5/19/2004 Neighborhood House gave activist wings: Apolonia Fay uses them to soar
Kelly Westhoff
Apolonia (Poly) Fay has a lot to be proud of. Yet when asked what tops her list of accomplishments, her answer is surprising. She doesn't mention the five-week-old baby boy, her first child, asleep in her arms. Nor does she mention the East Side St. Paul home she and her husband are refurbishing. She does not mention the fact that she learned English as a second language as an adult. She doesn't bring up her job at La Familia Guidance Center, or the classes she is taking at the University of Minnesota. Instead, Fay replies, "I am most proud to know that I can get involved in my community. I am not afraid anymore. I have power. I am proud that I can help others."
She talks about her volunteer work at Neighborhood House, a community center located in St. Paul's West Side neighborhood. There, Fay is the coordinator-facilitator of a group called Mujeres Hispanas en Accíon (Hispanic Women in Action), a social outlet and support network for Hispanic women living in the area. Many of the participants are recent immigrants; others have attended for years. Fay has been a part of the group since 1998, the year she moved to Minnesota. Two years after she joined Mujeres, she became the coordinator-facilitator.
Fay keeps the group busy. They gather weekly, sometimes simply to sit and chat, sometimes to do crafts. Often they have speakers on a broad range of topics, including immigration, the U.S. school system, applying for a home mortgage and working with a real estate agent, and insurance. University of Minnesota students have taught the Mujeres about nutrition. The women themselves have organized recipe exchanges and cooking classes.
With Fay at the helm, the group's membership has gown. Members range in age from 20 to 75; Fay is 37. Membership is fluid; women come when they can. At some meetings there are as many as 30 women.
Despite the sustained popularity and success of Mujeres Hispanas en Accíon, Fay doesn't consider herself a born leader. She was raised in Pijijiapan, a small town in the southern Pacific coast state of Chiapas, Mexico's poorest state. In the 1990s, Chiapas was (and continues to be) the center of Mexico's Zapatista rebellion.
Fay grew up in what she called a "macho house." "For lots of Mexican ladies," she explained, "their self-esteem is really low. We grow up in a macho house and we have no opinion. The man, he decides everything."
To illustrate this, Fay shared a story from her own life. After coming to the United States, Fay's husband asked her once where she would like to go out to eat. She was speechlessŠnot because she couldn't think of a restaurant she liked, but because nobody had ever asked her to choose a restaurant before.
This macho culture makes it especially difficult for many Hispanic women immigrants. Often they are alone during the day while their husbands work and the children go to school. The women, who may have little English and minimal education, feel isolated and, eventually, depressed.
Fay knows the feeling well. When she and her husband arrived in 1992, they settled in Wisconsin. Fay spent her days alone. She didn't speak English well and her neighbors didn't speak Spanish. Even though she was dying to speak with someone, her husband would come home from work and she would remain silent. "You don't want to say everything to your husband," she said, "you want a friend."
She was relieved when they moved to Arizona. The warmer weather, and the food, language and culture made it easier to feel at home. But then her husband found another job in the Midwest‹this time in St. Paul.
They found an apartment in St. Paul's West Side, a neighborhood with a strong immigrant presence and Hispanic flair. One day, while her husband was at work, Fay went for a walk. She happened upon Neighborhood House, went inside and asked what programs they offered.
Fay started taking English classes at Neighborhood House and joined Mujeres Hispanas en Accíon. "It is scary being here and not knowing anybody and not speaking the language. It was a relief to meet this group," she remembered. "It helped me a lot with resources and it was nice to speak Spanish. It helped me start a new life here."
For Fay, the group's many workshops and seminars are a time of empowerment. "We will learn together," she insisted. "I want these ladies to have a successful life. I want them to learn they can do things for themselves. They can do stuff for other people. I want them to know they have power."
To help members realize their individual power, Fay organized a financial seminar led by WomenVenture. It's a topic Fay considers especially important. "In Mexico, usually women don't handle money. The men do that. But what if the husband is not there anymore?"
The financial seminar took place over several weeks. Women in the group learned about different kinds of bank accounts and practiced balancing checkbooks. Participants had to bring $20 to each session, and they received matching funds at the end of the program. When the workshop ended, the women opened savings accounts with $300 to $400 each.
But Fay is not content with just educating the group's members. Last year the Mujeres welcomed their daughters to a series of meetings. Social workers spoke with the mothers and daughters about self-esteem, domestic abuse and pregnancy prevention. The response was so positive that Fay would like to do the program again, this time with sons.
The Mujeres have teamed up another area group, Wilderness Inquiry, to organize annual camping trips. One year the women brought their husbands and children, caravanned to Duluth and pitched tents at a campground. They swam, fished and went canoeing. Fay laughed, remembering the most recent trip. "This is a new experience for so many. In Mexico, I don't hear people say, "Let's go camping.' They just go outside, they don't go camping."
Fay has done such a fine job tapping and identifying area resources for the Mujeres that she has attracted the attention of many organizations outside Neighborhood House. She was interviewed by a Minnesota Public Radio reporter and nominated for an Ann Bancroft Foundation award.
In addition, the Mujeres have published a book in Spanish and English. Searching for a New Horizon is a collection of their essays that aims to educate readers about why immigrants come to the U.S. and the struggles they face along the way. Nine Mujeres shared their stories for the book's essays and for six years the entire group worked on translation, illustration and other tasks. A College of St. Catherine class is using the Mujeres' book. Mujeres members volunteer each week as guest speakers.
Dan Hoxworth, president of Neighborhood House, credits Fay with the book's publication. "The book really came to fruition under Poly," he said. She was also helpful in securing state funds for a new Neighborhood House, which will be part of the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building, he said.
Now that construction is underway, Hoxworth also points to Fay as inspiration for the new building design. At an annual dinner in 2002, Fay shared her vision of Neighborhood House: "[It] is a big angel that spreads its wings to welcome all people in, and makes them strong so they can fly. But they don't go farŠbecause they learn what it is to be a part of the community and they want to give back some of what they received."
"Everyone at the event broke into tears, including me," recalled Hoxworth. The new building, he explained, will have rotunda that faces the street. A wall will sweep up behind and around the rotunda, embracing it before reaching out to the community.
For Fay, the attention is nice, but unnecessary. She will continue her work as coordinator-facilitator of Mujeres Hispanas en Accíon because it's what she can do to help Neighborhood House and to offer a few of the essentials to immigrant women: friendship, support and wings.
