Achievements and Initiatives

Assisting immigrants with memory problems through the Alzheimer’s Demonstration project, which identifies older persons with memory problems, links them to appropriate services, escorts them for a comprehensive medical exam and assists their families through education and support

Providing health information at community-based agencies on topics such as osteoporosis, understanding menopause, heart disease, stroke prevention and smoking cessation.

Improving the English skills of elderly through the Bright Ideas project, a model of effective community-based English literacy instruction for low-literate elderly. The project produces written and video curriculum that focuses on the immigrants’ own lives.

Helping elderly refugees by providing opportunities for socializing and information through the Illinois Refugee Social Services Cultural Adjustment Project. The program also provides peer advocates and case advocacy and support, linking elders to needed services.

Advocating for equal access to services; for instance, through contracts with the Illinois Department on Aging, 17 community-based ethnic organizations are able to provide homemaker and adult day service to seniors who speak their language and understand their culture.

Implementing an elder abuse, neglect and self-neglect intervention program in ethnic communities funded through the Chicago Department on Aging. The project includes respite services to care giving families.

Translating documents that require client signatures or explain important issues.

Facilitating mentoring linkages between experienced ethnic providers and fledgling agencies.

Assisting ethnic providers in their administrative and program capacity through provision of technical assistance.

Critical Need for Effective ESOL

For years, we were conscious that elderly immigrants were attending English classes regularly, but were not learning. When we brought this to the attention of the Illinois State Department of Education, a CLESE representative was invited to attend ESL meetings of the City Colleges of Chicago. The unofficial message, however, was that City Colleges' priority was not the elderly.

Our concern was not restricted to ESL classes. The high rate of failure on the citizenship test by seniors has been a continuing preoccupation. We are specifically concerned about those whose maintenance of public benefits is contingent on naturalization. To address this concern, we obtained funding from the Illinois Department of Human Services to conduct academic and classroom-based research on the reasons elders were failing to be test ready and make recommendations to increase the success of this vulnerable population. We contracted with the Aguirre Group to conduct the study.

Building on this research, we were fortunate to be one of only 12 organizations nationally that were funded by the U.S. Department of Education to conduct a demonstration project on effective practices for English language and literacy instruction. This Bright Ideas project is now a model of effective community-based ESL instruction for seniors with very limited English and who often have low levels of literacy in their native language.