ACLAMO Unveils Fall Program
Meet the After School Program Team – Jennifer, Michelle, Marla, Nelly, Angelisse, Luz
Financial and volunteer backing from ACLAMO’s loyal supporters makes exciting programs possible this fall. Here is a brief description of each program, with more complete information available by following the link below.
After School: Kindergarten through 8th grade students receive vital academic and life skills support in a safe environment.
Family Literacy: Parents and preschool children learn together in this program which ACLAMO has offered for over 15 years.
ADELANTE: Older students receive academic support, mentoring and encouragement as they move through middle and high school and prepare for post high school education and training.
ESL: In addition to the ESL components in other educational programs, ACLAMO provides evening ESL classes.
Health and Wellness: Wellness education and medical screening are provided in a number of settings.
Benefits Acquisition: Families receive information and assistance in applying for a wide range of benefit programs.
Case Management Mental Health: The Children’s Crisis Treatment Center in partnership with ACLAMO offers a full-time staff member who in a trauma-informed manner addresses the needs of children 2 ½ to 21years old and their families.
Social Services: Information, referrals and case management are offered by ACLAMO’s social services department.
Services to Seniors: A wide range of services are offered with home visiting and check in components.
Immigration Counseling: Two days each month, a representative from HIAS Pennsylvania provides information and screens individuals for appropriate referral to immigration attorneys.
ACLAMO Marshals an Army of Supporters for its Health Fair in Pottstown
Children enjoy bouncing on the “moon” while their parents deal with down-to-earth health issues.
For four hours on Saturday, September 10, ACLAMO’s Pottstown location reverberated to the music of a DJ and the happy shouts of children. This celebration had a very serious purpose: providing vital wellness information and health monitoring to Pottstown families.
To make the health fair a success, Site Coordinator Maricruz Clemens called for support from ACLAMO’s many partners. 15 groups responded, including non-profit and governmental social service providers and socially committed for-profit corporations. With deep appreciation, ACLAMO reported that the following organizations and corporations, along with volunteers and ACLAMO staff members, made the health fair a great deal of fun and also a great place for Pottstown residents to obtain help in addressing health issues:
Univest Bank Names ACLAMO Board Member to Head New Chester County Branch
Daniel Caycedo (fourth from left) with Univest leaders at opening ceremony.
Univest Bank and ACLAMO Family Centers both benefit from the work of Daniel Caycedo. Dan is a valuable member of ACLAMO’s board of directors and Univest just named Dan as director of a new branch in Chester County.
Impact Thrift Stores Impact ACLAMO
Nelly Jimenez has reason to smile as she accepts a $1,700 check from Thrift Impact’s Lindsay Varzaly.
New Impact Store
In early August, Impact Thrift Stores, an ACLAMO community partner, opened a new 33,000 square-foot store at Norristown Center (1798 Markley Street) as part of a larger redevelopment project at the shopping center.
A Straight Shooter for BB&T
After her first year as an ROTC cadet in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Marilyn Melendez was named Cadet of the Year. However during training the following summer, a sergeant handed her an M-16 rifle and told her to shoot at a target shaped as an enemy soldier. As she squinted through the rifle sights, she realized that she could never be a soldier. “ROTC taught me invaluable lessons in integrity, honesty, organization and discipline,” Marilyn recalls, “but I knew that I was not cut out for shooting people – I had to find another career.”
Marilyn Melendez Hedge
Marilyn found that career as a banker with the Federal Reserve in New York City. After 20 years of experience working with the Community Reinvestment Act as well as with compliance for several different banks, Marilyn was approached by BB&T to become part of its team advancing the bank’s commitment to multicultural communities.
This strategy includes identifying the significant cultures served by each of BB&T’s branches. When a branch is operating amid a large number of non-Anglo residents, the bank designates that office as a multicultural banking center. Each of these centers focuses on having the culture of its operational area reflected by its employees and the presentation of its programs. Branches serving a large number of Latino clients are called “VECINO” branches, meaning “Your Trusted Neighbor”. Other BB&T multicultural banking centers serve African-American and Asian clients.
As one of BB&T’s regional multicultural banking officers, Marilyn maintains a busy schedule, working with multicultural banking centers in large sections of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia. Marilyn’s primary task is to evaluate and support these branches as they carry out the bank’s multicultural strategy.
BB&T strongly supports ACLAMO programs and was a major sponsor of ACLAMO’s Culinary Celebration in May of 2016. “ACLAMO Family Centers is exactly the type of community organization BB&T likes to partner with,” Marilyn comments. “ACLAMO is a veteran organization, with a proven 39-year track record and has the trust of the Latino community.”