Adult Education
Catholic Charities Adult Education programs provide adults with essential skills that will lead to life-long learning, the promotion of literacy, and economic self-sufficiency. Adult Education programs are located at the Asian Center of Catholic Charities North in Lynn, El Centro del Cardenal, and the Haitian Multi-Service Center.
Asian Center
Located in the former St. Patrick’s Church in Lynn, the Asian Center helps approximately 50 greater Lynn residents each year by offering three levels of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes. Many students are Cambodian, but Vietnamese, Laotian, and Chinese immigrants also enroll. New participants are evaluated on their existing English proficiency, but many have no experience with the language. Students range in age from 18 to 80 years old.
While the center’s primary function is to teach English, it also provides information and referral, support, and advocacy, especially related to immigration and citizenship issues, as well as access to employment and job search information and resources. Students also are educated on the importance of health care and are assisted with accessing health care facilities, providers, and benefits.
The Asian Center is a program of Catholic Charities North. For more information, call 781-593-2312.
El Centro del Cardenal
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
Those whose first language is not English can pursue their education through services offered through El Centro del Cardenal. Since the early 1970s, El Centro has been at the forefront of community-based Adult Basic Education and ESOL services. With the goal of empowering adults by increasing their employment opportunities and self-sufficiency, the ESOL program includes practical, dynamic instruction. To enhance classroom instruction, participants also have access to counseling services and other resources. El Centro del Cardenal’s Adult Education program serves Latinos and other linguistic minorities, 18 years or older, from the Greater Boston area. The program enrolls between 120 and 150 Latino and other linguistic minority adults annually.
English for Employment
El Centro del Cardenal’s English for Employment program (EFE) serves Latino and other minority clients referred to the ESOL/EFE program whose limited English and lack of job readiness skills serve as barriers to job training and placement. The program provides an integrated delivery of services incorporating ESOL instruction, computer instruction, and counseling/case management. The goal of the program is to help transition participants into employment or employment training. The curriculum, which is designed by classroom teachers at El Centro, contains a comprehensive introduction to the workplace. Students learn skills necessary to gain meaningful employment or entry into a job training program such as networking skills, interviewing skills, resume writing, basic computer skills, and more.
For more information about El Centro del Cardenal's Adult Education programs, call 617-542-9292.
Haitian Multi-Service Center
The Adult Education program provides Haitian and other adults with essential skills that will lead to life-long learning, the promotion of literacy, and economic self-sufficiency. The program serves more than 400 Haitian adults each year through 19 classes, which include native language literacy in English and Haitian Creole, English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), math, computer literacy and training, educational counseling, citizenship, and high school diploma programs. Services that address issues of cultural adjustment are also available. Each student sets his or her own educational goals, and teachers integrate those goals into classroom curriculum.
For more information about Adult Education classes at the Haitian Multi-Service Center, call 617-506-6600