Meet Sue Erbes, Online English Tutor

After Sue retired as Operations Manager at TrueNorth at the end of 2019, she wanted to volunteer. She came across a newspaper ad for CMC’s volunteer orientation and went to one of the sessions. Though she always worked in business, she holds a BA in English and Social Studies as well as a teaching certificate.

Sue began tutoring in 2020, originally meeting in-person with her student every week. “Her name is Richa, she is from India, and we have actually become good friends,” Sue shares. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that same year, tutoring transitioned online. Richa and Sue started meeting for virtual lessons and continue to do so today.

During the pandemic, Sue earned her TESOL certificate (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), a journey that began with volunteering to teach classes, and led to her becoming an ESL teacher at Kirkwood Community College. “Catherine McAuley did spark the inspiration. Once I started doing it, I really enjoyed it,” she says. “I really enjoyed visiting with the students and communicating, and trying to help them understand language, culture, and it was really gratifying.”

Sue cherishes the connections she makes while tutoring and finds the experience incredibly rewarding. She says, “It personally feels good and I also feel like I am making a little bit of a difference in somebody else’s life in helping them to learn the language. I don’t know any other languages so I have a great respect for people who come to the United States and learn a whole new language. It is very difficult.”

Patience, empathy, and understanding are qualities Sue says are necessary in tutors. “Understand that it does take time. Doing it once a week, you are packing a lot in one hour, but you are making a difference.”

Sue is especially appreciative of CMC Kids, the free, on-site childcare program that allows parents to study and attend appointments without interruption. “I think that is very, very important because that allows them at least an hour of their own time away from the other worries they have.”

“I think Catherine McAuley has done a great deal for the community,” she says. “Even some of the students I have at Kirkwood, most of them have had some kind of contact with Catherine McAuley, either through refugee services or [other programs] and they are just so happy. So happy. They talk so nicely about it.”

Welcoming newcomers to the country and city are priorities that Sue finds important for a stronger, more diverse community. Looking ahead, she sees herself continuing to volunteer and making friendships along the way.

Thank you, Sue!

Meet Rosemary Biderman, English & Citizenship Tutor

Rosemary was a special education teacher for more than 20 years, and her volunteering experience goes back to her junior high years when she volunteered at nursing homes and assisting individuals with mental disabilities. While taking a class through Grant Wood 25 years ago, she was inspired to volunteer by a former director at CMC – and the rest is history!

Over the years, Rosemary has tutored in several different programs at the Catherine McAuley Center, providing more than 400 hours of service! She has tutored women pursuing their high school equivalency, adults studying English as a Second Language, and she has helped five students achieve their U.S. citizenship.

“It was very exciting to go to my first citizenship graduation. I thought that was pretty cool,” Rosemary says. She also loves the “aha moment” when students gain confidence. “I think you should praise a lot, but it has to be sincere.”

Rosemary admires the courage of English language learners, recognizing the challenges of navigating daily life in an unfamiliar language. She remarks, “I just think they are so brave…it is very intimidating and frightening when you don’t speak the language. And I just think they are so very, very brave to come here and do that every day.”

Reflecting on the impact of her time tutoring students, she shares, “I know it has impacted my family.”

Tutoring has played a powerful influence in many aspects of Rosemary’s life. Her youngest son similarly volunteered at CMC during his high school years. Now, she relishes the opportunity to recount her tutoring experiences to her granddaughters after each lesson. She adds, “even when I was teaching the students, I told them about the citizenship celebration and they had a lot of questions. So, I think it just spreads all over.”

As a long-time member of the CMC community, Rosemary says, “it means a lot” and she really values the relationships she’s made here.

Thank you, Rosemary, for the many years of service!

Meet Karen Matthews, Office & Technology Volunteer

Karen started volunteering at CMC after transitioning from full-time work at Transamerica to part-time, with the goal of pursuing activities she wanted to do, like volunteering!

“It was always in my mind to find some volunteer opportunities, and I was familiar with the Catherine McAuley Center through a number of friends who are volunteer tutors. Everybody that tutors here loves it; it’s a go to environment for volunteering.”

While tutoring sounded fun, Karen thought her skills might be better put to use on the administrative side of things, particularly in providing technology support. Karen explains, “My work background has always been more on technology, but from the business user perspective. So, I have always prided myself in understanding what the business needs, then trying to translate that into the technological.”

When she contacted CMC to explore the possibility of contributing her tech skills, everyone was thrilled to hear that she had 10 years of experience using Salesforce, the program CMC relies on as its internal database. Now, Karen volunteers for three hours every week and describes it as liberating, putting her knowledge to use on behalf of CMC.

“For me, it’s fun, it’s not work. Although I work in Salesforce all day long at my job, to come here and do the same thing, it just feels freeing and fun. So that’s why, that’s my moment every day, I can come here and volunteer for three hours.”

One of the best parts of her volunteer role is brainstorming and working with Jon Harper, Technology Specialist. “I love it when he is getting up on the whiteboard, and once he’s got that dry erase marker in his hand, I know we are up to something good,” Karen says.

Interacting with CMC staff and being able to show them things that may make their jobs easier is rewarding for Karen; she likes to be able to provide high-quality, highly skilled talent at no cost. She understands that giving her time is valuable to the organization and to the staff. “The volunteer is a gift, and I think here they treat you that way always,” she says. “Everybody is so flexible, so patient.”

Karen plans to continue using her passion for data to serve CMC and hopes to be able to do more face-to-face training with staff members to help them use Salesforce more efficiently. To her, this is a “self-care” volunteer opportunity, helping an organization that she believes in.

Thank you, Karen!

To bring you closer to the heart of the Catherine McAuley Center, we’re excited to introduce you to some of the passionate individuals who are the driving force behind CMC’s impact in the community – our amazing volunteers! This Volunteer Appreciation Month, join us in honoring the caring community members who give their time and talents as CMC volunteers.

Meet Xalen Onyemelukue, Language Lab Volunteer 

Xalen is originally from Detroit where he studied electrical engineering. He moved to Cedar Rapids in 2021 for a job in transmission power systems engineering, working with power lines and transmitting electricity on a larger scale. In college, Xalen was the president of an organization that did some volunteer and outreach work, and he always had a passion for volunteerism. Once he got settled into his job, he had more free time and was looking for a volunteer opportunity where he could work with people.

Last August, Xalen discovered a volunteer role at the Catherine McAuley Center and he spent the day helping in CMC’s Community Garden. Soon after, he was taking a tour of the building to hear about more ways he could be of service!

As Xalen learned more about all of the programs CMC offers, he began exploring other volunteer opportunities, first in CMC Kids – CMC’s free onsite childcare program for clients – and then in Education’s Computer Language Lab.

Working in the Language Lab, Xalen discovered how much he likes working with  students who come in to learn English. Though it’s often a group setting, he loves finding opportunities to connect with students one-on-one.

“You really develop a connection, I would say with a lot of the students that come in regularly. It’s really rewarding to see a student that you are working with develop or progress. To see something click for them on what they are working on, I really love seeing that,” Xalen says.

One student in particular stands out. “I don’t know if he notices this himself, but I’ve really seen him improve in terms of what he does in English and how well he communicates even at a casual level when he walks in and we talk.”

When it comes to the most rewarding part of volunteering, Xalen says, “It’s an opportunity for me to be of service in the community of course. I very much value that. I value what CMC does as a whole so I like being a part of that even if just a small part.”

He plans to continue working with English students in the Language Lab and hopes to branch out and explore additional volunteer roles in other programs as they happen in the future. “I just want to continue to be as helpful as I can.”

Xalen encourages anyone who’s interested in volunteering at CMC to definitely do it and to “give everything a chance if you can.”

Thank you, Xalen!

“We need so much to talk with other people so that we can know each other.”         – Mumena, CMC Client

At the Catherine McAuley Center (CMC), we believe in the power of neighbors coming together to create a stronger, more connected and inclusive community. After all, it’s the unwavering support of caring neighbors, volunteers, and partners like YOU who make it possible for CMC to provide free educational and supportive services to nearly 900 individuals each year!

Our neighbors are the heart and soul of CMC’s mission – refugees, immigrants, adult learners, and women healing from trauma. They are your neighbors right here in Iowa, and we invite you to get to know them better, to hear their stories, and to support the programs that make a difference in their lives.

As you watch the videos below and get to know Sergio, Mumena, and Melissa, you’ll find that their dreams and aspirations are not so different from your own.

While ideas of the comforts of home can change from person to person and culture to culture, most want to feel the same feelings when going home. In the words of feminist and author, Maya Angelou, “Home is a refuge not only from the world but a refuge from my worries, my troubles, my concerns.”

Through the support of community members, volunteers, and partners, such a welcoming place has been made more possible for women like Desiree, a client of the Catherine McAuley Center’s Supportive and Transitional Housing programs.

“Your safety, your security—it’s everything! The world is unsafe, and it should be safe at home,” Desiree explains.

The Catherine McAuley Center has a history of supporting those who face significant barriers to maintaining safe and stable housing through its Women’s Services programs.

Supportive Housing, added to CMC’s programming in February of 2020 (and expanded by an additional housing unit in 2021), offers women who have passed through the Transitional Housing Program a next step in a home environment. One with more independence that still grants access to the CMC supports residents have been able to lean on in the past. Most importantly, the program is lease-based, allowing women to build positive rental history before pursuing public housing.

Like many trauma survivors, home has not always been a safe place for Desiree. Someone who values family and connection, Desiree lives with other survivors who have also struggled with substance abuse, codependent relationships, and long-standing trauma. Residents at CMC maintain a communal home with others and continue strengthening group and individual decision-making skills. “Making my home at CMC has been interesting. I’ve been mindful and respectful of other residents’ routines, and we do very well with respecting each other. I love the staff, and their willingness to be human and share their struggles. It makes me feel closer to them,” Desiree explained.

When describing her home at CMC, Desiree says, “I’m a girly girl at home! I love my house to smell good. I have my area rugs, my photos of family to look at on my walls, and I love my Christmas lights and my home to look festive around the holidays.”

Community supporters help residents feel comfort at home 
Thanks to a recent upgrade to CMC’s housing spaces, women who find safety and support through Women’s Services can feel even more at home with items that bring comfort and hope. To spruce up the resident bedrooms and shared living spaces in the Center’s housing programs, Central Furniture Rescue and volunteers from Xavier High School moved in a variety of upgraded furnishings and decor – along with brand new mattresses and bedding generously donated by the Lions Club!

What inspired these efforts?
Executive Director of Central Furniture Rescue (CFR), Susan Johnston, says, “We live in an amazing community. Everyone wants to help, they just don’t know how. CFR becomes a conduit between people, their items and people who have a need. When touring the [transitional housing program for women] at Catherine McAuley, we saw a need to help warm up the rooms with headboards, rugs, pillows, wall art, and other items.”

When a new resident arrives, her bedroom is furnished with necessities like a bed, table and chairs, and a desk, along with bedding and a welcome basket stocked with personal care products. With a group of volunteers helping to move in furnishings, it was also a good time to replace mattresses and stock up on new bedding, and the Lions Club helped make it happen with a donation of $1,000! “The Cedar Rapids Lions are pleased to support the work of the Catherine MacCauley Center. We share a common goal in supporting the welfare of individuals in need,” said Mary Doyle.

Women are able to decorate their bedrooms to their own preference and comfort, and now, CMC can offer more of the elements that help make a space feel extra cozy! “We want help to make the room ‘home’ for the person staying there. We believe that having a safe comfortable home helps with mental and emotional health,” Susan explains.

Desiree is nearly 2 years into recovery and finds the structures provided at CMC to be a needed balance to her new life. “I came here 6 months sober, but I wanted to do baby steps. I had to have more freedom, but needed structure.” Committed to her sobriety, she finds the curfew, the checking in, and the supportive safety to be key elements in maintaining her health and her journey towards financial independence.

Through Supportive housing, residents gain an understanding of their rights and responsibilities as renters through monthly rental payments they are required to pay while rebuilding (or building) their credit history. “I’m focusing on my financial wellness; I’ve been able to save money and work on myself,” she says. “This place gave me the freedom to live my life sober.”

At the Catherine McAuley Center, women find more than just housing, they find a safe place to call ‘home’ and the support of a community that inspires hope.

Would you like to learn more about what refugees experience?  Are you looking for materials to help others understand why millions around the globe have been forced to flee their homes?  Please check out this list of educational and informational resources compiled from CMC staff.

Books:

First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung

God Sleeps in Rwanda: A Journey of Transformation by Joseph Sebarenzi with Laura Ann Mullane

*Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

*Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Learning America: One Woman’s Fight for Educational Justice for Refugee Children by Luma Mufleh

The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee

The Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees Enter the American Community by Mary Pipher & Susan Cohen

They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, and Benjamin Ajak with Judy A. Bernstein

*Young adult novels

Movies:

First They Killed My Father (2017)  (Available to stream on Netflix)

Flee (2021) (Available to stream on Hulu)

Short videos:

Who is a Refugee?

A Refugee’s Journey

Temple by Thao and the Get Down Stay Down (music video)
You can also watch an interview with the artist about this song here.

Don’t feel sorry for refugees — believe in them, Luma Mufleh

What it’s like to be a parent in a war zone, Aala El-Khani

World Refugee Day Virtual Panel: New Beginnings

Other Resources:

Finding Home (app for iPhones) This app turns your phone into a refugee’s phone, simulating the experience of a refugee as they flee from their home.

“The ungrateful refugee: We have no debt to repay” by Dina Nayeri

Dear Friends of Catherine McAuley Center,

Through the challenges and changes of the past several years, community members like you have given us reasons to celebrate time and time again:

• For years, volunteer tutors squeezed into a room filled with as many study spaces as possible to teach and encourage adult learners.
• Caring neighbors brought welcome signs and balloons to greet refugee newcomers at the airport, and offered support as job coaches as the Center expanded refugee resettlement and support services.
• Catherine McAuley Center supporters helped us pack up more than two decades of history from our former building and move into our new space! 
• Local citizens got to work to launch a temporary shelter for refugees displaced from their apartments after the derecho, and ensured everyone was relocated to permanent housing within 60 days, while pitching in to mitigate damages to the new facility we’d moved into just one month before.
• Volunteers of all kinds shifted to teaching online, while others stepped in to provide lunch to young English learners who navigated online learning in the one undamaged wing of the Catherine McAuley Center’s new facility.
• Staff and community collaborators worked to expand services for more than 100 unhoused individuals right here in Cedar Rapids as homelessness counts reached record highs in summer 2021.
• With open arms, our community welcomed 249 Afghans who quickly fled their home country for safety in the matter of just five months, making for more refugee arrivals in a single period of time than CMC had ever seen!

Behind all of this, an incredible team of fundraising volunteers, steering committee members, and staff pressed on with A Place of Welcome: The Campaign to Expand the Catherine McAuley Center to ensure the Center’s location would not just meet the current needs, but would be a place where our neighbors could find hope and opportunity for years to come.

Admittedly, the Place of Welcome campaign was paused a few times to focus staff efforts on critical services for our clients in the face of the global and local crises mentioned above. But today, we are pleased to announce that we have raised $5 million and are celebrating the completion of the campaign! 

Thank you to every volunteer and contributor who helped create our new Place of Welcome. Your support has already provided countless opportunities for the Center to meet the needs of our time in ways that there was simply no space for prior to July 2020. Just watch Jacques’ story for one example of the hope people find through the educational & supportive services at the Catherine McAuley Center!

Sincerely,

Kelsey Steines
Director of Development & Communications

It’s National Internship Day! Meet Anna Butz–a bilingual, a parent, an Iowan, an educator, and once again, a student!  Her robust love of learning and discovery led to her obtaining her Master’s in Education, but she’s not stopping there. Anna shared her talents as a Women’s Services Intern at Catherine McAuley Center in conjunction with her pursuit of a degree in Human services. Read on to learn more about Anna’s experiences and accomplishments!

Where are you from, and what is your background? 

My name is Anna, I’m 30 years old, and a single mom. I went to high school in Mt. Vernon, and went on to gain my Master’s in Education in 2018 from DePauw University. As part of my education I spent 6 months in Colombia, and have worked in higher education at Cornell College since graduating. 

In January I began taking coursework pursuing a Human services degree. 

What was your first experience with volunteering your time to an organization or a cause you cared about?

I grew up in an agricultural  background, did 4H, and when I was in highschool I volunteered at the Democratic caucus. When I was in college I volunteered as an English Tutor at the Center, did an internship with Justice for Our Neighbors. 

What drew you to become an intern at CMC? 

Field experiences are a required part of my Human Services coursework over a summer, and this was a way to make that happen. My family is from Cedar Rapids and had connections to the Center, so we reached out to Paula and Katie via email wanting to do field placement, and I was directed to Women’s Services.

 I just loved it! I really enjoy working with women and adults. I’ve taught kids, teens, adults, so I’ve had a lot of experience, but I found that I love working with women and adults the most. I’m interested in getting my certified drug and alcohol counseling certificate. 

What is your favorite thing about serving and working with the community that you do? 

I just loved it, I loved the people I worked with, and I am figuring this out at 30. I really enjoy the women being honest, and I really like that. I like being real with them. I’ve experienced a little bit of, and I have an ability to relate to them at some levels. I really enjoy talking about substance abuse, and started a support group for friends of family of people facing substance abuse challenges.  

I think that I hadn’t had a lot of experience working with homelessness, and that was really great to have experience with that. I like being able to sit down and talk about things with the women. I was able to practice a trauma informed approach, even if I had only taken one semester of coursework. I was able to apply what I had learned, and I loved that my internship was so hands-on. The WS team had me talking to the women who lived there, I did room checks, stuff that probably 10 years ago would have intimidated me, so I just loved it! I spent time doing what needed to be done, and I learned a ton.

What were some of your highs and lows during your internship? 

People stepping into leadership roles and getting the chance to watch team members practice case management as fantastic social workers. I got to observe them talking with clients and building relationships, learn more about how the Center does things and the role that it has in the community. I just learned so much. 

Working in the Transitional Housing program, and getting that unique experience and social work setting. In individual case management, you are also trying to make sure people get along and it really allows you to have a deeper relationship with them. 

Those sorts of groups where we can talk about our lived experiences, and hey, we’re all different, but we’ve been through this. So finding those commonalities and lived experiences, the challenges of homelessness, all of that is helpful and making for a cohesive group. 

It’s great that the WS team has found ways that the women can connect over a focus of healing, healthy relationships, resume building, etc. 

A few times clients had to leave the program, and that was so difficult. We formed relationships and it can be hard when someone has to go. It was so good to be around during those times of transition, and learn more how to manage a work-life balance. We can’t take it all on.

All of these things were a very useful and usable experience. 

What is your hope for the long term impact of your role and work?

 I would love to work at CMC when I am able to, I really enjoyed it. I worked 10-20 hours a week, in addition to my regular job and being a single parent. Going there did not feel like going to work. I would look forward to it just because I wanted to be there. 

I would like to do more drug and alcohol counseling, and I did some of that. This internship will prepare me to do that work in the future, and learn the challenges, the strengths, the resources available.The Women’s Services team works so hard, deal with a lot, they are on-call outside of work hours, and they deserve to be recognized from their work. By being women-centered and available to the residents during the day, the Center provides something that isn’t available everywhere, and staff are constantly educating themselves to better their services. I think that work that Women’s Services is doing is so important.