The Latino Apostolate
The Latino Apostolate began in late 2006 when Jamie McDaniel approached the St. Anna’s Mobile Medical Unit, inquiring about the availability of space at St. Anna’s Church, New Orleans where she could offer English as a Second Language classes (ESL). St. Anna’s welcomed Jamie, and a class of six students soon grew to 20-30 students per night. Through a Congregational Mission Initiative grant from the Diocese of Louisiana, what began as an ESL class was transformed into the Latino Apostolate of the Diocese of Louisiana, a mission that serves as an information clearinghouse for medical, legal and educational resources for Spanish speakers in Greater New Orleans and as an advocate for individuals experiencing diverse life challenges.
In June of 2008, the Latino Apostolate hired the Rev. Peter Gray, a Spanish-speaking priest to serve as a chaplain and church planter to the Spanish-speaking community in development at St. Anna’s. In October of that year, however, Peter’s primary duties were shifted to Grace Episcopal Church / Iglesia de la Gracia, where he began serving as pastor to an existing Latino congregation while maintaining some pastoral responsibilities with students in the ESL classes.
The Latino Apostolate has recently become more involved in Language Access advocacy, working to ensure that Limited English Proficient community members are not denied health services, public assistance (i.e. Medicare and Medicaid), education or legal services due to language barriers. In conjunction with REACH Nola and other members of the Language Access Coalition of New Orleans, we have just completed our first public forum on Language Access with nearly 50 community members participating. We have also produced and begun distributing "I speak" cards; bi-lingual, wallet-sized cards which LEP individuals can use to request an interpreter in their native language.
In recent months, Iglesia de la Gracia has slowly become the center of activities for the Latino Apostolate. In July of 2009, ESL classes moved into ‘Cortez House,’ a two-story home adjacent to la Gracia. Cortez House gives the Apostolate two permanent classrooms, and work is underway to equip another room as a library and computer lab for members of the community. The Apostolate shares Cortez House with the Hispanic Public Safety Initiative and the Loyola Wage Claims Clinic. Our hope is to make Cortez House a Hispanic Community Resource Center, hosting meetings and community events and offering health, counseling, education and legal services on a regular basis.
Our Current Religious and
Social Activities include:
• Weekly celebrations of Holy Eucharist in Spanish on Sundays at 12:15pm.
• More than 80 students enrolled in ESL, filling eight evening classes weekly and individual tutoring sessions as requested. Several dozen more individuals currently on waiting list.
• ‘Música a Medicina’ program which offers free live Latin Music, free primary medical care, free acupuncture, and food (for a small donation) immediately following the 12:15 service on the first Sunday of every month.
• Assisting Limited English Proficient individuals in accessing legal, mental health and medical resources, often accompanying program participants to their appointments as interpreters and advocates.
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Community building and cultural activities, including picnics,
bar-b-cues, holiday parties, Mardi Gras parades and trips to the Audubon Zoo,
Imax Theatre and Aquarium.
• Developing Spanish and Portuguese Language Exchange for individuals wishing to practice their language skills with a native speaker