Stories

Featured Story

You Must Have Hope and Keep Going

I never got to go to school before. Right when I started going to my first school, the civil war started in Somalia. It was a terrible, dark time. Everyone was running for their life. I was very young then. We left Somalia and went to Kenya. Life in a refugee camp is...

Elder Students Seek to Live Well at Home

In this article, English Learning Center co-director, Jenne Nelson, highlights an exciting new initiative to help us better serve elder students at our school. Elder literacy classes officially launched in late November! ~ Education for Lifelong Learners In late...

Eligah Was His Name

In this article, our Housing Director, Krista Gibson, reflects on the recent loss of Eligah, one of our Permanent Supportive Housing residents, and the larger systems that contributed to an early death for him and so many others. ~ The Value of a Life In late October,...

9 Things ELC Staff Have Learned During COVID-19

It's old news by now that COVID-19 has thrown most of our worlds upside down, as we scramble to meet needs during a global pandemic and create a new sense of normalcy. In the midst of what can feel like chaos, however, there's also an opportunity to learn. And...

Halima Takes Learning Online

Halima started as a student at the ELC in February 2020, taking English, math, and citizenship classes. Since then, she’s advanced an entire English level. We asked her how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted her life and learning. Here’s what she had to say: How has...

Forging New Paths as the ELC Goes the Distance

When COVID-19 Hit On the afternoon of Friday, March 13th, I [Jenne, ELC Program Co-director] was taking a walk with my dog while on a conference call with Jennifer, ELC Program Co-director, and David, OSCS Interim Executive Director. We had just decided to close the...

Herve’s Never Going Back

A Year Without a Home Herve will always remember the 2016 Minnesota Twins season—not because of the team’s losing record that year but because the end of this season marked the beginning of his homelessness. Herve had been employed with seasonal work at Target Field,...