UCC Community Development Corporation: ESL Classes

Plainfield English School

Our Community Development Corporation provides a valuable service to the Plainfield community offering English classes in a non-academic, ungraded, unthreatening setting in which the students respect and learn from one another. Learning a language is a developmental process that works best when learners are relaxed and focused on a need to communicate. Think of young children learning to speak – no one tests or quizzes them, they have plenty of opportunity to try to communicate, and family members are eager to cooperate in communicating. That’s the atmosphere we work towards in the classes.

This service is free of charge for students, funded by grants awarded to our CDC.

ESL Class

Marian Olson,
ESL Teacher

About Us

The United Plainfield Community Development Corporation was formed in 2002 as an outgrowth of the community outreach mission statement of the United Church of Christ, Congregational in Plainfield, NJ and was incorporated as a non-profit organization in October of 2002

It was created to improve the lives of people within our community by providing resources and services in the form of affordable housing, education, health and preventative services…” We are located in an underserved area of Plainfield that included a mix of mostly African Americans and Latino people who live close the poverty level of income---95% of the students at nearby Stillman Elementary School qualify for subsidized lunches. The CDC has intended to offer programs that engage the neighborhood.

We began our services to the community through after school tutoring and the beginning of our Camp Discovery which has been our main project to date. The after school tutoring provided one to one literacy support, homework assistance and ESL practice and reinforcement for Hispanic students. The Discovery camp has run for seven years. The board members of the CDC wanted to prove a safe educational and uplifting environment for children during the summer, when the streets are not totally safe due to crime, drugs, gangs and violence, and home is too boring. In the past three years a burgeoning ESL program led by a volunteer church member has blossomed. Classes are held four morning a week and contain 36 to 60 immigrants attending each session. It has officially been named by the volunteers and students as the Plainfield English School. The classes are free.

The CDC is composed of members of the Church and the Plainfield Community. We engage the City of Plainfield in our fund raising by holding an annual awards luncheon which designates a particular person or business that has performed exceptional community service. All proceeds go towards our continuing Discovery Camp for as many weeks as possible.

The CDC is a faith community whose stated purpose is to improve the lives of the people within our community by providing resources and services in the form of education, health and preventative services, and a safe space.

We are seeking funding to continue our Camp Discovery.

Camp Discovery began as a bold faith venture in 2007 with the vision of providing a safe, educational and uplifting environment for children during the summer, when the streets are not totally safe due to crime, drugs, gangs and violence, and home is too boring. The Day Camp ran for four weeks The camp had academic sessions, outdoor recreation, trips to the library, swimming, and field trips to places like trailside Museum in Mountainside and the Newark Museum. In 2008 we were able to expand to eight weeks with forty-five campers, twelve youth counselors, three adult counselors and our capable director, Felicia Sanders. The theme was Animal Habitats. The year 2009 was difficult from the standpoint of funding; the good news was that instead of the four weeks we expected we were able to go to five weeks. In 2010 we hired a new director, Eric Halpern, who did an outstanding job with campers, staff and parents. We added new field trips to Sandy Hook for outdoor science and fun, the Statue of Liberty and Turtleback Zoo despite losing the in-kind bus service from the Board of Education. In those years, the themes were Healthy Bodies, Healthy Children, and Building Self Esteem. We enrolled about thirty five kids and again went on field trips this year participating in the Rutgers 4H Summer Science Program, swam at the YMCA each week, visited the Library, the Mountainside museum, and held a wonderful closing picnic with a music performance by the campers. We have been fortunate to retain educators as counselors as well as several youth volunteers. At Camp Discovery campers build lifelong friendships, a sense of belonging, and self-esteem. With continued support the youngest to the oldest camper can continue to sing, “Camp discovery is the place for me.”

Our purpose is to continue such experiences for the kids and be able o show them the world outside of their environs.

UCC Community Development Corporation

ESL Classes

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