:

There are many articles in the San Mateo Daily Journal about the housing crisis situation.  You can do an Internet search to read these articles.  Type "housing crisis San Mateo Daily Journal" into your browser, and you will find many articles.

UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project  http://www.urbandisplacement.org/     UC Berkeley is studying displacement.  Displacement is when people with less money or power are pushed out of where they live by people with more money or power.    The website has maps showing where this is happening.  The area around the Adult School is dark purple – advanced gentrification.  This means the area is changing, becoming higher in price. 

14 year old Gabriel Banuelos worked to help his family with an eviction notice.
He succeeded in helping his family get money to relocate to a new home.