Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies

Resource center for immigrants in a bind

A school that offers free English classes to adults might shut down if it can't come up with the money to apply for a zoning change.

SEFFNER - In their countries, they were dentists and business people.

But here in this breezy yellow brick house off Parsons Avenue, they are students seeking a path out of manual labor.

At the Multicultural Resource Center, more than two dozen adult immigrant students gather four mornings a week to study English in a house turned into a language school and computer lab.

Another 80 are on a waiting list.

But the popular school, which was started in the late '90s, might be shut down next month unless directors come up with $3,500 to apply for a zoning change. The county sought the change after a neighbor complained.

For many with night jobs or schoolage children to care for, the free morning classes are like a salvation.

"My daughter is studying in school, and how can I help her?" asked Carmen Moncayo, 45, originally of Peru. Her daughter is 9. "How can I help her if I don't know English?"

Seated next to her, 62-year-old Elsa Icaza, a dentist in her native country of Ecuador, can't return to her profession until she learns English. She cares for her two grandchildren in the afternoons and evenings.

"If it weren't for this (morning) class," she said, "I couldn't study."

Director Carmen Gonzalez, originally from Puerto Rico, fears what might happen to her school and students if she can't come up with the application money.

Gonzalez is employed by Hillsborough County schools as an ESOL teacher, but she pays for the materials and all the other school expenses through donations or out of her own pocket.

Five years ago, she and her husband bought the house on Parsons Avenue south of Wheeler Road after her burgeoning school outgrew the Seffner Chamber of Commerce office.

The front living space holds several long tables with students. Colorful wall rugs from South America - gifts from her students - grace the walls.

Additional tables and chairs line the patio where Gonzalez had hoped to build a covered addition. Two offices fill what was a bedroom and living room.

Crowded out by the growing number of students, Gonzalez and her husband live in a smaller, adjacent home they built behind the school.

In addition to English classes, the school offers training for those who want to be certified day care providers. Plans were in place to offer GED and adult education classes too.

Her students come mostly from Latin America, but several are from Serbia, China and Africa, as well, she said.

"I open my house to anybody regardless of where they come from, to teach not only English but how to survive out there," she said. "We teach not only the language but the culture too."

This summer, Gonzalez started getting a lesson of her own in American zoning bureaucracy when the county contacted her about a neighbor's complaint.

She was told she had to apply for a zoning change, for a total cost of $3,500. She asked for a fee waiver, which county commissioners denied.

County planner Brian Grady said Gonzalez must apply for a "planned development" zoning from the county because of the variety of uses she has for the property.

County commissioners assigned county Hispanic liaison Tony Morejon to help her raise money to cover the cost. And Maricela Medrano, an ombudsman for the county planning and growth management department, was called in to help her through the process.

"When I went in and saw the place, it was gorgeous," Medrano said. "I hope she can get approval for that. She helps a lot of people."

Morejon said he doesn't think he's going to collect enough money in time for Gonzalez because he's also helping raise funds for two Hispanic families with sick children.

The school will hold a fundraiser during a multicultural festival from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Brandon Community Center. The festival will feature musical instruments and dances from around the world, a health fair and food.

Gonzalez hopes to eventually find a group that will offer a larger space for the school. The school district's facilities are usually full with pupils during the morning hours, when the multicultural center runs its classes, she said.

"I realize the place is becoming too small," she said. "We are pleading to the community for help."

Saundra Amrhein can be reached at 661-2441 or amrhein@sptimes.com

To find out more about the Multicultural Resource Center, contact Carmen Gonzalez at 685-0108.