Maria is a young Hispanic, single mother, pregnant and unemployed. In her past few months of pregnancy she doesn’t have the essentials to welcome her baby. For her the most difficult thing is she doesn’t speak English and she didn’t know where to go to seek help. WIC, Women, Infants, and Children, gives out food vouchers, nutritional advice, takes care of the vaccination of her future baby amongst other types of help, however this young one would need a lot more.
This is one of the cases that the YWCA meets an organization that has the objective of eliminating racism and empowerment of women.
Through Raquel Herrera in charge of the Assistance and Translations for Immigrants Program, Maria has found different agencies willing to help her with the needs of her baby, agencies that she didn’t know existed and ones she would have never been able to go to simply because she doesn’t speak English.
”There are lots of agencies in the community and organizations that offer different services and help those who need it, but there are many Hispanic people that don’t know they exist, or don’t go to them because they don’t speak the language, I take care of speaking for them, filling out the applications, of being their voice,” assures Raquel Herrera.
This employee is in charge of explaining to the Hispanics in person or by phone in their own language everything they need to know about food stamps, medical cards, assistance for child care, in addition to professional services for translation and interpretation, and legal help.
All services provided by this program are free and personalized to satisfy the individual needs of immigrants.
Women and families in Illinois can benefit from the services for adults and children who have been victims of domestic violence. YWCA also offers support groups for people who want to change or avoid violent behaviors, in addition to legal advice and counseling or medical 24 hours a day, and that’s not all women receive help to obtain or gain employment.
The Sauk Valley YWCA is a non for profit organization established in 1924 that offers different services to the Lee and Whiteside counties. The YWCA YWCA helps an average of 14,000 people a year with its different programs regardless of age, sex or race.
If you’d like more information about this agency, call (815)625-0333.
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