St. James ESL

St. James ESL (English as a Second Language) Program, est. 1975, is a community-based volunteer literacy organization in Seattle, Washington. [http://www.stjames-cathedral.org/esl St. James ESL] provides free ESL (English as a Second Language) instruction and U.S. citizenship assistance to low-income adult immigrants and refugees in King County. This community outreach service of St. James Cathedral is nonsectarian with no requirements regarding religious affiliation for staff, volunteers, or students.

When Washington State Governor, Dan Evans, invited South Vietnamese refugees to Washington State [ [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7167 HistoryLink Essay: Evans, Daniel J. (b. 1925) and Nancy Bell Evans (b. 1933) ] ] many agencies in Seattle responded by providing services that would help to integrate them into their new home. On July 16, 1975 Sister Terence Maureen Reilly, a member of the Literacy Council of Seattle, and the Sisters of the Holy Names at St. James Cathedral established a [http://www.stjames-cathedral.org/esl tutoring program for adult refugees] in the Immaculate High School. Tutoring was provided by trained volunteers and occurred at the high school and at off-site locations in Seattle and surorunding areas. [http://www.stjames-cathedral.org/history/snjmchronicle.htmhere]

Today, [http://www.stjames-cathedral.org/esl St. James ESL] operates from offices in the Pastoral Outreach Center at 907 Columbia, across the street from the cathedral. The Outreach Center building was the convent for the Sisters of the Holy Names, but was remodeled to accommodate the St. James Cathedral outreach services in 2005. [http://www.seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/254946_migrant09.html]

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