VOLUNTEER Stories
Volunteers are a powerful part of the ESLC mission. To get involved, find our volunteers page here.
mike allred
Mike found the ESLC through his work for the LDS Church
Welfare Services. After he retired, Mike had thought to himself,
“I have a real affinity for working with immigrants and refugees,
and those who are non-English speakers, both for adults and
also their children who are trying to navigate the process.”
Michael said that he understands that it’s not just language
that acts as a barrier to immigrants, but culture as well.
Seven years ago, Mike reached out to ESLC to begin teaching
classes. He had always beeninterested in language instruction.
His first class was a community class on educating mothers.
“It was a challenge, but [the ESLC and students] were very
generous”, Mike said. Since then, Mike has been volunteering as
a coach to help immigrants prepare for their citizenship interviews. “I coach them through that process,” Mike said, “so they can be reasonably confident ... to be able to pass the test.”
Mike believes that the USA is an immigrant nation and always has been. “Immigrants and
refugees enrich our culture and our business,” he said.
Mike acknowledges that there can be some up-front costs to helping people immigrate to the United States, but those costs are well worth it. “If you look at that generation, and then the next generation, the generation after that, what they put back in the economy ... culturally .... their own language ... a financial
benefit ... they give back so much more.” Mike believes that the work being done at the ESLC is
so critical, “I really do want these people to succeed,” he said.
Mike is passionate about working with individuals and seeing them be successful at the end of a
hard road. One day, “there were two or three citizens being sworn in as United States citizens,
that was an exciting thing, just the enthusiasm and the love that they had for America,” he said.
Mike proudly holds his experience working at the ESLC on his business card. He has received a Hand and Heart award for his volunteer work.
Dylan harris
Dylan moonlights as an Uber driver. One evening in 2024, he had a
ride that inspired him to do more to help immigrants. The woman
Dylan was driving around seemed reluctant to say where she was
from. Dylan wondered if it was because of a controversial comment
made by a politician. “I wonder if this woman in the aftermath of
that [and] it's something she doesn't want to bring up to just anyone.
I just kind of had that in my mind. I thought that's such a shame,”
Dylan said.
After that interaction, Dylan wondered if maybe he could drive
immigrants around. He started Googling volunteer positions
related to immigrants and found that the ESLC had a position open
for English teaching. “Once I signed up, it was a really easy
process,” Dylan said. After a few nights and classes of training,
Dylan started volunteering for community classes in January of 2025.
His curriculum is focused around commonly used ideas, “like family, for example,” Dylan said. “We just started daily activities, maybe time or shopping, or money. The idea is, [based] around English [words] that you might encounter out in the real world.” He said that the ESLC’s flexibility around students and the classes means that there’s no real start or stop, and that really benefits the students. When one student asked him when the class ends, he told her, “‘You can keep coming as long as you want.’”
The ESLC brings people together from all over the world. “We have a lot of different people from different places mixing together and making this American story,” Dylan said. “I like when two people from different countries or different cultures become friends in my class.”
“I like being a citizen of the world,” Dylan said. The community that the class provides for him and his students is really rewarding for him. “I’m doing a very little thing in the grand scheme ... but I just want them to feel a little more comfortable ... being a part of this community.”
Chelle Brain
After a life transition that left Chelle Brain with more free
time, she decided to begin volunteering at the
English Skills Learning Center (ESLC).
She had found out about the ESLC through her aunt, who
had posted about it on Facebook. “I was looking for
something during the day, and that's why the ESLC was also
just such a great fit because I was able to find volunteer
hours that were the ones that I wanted.” Chelle felt very
empowered and prepared for teaching after the training.
Chelle works in a Family Engagement Center alongside
Lupe, who is a Family Connector, at Moss Elementary.
This class is the product of a partnership between G
ranite School District, the United Way, and the ESLC called Empowering Parents. Chelle walks parents that are new to the English Language through a children's book. “The encouragement is to take this book home and practice reading it with your child. We use the book for vocabulary and [pull] all the different language lessons from [it].”
Chelle loves that the program she works in helps parents learn the English language and allows them an opportunity to connect with and teach their children. “It's such a great program because it's an encouragement to help them to get comfortable with their English skills while also spending some time with their kids. It's a great program.”
The class is held at school, during school hours, so that the parent can drop their child off and come into class to learn by themselves. The class allows a range of experiences with the English language, which can be a challenge sometimes, Chelle says, but it also allows for connection. “The inspiring thing to me is the way that I see parents collaborate with each other. So if I have two students that speak Spanish and one is a little further along, they can help in that way. Even a more advanced student is still getting practice by ... mentoring someone who’s newer to the program.”
Kent hercules
Kent Hercules has been around
different cultures all his life and
is multilingual. Kent got to be
involved with the English Skills
Learning Center (ESLC) through
his daughter, who works there
full-time. “[Immigrants] were our
friends. They were at our house.
We did things together. We ate
together. And I think she grew up seeing lots of different cultures.” Kent describes his daughter as being both passionate and level-headed, which he finds important in this line of work.
Having lived in Switzerland for seven years, Kent knows how difficult it can be to be immersed in a different world. “We were the foreigners. We were the ones getting those pitying looks like oh you poor dim-witted foreigner. We understand what that feels like, and how grateful we were to the people who were kind to us and helped us through.”
One day at church in Utah, Kent began talking with an immigrant that only spoke Spanish. “I found out he was from a small town in Mexico. He was here living with 15 other guys in [an] apartment near us, sleeping on the floor, working two jobs, sending every penny he could back home.” Kent said that he was lonely and just wanted to talk to somebody. “It wasn't exactly the American dream. He was just trying to survive for his family.” Kent admires immigrants and sees how brave they have to be in order to live in another country and learn a new language.
A few years ago, Kent’s schedule freed up and he began getting involved with the ESLC by volunteering. “These people come because they want to be there. There's hope in their eyes when they walk in the door. They want to improve themselves and improve their situation. Some of them also just want friends to socialize to be around people who are going through the same thing they're going through.”
He loves using his talent with music to guide his lessons and make them fun. “I like to play the guitar. I like to sing with them, and so every lesson I choose ... something that might be slow enough where they can learn the lyrics, or repetitive enough that they can learn them, and that's related in some way.”
